A Report From Inside The Meeting About the Brooklyn Borough Hall Park Redesign

📝 Photos & Reporting Contributed by Greg Navarro

A few weeks back, we had a note about a proposal to redesign the public space surrounding Brooklyn Borough Hall. And last Thursday, DBP, a not-for-profit local development organization that oversees the downtown Brooklyn area, held an open-to-the-public meeting with two architecture design firms to present their vision for the area in 2030.

Since Borough Hall is no-doubt the most popular street spot in all of Brooklyn — and the plaza already had a skatestopping attempt via an AstroTruf and planter combo back in 2019 when Eric Adams was Brooklyn Borough President — it made sense that there were concerned skateboarders present among the Brooklyn residents and architecture students to see what they had in mind. Our correspondent Greg Navarro reported back from the meeting.

The most important bit is that this is not an imminent redesign. It has not been approved by the city, and there is currently no formal funding for it. It is merely being proposed by DBP and the two firms, WXY and Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, in hopes of getting public support, which could then lead to backing from the city.

The other bit of important news is that the architects are all down for skateboarding, and so far, this is the only proposal being offered.

“I think the skateboarders are pretty cool, they bring life to Borough Hall’s space.” — Architect Michael Van Valkenburgh

“Our design will not change the flatground space or the grade. We know skating is popular on the steps, we don’t plan to block that.” — Sam Cohen, from Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates Inc.

(The further west manny pad / curb zone would be affected by the increased greenery, but that section is probably of secondary concern to us.)

This does, however, only signal the intention of the designers of this one proposal. (And architects left to their own devices have often been pretty approving about skateboarders using the space they design.) As a Gothamist article ahead of last Thursday’s meeting states, “The plan for the project notes that Borough Hall’s steps are a popular skate spot, causing a nuisance to some officials that could be addressed through the new skatepark.”

So all it takes is for a couple of Borough Hall bureaucrats to say “nah,” and this openness to skating could be papered over with, “Well, we’re building you a skatepark.”

Now, about that skatepark: the proposal wants to build it across from the [knobbed] Cadman Post Office, near the long, tall out rail that people have occasionally skated. There is no design proposed, only the idea of adding a skatepark there, and designer Sam Cohen says, “We don’t know who the skatepark designer will be, but we are aware of [The] Skatepark Project and California Skateparks.” Again, to reiterate: the people behind this proposal do not intend for the skatepark to be a replacement for the street spot, but an addition to it.

When the floor was opened for questions from the public, a man from the back shot his hand up. He stood up confidently, and said, “This is great and all — what you’re doing for Borough Hall — but I really want to know what you’re gonna do about that scaffolding across the street. It’s dirty, it looks terrible, Duane Reade went out of business because of it. There is crime and drugs in this neighborhood because of that scaffolding. Parks Department and your committee has to do something about it.” (Parks was seemingly not present at this meeting.)

The architects began to laugh uncomfortably, and the crowd put their faces in their palms.

“Alright, that’s all the time we have for today,” a woman from WXY Studios said as they removed the mic from the man’s hand. His final cry for help as they pried the mic from his grip: “LET’S DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!”

If you want a microcosm of how these meetings go and who attends them, there you go. For now, go enjoy your Borough Hall flatground and curbs.