Brooklyn Bridge, the Brooklyn Bridge Park, 9/11 Memorial: My 2nd Day in NYC

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Yes, getting to New York City was stressful, but after a good night’s sleep, my express train to Brooklyn Bridge was easy and actually exciting! See, I even took a photo of the “next stop” sign – Brooklyn Bridge, here I come! (I’d never seen it in my 12 or so trips to the city.) The impetus was the much-touted Brooklyn Bridge Park awaiting me after a 30-minute walk across to the Brooklyn side.

Brooklyn Bridge

Despite its total lack of plants, THIS was the highlight of my two days in the city. The iconic Brooklyn Bridge, with its Gothic Revival pointed arches, the revolutionary steel-wire cables, the views, everything about this bridge was a revelation to me. (Back home, I rewatched the Ken Burns documentary about it and now understand the seemingly over-the-top praise.)

Next, views from the other side, with the Lower Manhattan skyline on the left.

With the cars and bicycles below and out of sight, it feels like the whole experience is for us walkers.

Talk about your photo-ops! I see plenty of tourists in DC but never a ballerina posing for publicity shots.

Brooklyn Bridge Park

Brooklyn Bridge Park shown within the dotted lines.

I was inspired to see the newish Brooklyn Bridge Park after hearing from its former horticulture director Rebecca McMackin – in person and online – about the park’s many horticultural and ecological wonders. (She’s a terrific speaker; you can watch her TED talk here). But I had NO idea of its enormity and complexity, on 85 acres along the East River, including five re-imagined former piers.

I sure had no idea it included all these sports facilities! But no worries – there are plenty of plants.

Often with world-class views.

It’s all too much to capture in one visit with my iPhone, so I’ll refer you to the designer’s website for great shots.

Or for details about the plants, check out the park’s “horticulture” page.

For a bit of history, the park was built starting in 2010 and completed in 2021. What’s amazing to me is that after the landowners (the Port Authority) announced in 1984 that the land would be sold off to developers, somehow the residents won a long fight to turn the land into a park instead.

And the reason the piers were abandoned and available to become a park? The 1883 opening of the bridge, which started the eventual ruination of ferry service between the two cities.
I’m happy to report that this one is a city park that provides true relief from the crowds and noise. What a change from Little Island and the High Line!

View of one of the plant-filled piers from the shore. Plenty of spots for people, too.

Good Luck Finding Brooklyn Bridge Park!

I may have promised not to bore you with my travel troubles but this is park-related, so here goes – it’s impossible for out-of-towners to find! At least via the bridge. The map apps on my phone sent me circling the area for a frustrating 35 minutes to no avail. The park’s website was no help either, not even mentioning pedestrian access from the bridge. I finally turned to Google with a plain-English question (how to get there from the bridge) and learned that only by using a specific street address would maps get you there – not by using the park’s name.

And that address worked perfectly! Has no visitor ever suggested the park add that essential info to their “how to get to the park” info?

Visitors leaving the park and hoping to walk back across the bridge face another challenge – no signage anywhere. So I joined with dozens of visitors (seemingly all European) who, working as a team, finally found the magic stairs to the bridge’s pedestrian promenade. Someone wondered aloud if Brooklynites were trying to keep us outsiders outside.

The 9/11 Memorial

Back on the Manhattan side of the bridge, it was a quick walk to another site I’d never visited – the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. I hear good things about the museum that I didn’t visit but as for the outdoor “memorial” – water features where the Twin Towers once stood – I’ll just say I was disappointed. With the caveat that everyone’s experience is unique, et cetera.

Bonus Park – Bryant Park

Near my hotel in Midtown is a park I’d only seen covered with snow. This time, visiting on a balmy Sunday evening, the Classically designed city park filled with New Yorkers won me over big-time! Wiki tells us the first park on this site opened in 1847.