Brooklyn Bridge Park : a dying waterfront transformed /

The story of Brooklyn Bridge Park is a case study of the ins and outs of planning, funding, and building a large-scale urban park. The idea to replace Brooklyn's aging and increasingly defunct piers on the East River first surfaced in 1987 when the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey determined to sell the waterfront to developers. After 30 years of organizing, advocacy, controversy, progress, and setbacks, today's park is a popular destination and a thriving, multiuse recreation hub. The authors (writer Krogius and vice chair, Brooklyn Bridge Park Corp. Witty) detail what it took to get from the initial concept to finished park and the extensive cast of characters who helped or hindered along the way. Using interviews, newspaper articles, blogs, and firsthand experience, they present a comprehensive sequence of events illustrated with observations from the chief participants including local residents, government officials, park supporters, city planners, developers, landscape architects, preservationists, and others. -VERDICT A readable account of a complicated, sprawling park that has an equally complicated, sweeping backstory. Urban planners, landscape architects, park activists, and anyone involved in public works projects would do well to add this to their reading list.-Amy Trendler, Ball State Univ. Libs., Muncie, IN © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.