The Arches, the space under the Brooklyn Bridge that was closed off for more than a decade and is slowing revealing itself as a public park, has grown a bit bigger. The Department of Transportation opened the first sections in May 2023, creating mostly passive spaces under an unused off-ramp of the bridge, and several playing courts closer to Murry Bergtraum High School, right there under the shadow of the bridge.

This latest section is 1/3 of an acre and includes simply a dozen oaks, elms and Japanese pagoda trees and benches, but it also allows parkgoers to get right under the arches — there are 53 of them that were meticulously restored in this ages-long process. Just south of this new section is the Brooklyn Banks, the skateboard park that is still fenced off (photo at the bottom), and near there will be a large passageway under the bridge — the Vanderwater arch, once on a now forgotten street, Vanderwater Street — that will serve as a pedestrian-only connection between Chinatown and the Seaport.

This all started because skateboarders who used the space under the Brooklyn Bridge — dubbed the Brooklyn Banks — never gave up on their dream of seeing the skate park reopened. When they came to CB1 to try once again back in fall 2020, stars aligned and members of the committee glommed on, seeing an opportunity for an even bigger park using those spaces and then some. That effort is called Gotham Park, and the goal is to eventually pull together nine acres of contiguous park space in the area.

NYC DOT