Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Jay Street Plaza Gets Approval from Landmarks Commission

By Janet Upadhye | January 8, 2014 3:08pm
 This is a rendering of DUMBO's newest plaza that will include seating, bike racks and a land bridge at the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge Park.
This is a rendering of DUMBO's newest plaza that will include seating, bike racks and a land bridge at the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge Park.
View Full Caption
Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates.

DUMBO — The Landmarks Preservation Commission approved plans to transform a vacant lot at the end of Jay Street into a public plaza complete with granite stone seating, fencing and bike racks. The plan also calls for the construction of a land bridge that will connect the new plaza to Brooklyn Bridge Park.

"Having a new access point to the park for everyone on the east side of the neighborhood is fantastic," said DUMBO BID director Alexandria Sica.

The lot — currently home to a temporary "beach" with sand, umbrellas and benches — will be blocked off with large granite stones to prohibit cars from entering the planned plaza.

Commissioners particularly liked designs to remove the existing asphalt on part of the street in order to expose the historic cobblestones and train tracks underneath, Curbed reported.

The tracks are "remnants of the Jay Street Connecting Railroad, which operated between 1904 and 1959 moving freight cars from car floats on the East River to factories and warehouses in Brooklyn," according to the Landmarks Commission's Facebook page.

The plaza will be paid for by discretionary funds from Council Member Stephen Levin and is planned for completion by the end of the year.