The city promised to deliver Bushwick Inlet Park to the community as one of the key hallmarks of the controversial 2005 waterfront rezoning. However, more than 20 years later, the promise is far from fulfilled, with only a fraction of the park completed. Local advocacy groups are now calling on the city to finally complete the park, once and for all.

North Brooklyn Parks Alliance, along with other local stakeholders, sent a letter to Mayor Zohran Mamdani, highlighting that the area’s infrastructure has not kept pace with the influx of new residents. 

“The 2005 Greenpoint–Williamsburg rezoning paired substantial residential growth with a commitment to deliver meaningful new open space,” the letter reads. “Since then, tens of thousands of housing units have been built and the population has expanded dramatically. Yet the park that was central to that public agreement remains largely inaccessible.”

Bushwick Inlet Park consists of five separate parcels of land, all in different stages of development. 50 Kent and 86 Kent have already opened to the public. The remaining parcels—Bayside, CitiStorage, and Motiva—are tied up in various stages of litigation, environmental remediation, and construction (the CitStorage building was finally demolished last year, after sitting vacant for years). Less than a third of the promised park has been developed—the other lots continue in a state of dereliction.

Advocates say the city should do more to speed up these timelines and hold responsible polluters accountable. They also asked the city to commit to a binding completion timeline. 

“The Citistorage parcels—6 acres acquired in 2016 at a cost of $160 million—were cleared with demolition completed in January 2025. A transparent investigation, remediation, and construction schedule should now follow without further delay,” they write.

Advocates from Make McGuinness Safe, Banker’s Anchor Public Plaza, North Brooklyn Dogs, North Brooklyn Open Streets Coalition, Brooklyn Brewery, among other local organizations, also signed on. 

North Brooklyn Parks Alliance also teamed up with New Yorkers for Parks to turn the letter into a petition, which you can check out here. 

The initiative also garnered support from Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, City Council Member Lincoln Restler, State Assemblymember Emily Gallagher, State Senator Kristen Gonzalez, and Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez.