A new section of Bushwick Inlet Park is now open. The northernmost parcel of land located near North 14th Street is called Motiva, and it opened to the public last week on April 30.
Motiva joins two other sections of Bushwick Inlet Park that are open to the public. There’s 50 Kent, which opened in 2022, and the soccer field at 86 Kent, which was renovated that same year. Two remaining parcels, Bayside and CitiStorage, are sill unfinished.
One month ago, before Motiva opened, Greenpointers reported that the North Brooklyn Parks Alliance sent a letter to Mayor Mamdani, urging him to complete the entirety of Bushwick Inlet Park.
The city promised to turn the parcels of land into a 27.8-acre waterfront park as one of the key hallmarks of the controversial 2005 waterfront rezoning, however, more than 20 years later, only a fraction of the park has been completed.
The Brooklyn Downtown Star wrote that the Motiva parcel was fenced off for a period of time “to allow newly planted trees and shrubs to take root.”
Now, locals can enjoy a small beach, direct access to the water, bird watching, and native plants at what Councilman Lincoln Restler calls a “waterfront oasis.”
Councilman Restler wrote on Instagram that the opening of Motiva is “huge news for Greenpointers and everyone who loves parks and spectacular public spaces.”
“While the completion of Bushwick Inlet Park is far away – the Inlet portion of the work is officially OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!”
In the same post, North Brooklyn Parks Alliance thanked Restler, writing that he “announced early after his first election that Bushwick Inlet Park would be a top priority, and he has remained laser focused on this park in the years since.”
Why is this parcel called Motiva? It’s because this section of land was acquired by New York City in 2014 from a fossil fuel company called Motiva Enterprises.
Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park explained on their website that a lot of this land was underwater until Bushwick Creek was infilled during the 19th century.
“The property was used by various ship building and ship repair operations, and once was envisioned as the terminus for a freight rail system extending the length of Long Island.”