A security guard at the southern entrance to Domino Park (Image via Ben Weiss).
Domino Park has stationed private security guards and barricades at its entrances, drawing complaints from community members about the policy’s optics and implementation.
The recent addition of new security measures at the park is due to an increase in public drinking, fireworks and other illegal activities on the Williamsburg waterfront, says Michael Lampariello, director of Domino Park.
“We are trying to strike the appropriate balance between allowing unfettered park access and ensuring public safety,” he said in an emailed statement.
Some residents of Williamsburg and Greenpoint, however, believe that the new security apparatus at Domino Park feels unnecessarily imposing.
“I am sure that many people would be wary to go through a security checkpoint to enter a park space,” said Lincoln Restler, who lives in Greenpoint.
A visitor exiting Domino Park (Image via Ben Weiss).
During a visit to Domino Park last week, the security guards were not fully wearing masks, not socially distanced and did not explain why they were searching his bag, Restler claims.
“I was seriously disappointed by the experience I had,” he said.
Restler isn’t alone in his complaints about the picturesque park on the Williamsburg waterfront. When Lucille, a white resident of Williamsburg who declined to give her last name, and a friend visited Domino Park a few weeks ago, guards allowed Lucille to enter but turned away her friend, a person of color. Both were carrying the same drinks, she says.
More recently, Lucille tried to enter Domino Park in the early afternoon with a cup of iced tea and a chocolate croissant. Even though bringing in food and non-alcoholic beverages isn’t against park policy, guards told her to dispose of her food and drink, stating that she could “get lunch at Tacocina,” she alleges, referencing Danny Meyer’s taco stand inside of the park. Continue reading →
The Domino Park green market launched on Sunday. (Photo courtesy of GrowNYC).
Another method to acquire locally grown fruits and veggies has arrived in Williamsburg. Domino Park hosted its first green market at the corner of S. 4th St. & River St. last weekend near the East River waterfront; a free food scrap compost program also launched at the park in June.
The Domino Park market is open every Sunday from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. through November 22nd, and the market is a partnership with GrowNYC, which operates the McCarren Park and South Williamsburg markets.
(Photo courtesy of GrowNYC).
Opening day vendors at the Domino Park edition included She Wolf Bakery, Tucker Farms, Maynards Farm and Orchard, Knead Love Bakery, Back Home Farm and Green Table Farms. Accepted green market payment methods include cash, credit/debit, SNAP/EBT, FMNP checks and Health Bucks, according to GrowNYC’s website; SNAP/EBT payments receive a $2 bonus for every $5 spent.
Drop-off windows for the park’s food scrap compost program are on Mondays from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. and Thursdays from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. at 15 River St. Continue reading →
Domino Park on Friday (Image via Amanda Dombrowski)
Painted circles were added to the Domino Park lawn on Friday to help park-goers stick to social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic. The NYPD stepped-up enforcement at the Williamsburg park one week ago when Mayor de Blasio said he would be limiting the amount of people allowed to enter certain NYC Parks at once.
Crowds have regularly gathered at North Brooklyn parks since the start of the pandemic as measures to deter visitors have included the removal of basketball rims, and the closure of tennis courts and fitness equipment at McCarren Park. Continue reading →
New renderings of the Domino Sugar Refinery redevelopment have been released by PAU architects. The developer, Two Trees Management has proposed an 11-foot height increase to the original design of 292-314 Kent Avenue, historically known as the Havemeyer & Elder Filter, Pan & Finishing House.
(Courtesy of PAU Architects/World Architecture)
In 2017, the Landmarks Preservation Commission initially approved the plan to add a glass-domed building with a barrel-vaulted ceiling inside the brick facade of the centerpiece of the redevelopment.
The PAU design team has proposed a height increase of the building’s domed glass roof from 224 feet to 235 feet. New elevation diagrams also appear to eliminate the building’s 16th floor. Instead, levels one through four, 14, and 15 include increased ceiling spans of varying heights.
Updated proposals also include a newly designed stair system positioned between the two volumes of the domed expansion. Previous iterations of the stair system existed fully within the glass structure.
Pending approvals, the building will include ground-floor retail, 12 levels of office space, and a 14th-floor event space with double-height ceilings, a catering kitchen, and back-of-house areas. According to Two Trees, the developers of the property, completion is anticipated in the early 2020s.
(Courtesy of PAU Architects/World Architecture)
Over 2,000 apartments are planned at the Domino development, including more than 700 affordable apartments.
(Courtesy of PAU Architects/World Architecture)(Courtesy of PAU Architects/World Architecture)(Courtesy of PAU Architects/World Architecture)
1 S. 1st Street development: (Photo via YIMBY/Michael Young)
The residential high-rise construction along the contentious Greenpoint and Williamsburg waterfront is moving forward during the frigid winter months with towers advancing toward completion.
On the South Williamsburg waterfront, the rising towers at 1 S. 1st St. are being structurally connected, as YIMBY reports. When completed, the conjoined building will have 330 apartments (66 will be affordable) spanning 462,000 square feet directly next to Domino Park. The completion date for 1 S. 1st St. hasn’t been announced but the incongruent tower will count as the second residential building at the former Domino Sugar Factory, where two more towers are planned at the southern end of the site.
S. 1st St. rendering via COOKFOX Architects
1.2 miles north of S. 1st St. along the waterfront, “The Greenpoint,” is “awaiting imminent completion” according to YIMBY, and the 392-f00t-tall shiny glass tower is currently open for leasing/selling with 500 condos and rentals. A one bedroom rental at the namesake 39-story tower is going to set you back as much as $4,020 per month.
“The Greenpoint” at India Street on the waterfront (via YIMBY/Michael Young)
The 7th Annual Party for the Parks in Williamsburg
In North Brooklyn open green space for public recreation is considered scarce. But the mood was celebratory at the North Brooklyn Parks Alliances’ annual Party for the Parks held on Oct. 18 at the Wythe Hotel (80 Wythe Ave.).
The passage of the Waste Equity Bill that will cut in half North Brooklyn’s waste processing by Oct. 2019 and the opening of the ultra-modern Domino Park on the Williamsburg waterfront highlighted a year of environmental victories in an area once defined by the burdens of industrial pollution.
