City Approves $3 Million Streetscaping Plan for Downtown Brooklyn Cultural District
The city has officially approved a $3 million streetscaping plan as part of the overall plan to create a cultural district on the border of downtown Brooklyn and Fort Greene, according to Crain’s New York. The plan, which will transform public spaces along several streets including Fulton Street, Ashland Place, Lafayette Avenue, will include ripping up the existing sidewalks and replacing them with dark stone slabs embedded with a sprinkling of lights. There will also be new seating and landscaping along a number of blocks north of Atlantic Avenue where patrons of popular institutions like the Brooklyn Academy of Music and BRIC arts and media gather. The idea is to turn that area into a cultural epicenter in Brooklyn, much like Lincoln Center in Manhattan, but comprised of several independent entities.
Half of the construction costs for the new district will be covered by the developers, while the rest will be funded by the city, a process that could take years.
The idea has been building since the days of the Giuliani Administration, and it finally has a name. From now on it will be referred to as the Brooklyn Cultural District.
[via Crain’s New York]
[Previous Brooklyn Cultural District Coverage]
Image courtesy of Downtown Brooklyn Partnership
