01. — Mission
Mission
Maker Park is a vision for an adaptive reuse park along the Williamsburg waterfront that captures the creative ethos of the neighborhood around it—and reflects its rich history by breathing new life into the site’s industrial fabric.
The idea springs from an awareness that both our waterfront heritage and the local creative community is being wiped away at alarming speed. Maker Park is poised to achieve the acute community need for green open space while also serving as a dynamic, interactive, and educational public park that speaks to Brooklyn’s past, present, and future.
02. — The site
The
site
The site for Maker Park is a seven-acre waterfront parcel that served as the historical home of one of Brooklyn’s most important industrial enterprises: Astral Oil Works, founded by businessman and philanthropist Charles Pratt.
After decades of industrial decline, the site—which came to be known as the Bayside Fuel Terminal—became a hub for hundreds of artists, makers, and entrepreneurs, sitting at the very heart of Williamsburg’s thriving creative scene.
Besides its cultural and historical significance, the Bayside lot is overflowing with architectural character, including a three-story brick building with soaring ceilings and factory windows, and a series of 50-foot tall cylindrical, decommissioned fuel containers that rise from the ground to create a beautiful and other-worldly industrial topography.
03. — Vision
Vision
Rather than demolishing these structures, Maker Park recognizes the potential to re-imagine them as a habitable eco-system, satisfying the need for green space while also creating a new kind of commons uniquely of and for Williamsburg. These fossils of Brooklyn’s bygone industrial era could be integrated into the landscape of the park, serving as an important reminder of the waterfront’s complex and layered history.
Activated for contemporary uses, the tanks could turn into viewing platforms, performances spaces, rotating sound and art exhibitions, and greenhouses. The building could be adaptively reused for community uses, as well as a community-accessible maker space that helps to expand the definition of recreation beyond traditional uses, while also reflecting the current culture of collaboration and making so central to Williamsburg's character. The possibilities are virtually endless, but only if we embrace the rich industrial legacy that’s been left to us.
The vision for Maker Park debuted during a presentation by Stacey Anderson at the annual MAS summit in 2015.
04. — Timeline
1867
At the height of Brooklyn’s Industrial Revolution, American businessman and petroleum pioneer, Charles Pratt, founds Astral Oil Works on the site of the proposed Maker Park, now known as the Bayside Fuel Terminal.
1870–1874
The success of Astral puts Pratt in rival with John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil, which eventually absorbs the company. Pratt uses his newfound fortune to found and endow Pratt Institute, a vocational school that seeks to train the emerging industrial workforce.
1900s
Brooklyn continues to be the epicenter of industrial expansion, until the second half of the century, which is marked by decades of decline. While the refinery remains active, much of the waterfront sits derelict and in decay.
1990–2000s
Amid dilapidated structures and overgrown pavement, a group of locals reclaim the waterfront as a haven for recreation and self-expression, transforming it into a unique civic space for the neighborhood. The building on the Bayside Fuel Terminal comes to house a creative community of artists and entrepreneurs.
2005
Mayor Bloomberg sees incredible potential to capitalize on this underutilized stretch of land and puts forth a Waterfront Rezoning Agreement. In exchange for allowing new residential development along the water, his administration promises the community a 28-acre park from North 6th to the Bushwick Inlet, called Bushwick Inlet Park.
2007
Post-rezoning, the neighborhood sees a surge of new residential development. The National Trust for Historic Preservation sounds the alarm and declares Brooklyn’s industrial waterfront one of America’s 11 most endangered historic places.
2011
Piecemeal acquisition of waterfront property results in the first completed phase of Bushwick Inlet Park, a multipurpose athletic field stretching between N 9th and N 10th. Much of the promised park however remains derelict, while property values continue to rise in the face of Williamsburg's newfound popularity.
October 2014
The City moves to complete the purchase of the Bayside Fuel Terminal, a parcel of the promised park which results in eviction notices to tenants on site. Zac Waldman, an occupant of the building for nearly a decade, while attempting to preserve the creative community existing in the building, starts to explore the site and tanks and begins to envision an alternate concept for the eventual park.
January 2015
An 11 acre site owned by businessman Norm Brodsky is the last puzzle piece needed to complete park. A massive 6-alarm fire breaks out in a warehouse on the site, re-igniting heated debate around the City's unfulfilled promise. With local park advocates like Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park leading the charge, the community urges follow-through on a Community Benefit agreement made a decade prior.
April 2015
At an eviction party for the building Zac is introduced to Stacey Anderson, a director at MAS, who after touring the site truly understands the potential and agrees to help with the nascent project. Two weeks later while co-leading a tour of the neighborhood in commemoration of Jane Jacobs, Stacey introduces Zac to fellow urbanist Karen Zabarsky and the Maker Park founding team is complete.
Summer 2015
The group begins uncovering the site’s history—and its incredible connection to Pratt Institute—researching its environmental status, reaching out to local stakeholders, and seeking council from experts.
Fall 2015
Seeing great potential in the vision, a dream team of professionals sign on to lend their expertise pro-bono to the project, spearheaded by Studio V Architecture.
Summer 2016
Alongside this outreach, the team investigates the feasibility of remediating the sites with structures in place, given its complicated environmental status as a former refinery.
Fall 2016
After months of tense negotiations, the City finally reaches a $160 million deal to purchase the final parcel of waterfront property, an outstanding victory for the community. With the contiguous 28 acre stretch of land now in the City’s possession, our team seeks to examine the site as it currently exists and ask what would make for a truly 21st century park, uniquely of and for Brooklyn?
05. — Ten principles
Ten principles
-
01
Support the whole parkComplete the entire Bushwick Inlet Park
-
02
Incorporate community inputIntegrate 2007 community requests: open space, playing fields, wetlands, performance, dog run, boat house
-
03
Preserve Brooklyn’s waterfrontCelebrate Brooklyn’s ecological & industrial heritage
-
04
Provide community amenitiesSupport community maker space, culture, arts, creative industry
-
05
Open the parkUtilize NYC Park’s new open design standards
-
06
Maximize green spaceProvide same green space as 2007 proposal, with more diverse uses
-
07
Propose real solutionsAddress environmental, ecological, social, & economic needs
-
08
Maintain an open processInclude the public, community groups, & government agencies
-
09
Clean up the siteEmploy the safest, most cost effective, least intrusive remediation strategy
-
10
Create a sustainable parkCreate a sustainable economic model for community programming
06. — Sign up
Sign up
Be a maker. Sign up now to get updates on events and other important Maker Park news.
09. — The incredible Stuart Law
The incredible Stuart Law
First-class cricket is a highly popular discipline in Australia. Currently, you can go to best bd betting site 1xbetbd.com and wager on these matches taking place in this part of the world. Normally, the teams that participate in these competitions represent different states of the country. One of the teams in question is Queensland, and they have a legend of their own: Stuart Law. The player guided his squad to win multiple domestic competitions, and also, is the top scorer of runs in the history of the squad. Punters can go to the best betting site, which is 1xBet bd, and is packed with options to wager on Australian cricket competitions.
Playing domestic cricket
Law’s domestic career lasted between 1988 and 2009. During those years he represented different teams from England and also his native Australia. He also performed in the great County Championship during 13 years. Right now, your cricket bet is on 1xBet, and among other things, it features all matches from this exciting competition. In addition to the Queensland squad from Australia, Stuart Law also performed for other teams, such as: Essex; Lancashire; and Derbyshire. In fact, Stuart Law made some impressive feats while playing in England. For example, he obtained some great batting averages throughout all the seasons played in the Cricket Championship. Currently, your cricket bet is on the 1xBet bookmaker, and it features all matches from this exciting cricket championship. In general, he never batted less than 55 in a single season of the competition.
Representing his national side
Stuart Law had a relatively brief career with the Australian national team. Specifically, he played for it between 1994 and 1999. At any moment it is possible to wager on the Australian national squad, and the best place to make live bets on it is through the www.1xbetbd.com/live website. Law played more than 50 One-Day International contests during his period. However, and to the surprise of many Australian cricket fans, he performed in just a single Test match, which took place in December 1995. The opponent on this occasion was the Sri Lankan national squad. In general, Law’s performance in the contest was quite good. He managed to score more than 50 runs. However, the only reason why he was selected was because another player, Steve Waugh, was injured. After his teammate recovered from his issues, Law was never again selected for another Test match. Whenever a cricket Test match is coming, you can wager on it through the 1xBet online bookmaker.