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Enjoy the many beautiful landscaped outdoor
spaces throughout our district
The triangle-shaped traffic island known as Fowler Square was redesigned as a public plaza and reopened in 2018. With support of area businesses and institutions, Community Board 2, elected officials, historians, and activists responsible for saving the statue of General Fowler, FAB FULTON was awarded the project as part of the New York City DOT Plaza Program. An inviting open space with patio tables and shade umbrellas located at the nexus of a busy intersection linking Downtown Brooklyn to Fort Greene, Fowler Square is a popular space to meet up, take lunch and people watch.
With the support of elected officials, community leaders, surrounding businesses, residents and institutions, Putnam Triangle Plaza came to be as a new community open space after a NYC DOT study and review period, along with community workshops, in fall 2011. Permanent design and reconstruction was completed in 2019, and the new plaza space reopened to the public, complete with plentiful new seating including shade umbrellas, improved lighting, new trees, a water fountain, and green landscaping. In summer 2021, the plaza was renamed for educator and activist Jitu Weusi, and it continues to be a favorite neighborhood space for residents.
In 2022, as part of a larger NYC DOT street plan to implement traffic-calming measures throughout the Clinton Hill and Fort Greene residential areas, and in response to a tragic accident at the intersection, the former one-way strip between Fulton Street and Vanderbilt Avenue was closed to vehicle traffic and transformed into a plaza. Currently outfitted with temporary plaza furnishings until capital improvements are executed, Gates Avenue Plaza provides a nice oupost adjacent to Gates Avenue Triangle, where greenery and landscaped plantings are abundant, creating a garden-like space for the whole community to enjoy.
The area where Fulton Street, Greene Avenue, Hanson Place, and South Oxford Street meet (known to longtime residents as “7-Corners”) has become an enhanced public space on two sides with the addition of new trees, landscaped green elements, helpful wayfinding signage, and permanent bench seating. FAB FULTON secured funding for the project opposite a larger park to transform unused street space surrounded by traffic cones into a vibrant public greenspace for the community. Through continuous support via grants and other sources, FAB FULTON is able to maintain ongoing planting and landscaping services by The Hort to keep the area beautiful and lush.
The NYC Department of Transportation made several pedestrian safety improvements and an enhanced public space at Fulton Street and Gates Avenue. Newly planted areas, more trees, permanent benches, and additional lighting were installed for this project made possible with funding secured by FAB FULTON. Additionally, the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation removed the 8-foot-tall gate that once surrounded Gateway Triangle for decades and opened up that space. The Parks Department continues to maintain it, supplying seasonal flowers and plants for the community to enjoy.
One of the oldest parks in the city, Cuyler Gore was named for a prominent local Presbyterian minister, Dr. Theodore L. Cuyler prior to 1901. Expanded and renovated twice in the 1980s, this park was redesigned to include more greenery, seating and brick paths; the popular water sprinkler feature and children’s play area attract families from the neighborhood year round. The park remains free of monuments but full of trees and flowers, just as Dr. Cuyler instructed so many years ago. Still, FAB Fulton continues to advocate for improvements needed to fix drainage problems and make the playground safer. In 2021, a renovation and re-design process was launched with community input meetings. Post-COVID, the procurement process is projected to end in April 2024, with construction to commence after that.
Formerly known as “BAM Park” on account of its proximity to the historic cultural institution and closed for years due to safety issues, the fenced-in triangle space opposite Fowler Square in Fort Greene was redesigned and opened up as a new park in 2019 to be managed and maintained by the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation. In August 2019 it was officially renamed Betty Carter Park for the renowned African-American jazz artist who once took cello lessons in this same park and called the neighborhood her home for years. The park is positioned as a calming transition from the green neighborhoods of Fort Greene to the bustling streets of Downtown Brooklyn to the west on Fulton Street.
