Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the start of construction on Box Street Park, a $40 million waterfront project in Greenpoint that will turn a former MTA site along Newtown Creek into 2.5 acres of public green space. The park was first promised as part of the neighborhood’s 2005 waterfront rezoning and is now expected to be completed by the end of summer 2028.
GREENPOINT, Brooklyn — October 1, 2026 — After more than two decades of delays, New York City has officially begun work on Box Street Park, a long-promised waterfront green space at the northern edge of Greenpoint.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani joined NYC Parks Commissioner Tricia Shimamura, Council Member Lincoln Restler, Assembly Member Emily Gallagher, community advocates and other officials Thursday to announce that construction on the project is finally moving forward.
The Mayor’s Office confirmed that the $40 million capital project will transform a former Metropolitan Transportation Authority facility into a 2.5-acre public park along Newtown Creek. Construction is expected to be completed by the end of summer 2028.
NYC Mayor’s Office — Box Street Park announcement
A Park Greenpoint Has Waited More Than 20 Years For
The story of Box Street Park dates back to the major Greenpoint-Williamsburg waterfront rezoning adopted in 2005.
City Council records confirm that the Council approved the Greenpoint-Williamsburg rezoning and related waterfront land-use changes on May 11, 2005. The rezoning allowed substantial residential development while establishing a broader framework for waterfront public access.
NYC Council — 2005 Greenpoint-Williamsburg Rezoning
The city’s Greenpoint-Williamsburg Waterfront Access Plan still identifies the area as part of a coordinated system of waterfront open space created through the 2005 plan.
For residents, however, one important piece remained missing: Box Street Park.
At Thursday’s event, Mamdani noted that the location remained essentially a cracked asphalt lot despite a promise dating back more than 20 years.
“Today, we are finally making good on a promise that Greenpoint families have been waiting decades to see fulfilled,” Mamdani said in the city’s official announcement.
During the press conference, he joked about a Google Maps review of the still-unbuilt park whose only listed drawback was that it “does not exist.” The point underscored how long residents had been waiting for the project.
What Will Be Built at Box Street Park?
The new park will occupy 2.5 acres along Newtown Creek and is designed to combine waterfront access with recreational and landscaped areas.
According to the Mayor’s Office, Box Street Park will include:
- an elevated waterfront esplanade;
- ADA-accessible pathways;
- terraced granite seating;
- a central lawn and landscaped gardens;
- a basketball court;
- a picnic area;
- separate dog runs for small and large dogs;
- a public restroom;
- native trees, grasses, shrubs and other plantings.
The city says the park will also connect existing waterfront esplanades to the east and west, closing a major gap in the Greenpoint waterfront network.
Mamdani described the goal during the announcement as creating continuous public access along this section of the shoreline.
The transcript says that once the project is complete, pedestrians will be able to travel along the entire stretch without the existing fence interruption.
Construction Begins Now, With Major Work Starting in November
According to Mamdani, preliminary site preparation began with Thursday’s announcement.
He said demolition and excavation are scheduled to begin in November 2026.
Asked by a reporter when the project would be finished, Mamdani gave a specific timetable:
the end of summer 2028.
The same completion target appears in the official Mayor’s Office announcement.
That makes the project timeline roughly two years from groundbreaking to anticipated completion.
How the $40 Million Park Is Being Funded
The city says the current 2.5-acre phase is fully funded.
According to the Mayor’s Office, funding includes:
- $34.5 million from the Office of the Mayor;
- within that amount, a new $2 million commitment from the Mamdani administration in the September Capital Commitment Plan;
- $500,000 from the New York City Council;
- approximately $5 million from local developers through air-rights sales and private funding.
That brings the current project to approximately $40 million.
Council Member Lincoln Restler said during the event that earlier versions of the project were expected to cost approximately $14 million, but the project now costs about $41 million after years of changes, delays and additional funding needs.
The Mayor’s Office formally describes the active capital project as a $40 million project.
Why Box Street Park Took So Long
The Box Street property has been complicated by its use as an MTA facility and by the broader environmental and infrastructure challenges of the Greenpoint waterfront.
Restler said the MTA had agreed to vacate the site as part of the commitments surrounding the 2005 rezoning but remained there for years.
A portion of the MTA’s Emergency Response Unit remains connected to the site.
The city says the current park will eventually expand by another 0.5 acres once that MTA unit is relocated from the southeastern corner.
Restler said officials now expect the relocation to allow a second phase of the park to move forward in roughly two years.
An Earlier City Plan Already Envisioned a 2.5-Acre Box Street Park
The idea is not new.
An official NYC Parks Greenpoint-Williamsburg Waterfront Open Space Master Plan described Box Street Park as a proposed 2.5-acre neighborhood park at 65 Commercial Street at the end of Box Street.
That earlier plan envisioned both active and passive recreation, waterfront seating, a multipurpose field and access near the mouth of Newtown Creek.
NYC Parks — Greenpoint-Williamsburg Waterfront Open Space Master Plan
The design being advanced today has evolved substantially from those earlier concepts, but the basic commitment — a roughly 2.5-acre waterfront park at this location — has been part of city planning for years.
The Newtown Creek Superfund Connection
Box Street Park sits beside Newtown Creek, one of New York City’s most heavily industrialized waterways.
Mamdani referenced its pollution history during the announcement.
That history is supported by federal records.
On September 27, 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency formally added Newtown Creek to the federal Superfund National Priorities List.
EPA said testing had detected contaminants including pesticides, metals, PCBs and volatile organic compounds in creek sediment and water.
EPA — Newtown Creek added to Superfund list in 2010
At Thursday’s event, Mamdani said the federal Superfund designation addressed the cleanup side of the waterfront’s transformation, while the park project is intended to restore public access to the shoreline.
Native Plants and Climate Resilience
The city’s plan goes beyond adding recreational facilities.
The Mayor’s Office says the park will use native vegetation intended to provide shade, improve air quality, strengthen resilience to extreme weather and create habitat for local wildlife.
Plantings are expected to include:
blackgum and Eastern redbud trees, purple lovegrass, little bluestem, Virginia rose and seaside goldenrod.
Those details are also reflected in Mamdani’s remarks at the site.
Another Piece of the Greenpoint Waterfront
Box Street Park is part of a much larger effort to create continuous public access along the Greenpoint-Williamsburg shoreline.
Parks Commissioner Tricia Shimamura said the project builds on other waterfront investments.
She pointed specifically to the recently completed Motiva portion of Bushwick Inlet Park, which she described as a $10 million project that restored tidal wetlands and created shoreline access for kayakers.
The new Box Street Park is designed to connect waterfront esplanades on either side of the property, making it more than an isolated neighborhood park.
It fills a missing link in the public waterfront system envisioned through the Greenpoint-Williamsburg rezoning.
Community Activists Fought for the Park for Years
The groundbreaking also highlighted the unusually long community campaign behind the project.
Local advocate Acacia Thompson said she learned about the unbuilt park after moving back to Greenpoint in 2015 and later founded Friends of Box Street Park.
She recalled years of meetings with NYC Parks, elected officials and neighborhood groups, including a 2018 design-scoping process that led residents to push for a combination of active and passive recreation rather than the earlier soccer-field concept.
That history helps explain why Thursday’s announcement was presented not simply as a new administration initiative but as the culmination of years of neighborhood organizing.
The Bigger Greenpoint Story: More Housing, but Promised Infrastructure Lagged
Box Street Park also reflects a larger debate over development in North Brooklyn.
The 2005 rezoning opened large portions of the Greenpoint-Williamsburg waterfront to residential development. City Council records confirm the adoption of those zoning changes in May 2005.
Since then, substantial residential development has transformed Greenpoint.
Restler argued during Thursday’s event that thousands of homes were built while some promised public infrastructure — particularly waterfront park space — took much longer to arrive.
Mamdani later connected that history to current housing policy, saying additional development needs to be accompanied by infrastructure, including green space and services for new residents.
What Happens Next
The immediate next steps are now relatively clear:
site preparation is underway, demolition and excavation are expected to begin in November, and the city projects completion by the end of summer 2028.
After more than two decades of plans, rezonings, advocacy, environmental cleanup and disputes over land use, Box Street Park has moved from a promise on paper to an active construction project.
For Greenpoint residents who have watched new buildings rise around the waterfront while waiting for the public space pledged in 2005, that distinction is significant.
Key Facts
- Project: Box Street Park
- Location: Greenpoint, Brooklyn, along Newtown Creek
- Announcement: October 1, 2026
- Size: 2.5 acres in the current phase
- Estimated cost: $40 million
- Construction: Site preparation beginning now; demolition and excavation expected in November 2026
- Expected completion: End of summer 2028
- Future expansion: Additional 0.5 acres following relocation of an MTA Emergency Response Unit
- Major features: waterfront esplanade, ADA-accessible paths, granite seating, lawn, gardens, basketball court, picnic area, dog runs and public restroom
- Historical context: Park commitment traces back to the 2005 Greenpoint-Williamsburg waterfront rezoning
- Environmental context: Newtown Creek has been a federal EPA Superfund site since 2010
Official Sources and Documents
- NYC Mayor’s Office — October 1, 2026: Official announcement of the start of construction, $40 million project cost, 2.5-acre design, funding and summer 2028 completion date. Read the Mayor’s Office announcement
- NYC Mayor’s Office — Official Transcript: Full transcript of Mayor Mamdani, Parks Commissioner Tricia Shimamura, Council Member Lincoln Restler, Assembly Member Emily Gallagher, community advocates and press Q&A. Read the official transcript
- NYC Council — 2005 Greenpoint-Williamsburg Rezoning: Official record of the zoning resolution approved May 11, 2005. NYC Council Resolution 962-2005
- NYC Parks — Greenpoint-Williamsburg Waterfront Open Space Master Plan: Earlier official plan identifying Box Street Park as a proposed 2.5-acre waterfront park at 65 Commercial Street. View the NYC Parks master plan
- NYC Planning — Waterfront Access Plan BK-1: Current zoning provisions governing the Greenpoint-Williamsburg waterfront access network created through the 2005 plan. NYC Planning Waterfront Access Plan
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — Newtown Creek Superfund: EPA’s official 2010 announcement adding Newtown Creek to the Superfund National Priorities List. EPA Newtown Creek Superfund announcement
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