Announcing Walk On The Water, Street Stack's First Event on May 9th

There are a couple of places in NYC so overwhelmingly majestic that they temporarily melt your problems away. I’ve always thought the Brooklyn Waterfront looking towards Manhattan was such a place, the kind of place that makes you throw your arms up, turn to the person next to yo,u and say, “one day, all this will be ours!” So I’m happy to announce that Street Stack’s first IRL event will be along a lovely, dare I say, iconic portion of the coast as we do a brief but impactful walking tour.

We will walk from Fulton Ferry to the end of Atlantic Avenue. The waterfront isn’t exactly a hidden gem, but I can’t think of anywhere with a greater density of planning and urban design history, and I can guarantee that you’ve never looked at it the way you will after the tour.

• We’ll talk about oysters, shorelines, and endangered marine worms.

• The majority of the walk will be along Brooklyn Bridge Park, probably the greatest piece of NYC landscape architecture since Olmsted, and a fascinating case study of both design and park operations.

• We can oggle one of America’s biggest transportation boondoggles, aka the crumbling BQE, and talk about the bold proposals for what to do with it.

• We’ll talk about public space, controversial basketball courts, and shady real estate.

All of this and more will be delivered by ME. Lest you question by BK waterfront bona fides:

• When I was 10, before the park existed, my friend’s dog jumped off the piers into the East River, and the smell of her in the car home made me gag.

• In high school, my friend got a summer job working in the Brooklyn Ice Cream factory on the Ferry Landing, and he got fired for giving us too much free ice cream.

• I throw a hot dog party on the public grills here every year and have fought with the police for my right to play music from a small speaker.

And if all that’s not enough, then you can read four of the most popular things written on Street Stack, which all happen to be about waterfronts.

We’ll meet at Fulton Ferry landing and walk South through Brooklyn Bridge Park and slightly up Atlantic Ave. The walk will last about an hour. After this, we’ll grab a drink + bite at Henry Public.

Simply respond to this email (or leave a comment)! It’s first come first serve but paid subscribers get priority! And it’s not too late to become one. Once attendance is set, I will send an invite to everyone. It’s mothers day weekend too, so bring your mom.