Happy Friday! Mount Prospect Skate Park, the long-debated project that has divided neighbors and flared tempers for nearly two years, looks like it is finally coming to Brooklyn — albeit a bit smaller than originally planned.
Parks officials under the Adams administration originally planned to construct a 44,000 square foot skate park on Mount Prospect Park, an elevated section of green land between the Brooklyn Public Library and the Botanical Garden. The proposal, in collaboration with skateboarding legend Tony Hawk, was set to cost $11 million and result in one of the largest skate parks on the East Coast.
That was in 2024. Public outcry was fierce and immediate, with hundreds of Brooklynites flocking to a community engagement hearing to protest paving over the historic parkland and bemoan the lack of community involvement in the process. They were matched by an equally passionate contingent of skate park supporters, who advocated for what they saw as a fun, welcome community amenity.
The Parks Department may have finally reached a compromise. The new plans, revealed at another packed community meeting on Tuesday, reduce the total square footage by more than half to 19,500 square feet. Officials are also promising to plant 19 trees and construct a garden space alongside the concrete bowls and ramps of the skate park.
City Council Member Crystal Hudson believes the years of community advocacy were ultimately a good thing. “I think that all of the debate and fervor over this project has made the project better,” Hudson told BK Reader.
Local skaters are happy, if slightly disappointed in the watered-down design. Community opponents, organized by the Friends of Mount Prospect Park advocacy group, remain defiant, if slightly declawed.
Construction is expected to begin within the year. I guess I should start practicing my ollies.
Rep. Dan Goldman on Thursday challenged his NY-10 Democratic primary opponent, former Comptroller Brad Lander, to seven televised debates before the upcoming June 23 primary.
New York state earned the #1 spot in a national ranking of technology laws that keep kids safe online, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced.
Riker’s Island’s Rose M. Singer Center, the jail complex’s facility for women and transgender, gender nonconforming, nonbinary and intersex detainees, reopened its library almost a year after it was closed.
The U.S. lost 92,000 jobs in February, according to data released Friday by the federal Department of Labor, surprising observers who had expected employers to add around 60,000 jobs.
A new Lidl discount grocery store is set to open on March 18 in Crown Heights.
NYPD is investigating at least 10 commercial break-ins since early December that authorities believe may be linked to a single suspect.
The latest from Opinion: Don’t turn Brooklyn’s waterfront into a luxury amenity.
A new Italian bar, Bar Ferdinando, which replaces the 121-year-old Ferdinando’s Focacceria, set an opening date of April 15 in Carroll Gardens.
Our World In Photos
Photo: Louise Delmotte/AP
TOKYO — This sport is one irrefutable American export loved around the world: Japan's Shohei Ohtani is surrounded by photographers as he leaves the field after Japan won a World Baseball Classic Pool C game against Taiwan, Friday, March 6, 2026 in Tokyo.
For more pictures like this, see Our World in Photos.
Stressed out by politics? You’re not imagining it, and research shows that social media is largely to blame
The TikTok logo is seen on a cellphone. AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File
For the better part of two decades, the American Psychological Association has documented a steady increase in the phenomenon of “political stress” among American voters. However, research and reporting during that same period have focused primarily on the political consequences of increasing polarization and division rather than the psychological consequences of the modern political climate.
As a political scientist studying how the public engages with politics and media, I wondered: What does it mean to live in a political environment that is highly confrontational, emotionally charged and difficult to escape? And how does that environment affect people over time?
The PREMIUM tag indicates articles that come with extra photographs or special coverage. Thinking of a subscription? Try us out with a day pass for just 99 cents. No long-term commitment for a subscription.
The Mini
Our solver finished in 2 minutes 34 seconds. Can you beat it?
Cartoon Sketchbook
By Christopher Weyant
For the Road
Get weird: The unofficial mayor of Coney Island, Dick Zigun, will release a book about the People’s Playground called “Coney Island Crackpots! Six Weird American Plays.” The book features six plays written by Zigun, along with a collection of color photographs from original productions at Coney Island USA. Learn more about the mayor and his new book of plays.
Happy Birthday to Basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal!
On This Day in 1932, the Eagle reported: “Homing pigeons constitute the best chance for the kidnapers of the Lindbergh baby to establish communication with Col. Lindbergh. Though the pigeons could be used to carry a message from the colonel, they would not be strong enough to carry money in many bills of small denomination, which is what the kidnapers would insist upon.”
Got a tip? Send it in to [email protected].