Fort Greene Park

History

Fort Greene Park includes part of the high ground where the Continental Army built fortifications prior to the Battle of Long Island, during the early days of the Revolutionary War. The site was chosen and construction supervised by General Nathanael Greene, and it was named Fort Putnam, after Rufus Putnam, George Washington's chief engineer. During the War of 1812, when the possibility of a British invasion of New York led to the re-use of the site for defense, the newly-rebuilt fortification was named Fort Greene in General Greene's honor.

After the fort's military use had waned, poet Walt Whitman, then the editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, strongly advocated for reclaiming the space for use as a public park. The City of Brooklyn had, by 1842, bought property around the fort from the Cowenhoven family, and in 1847 established what was then called Washington Park, Brooklyn's second park, after City Park (today's Commodore Barry Park).

In 1867, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, designers of Central Park and Prospect Park, prepared a plan for the redesign of the park, the name of which was changed to Fort Greene Park.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, many parts of New York City were destroyed, including several trees in the park and the surrounding Fort Greene area.{{overlay

Renovation plans, 2017–present

In February 2017, Parks Without Borders (PWB), the design unit of NYC Parks, proposed renovating the park. The renovation was to cost $24 million and include new paths, sidewalks, and recreation facilities, in addition to upgraded bathrooms and drainage systems. Public opposition gave rise to an advocacy group, Friends of Fort Greene Park. The Landmarks Preservation Commission took no vote, with one commissioner observing that the plan was "against every historic moment in the design of the park". At issue was that the renovations would eliminate design details from the late landscape architect Arthur Edwin Bye's 1970s redesign of the park. The LPC approved the plan, which would entail demolishing Bye's landscape, in November 2017.

Controversy again arose in early 2018 when NYC Parks announced plans to cut down some park trees, and a group of residents successfully sued to force the release of an internal report about the trees, a decision upheld upon appeal. the renovation was in the procurement process. In January 2020, a New York Supreme Court judge ordered the city to reassess the park renovation plans to raze more than 80 trees, including 58 mature trees in the northwest section nearest the Ingersoll and Walt Whitman houses. The move was lauded by the Atlantic Chapter of the Sierra Club, as well as local residents. The city filed a notice of appeal in February 2020. State Assemblyman Walter T. Mosley contacted the city's law department and asked for a redesign.

In 2023, Friends of Fort Greene Park sued NYC Parks, claiming the agency had not conducted an environmental review for the redesign. Several residents further sued the city in April 2025 to prevent the destruction of 78 trees in the park. Friends of Fort Greene Park's lawsuit against the redesign was dismissed that July.

Monuments

Prison Ship Martyrs' Monument

Main article: Prison Ship Martyrs' Monument

One of Fort Greene Park's distinctive features is the Prison Ship Martyrs' Monument. During the Revolutionary War, the British kept American prisoners on ships in Wallabout Bay under terrible conditions. Around 11,500 prisoners died from disease and malnutrition. Olmsted and Vaux envisioned a crypt to hold their remains, with an appropriate monument. It was built, and the remains of the prisoners were re-interred there in 1873. A small monument was also built.

Eventually, funds were raised for a larger monument. The architectural firm of McKim, Mead, and White won a design competition, and the monument was unveiled in 1908 by President-elect William Howard Taft. It is a 149 ft high granite Doric column over the crypt. At the top is an eight-ton bronze urn. At night the monument is illuminated by four electric lights set in four granite shafts. Bronze eagles grace each shaft, and two cannons guard the plaza and the Martyrs' crypt below.

Bust of Edward Snowden

Main article: Bust of Edward Snowden

In 2015, a bust of the former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden was illicitly erected in the park and taken down by park officials the same day. The next day, it was replaced by a projected hologram.

Events

The park is host to the annual Fort Greene Park Summer Literary Festival, an event featuring young writers aged 7–18 reading alongside established writers, such as Sonia Sanchez, Amiri Baraka, Gloria Naylor, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Jennifer Egan, the last two being residents of the neighborhood. The Fort Greene Park Conservancy also operates a summer concert series. The Greene Glass Project was started in 2010 to address the then-thousands of shards of broken glass in the park. The organization was hosting annual cleanups in the summer as of 2015.

References

References

1. Hubbard, Robert Ernest. ''General Rufus Putnam: George Washington's Chief Military Engineer and the "Father of Ohio,"'' pp. 53, 199, McFarland & Company, Inc., Jefferson, North Carolina. {{ISBN. 978-1-4766-7862-7.
2. {{cite brooklyn, pp.29-32
3. Schuyler, D. 1986. ''The New Urban Landscape: The redefinition of city form in nineteenth-century America''. Baltimore: [[Johns Hopkins University Press]]. p. 67.
4. "Fort Greene Park — Fort Greene Park Conservancy". Fortgreenepark.org.
5. Leonard, Paul. (2012-10-30). "Fort Greene-Clinton Hill Weathers the Storm".
6. Croft, Geoffrey. (2017-05-22). "A Walk in the Park: Parks Commish "Spin" Class For Workers After Disastrous Ft.Greene Pk Redesign Community Meeting".
7. Brendlen, Kirstyn. (July 7, 2025). "Judge tosses lawsuit against planned Fort Greene Park overhaul, citing ‘significant’ long-term benefits".
8. Gill, Lauren. (May 5, 2017). "Longtime residents: Don't gentrify Fort Greene Park". Brooklyn Paper.
9. "Friends of Fort Greene Park - Testimony".
10. "Friends of Fort Greene Park - Landmarks".
11. Gill, Lauren. (September 25, 2017). "Protecting the Fort: Landmarks commission says Ft. Greene Park plans alter creator's vision, stalling makeover". Brooklyn Paper.
12. Wachs, Audrey. (September 26, 2017). "Future uncertain for rare public landscape by A.E. Bye in Brooklyn".
13. Wachs, Audrey. (September 26, 2017). "Future uncertain for rare public landscape by A.E. Bye in Brooklyn".
14. Walker, Ameena. (November 27, 2017). "Fort Greene Park’s $5M revamp gets LPC approval".
15. Wachs, Audrey. (November 29, 2017). "Landmarks approves Fort Greene park design that eliminates rare A.E. Bye landscape".
16. Cuba, Julianne. (May 11, 2018). "Taking Parks to the bench: Ft. Greeners file suit to stall their meadow's makeover after officials' tree untruths".
17. Cuba, Julianne. (October 19, 2018). "Little guys win big: City must give locals complete report related to Ft. Greene Park's redesign, judge rules".
18. Croghan, Lore. (April 1, 2019). "Fort Greene Park tree-removal fight moves forward".
19. (June 26, 1939). "Fort Greene Park Plaza and Pavement Reconstruction : NYC Parks".
20. Kim, Elizabeth. (January 13, 2020). "Judge Halts City's Plan To Raze Dozens Of Trees In Fort Greene Park". Gothamist.
21. Culliton, Kathleen. (January 13, 2020). "Fort Greene Park Trees Saved As Locals Beat City In Court". Patch.
22. Duggan, Kevin. (February 19, 2020). "City to appeal Fort Greene Park state judge’s order". Brooklyn Paper.
23. Duggan, Kevin. (May 20, 2020). "State pol calls on city to rethink embattled Fort Greene Park redesign". Brooklyn Paper.
24. (April 2, 2025). "Residents protest plan to remove trees from Fort Greene Park".
25. McGinnis, Cory. (April 2, 2025). "Fort Greene Park tree removal plan divides Brooklyn community".
26. (July 7, 2025). "The Yearslong Fight for Fort Greene Park Is Over (For Now)".
27. (June 26, 1939). "Fort Greene Park Monuments".
28. Yuhas, Alan. (April 6, 2015). "Edward Snowden statue prompts cover-up at Brooklyn park". The Guardian.
29. Fishbein, Rebecca. (April 7, 2015). "Illicit Edward Snowden Statue Replaced By Illicit Edward Snowden Hologram".
30. [http://nywriterscoalition.org/programs/fort-greene-park-summer-literary-festival/ "Fort Greene Park Summer Youth Program & Literary Festival"] {{Webarchive. link. (2020-03-18 on the New York Writers Coalition website)
31. Renzulli, Kerri Anne. (November 26, 2012). "Reclaimed Glass Makes Benches and Jewelry".