Reimagining Grand Army Plaza

Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza used to serve as a spectacular entrance to some of Park Slope’s greatest institutions: Prospect Park, the Central Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, and the Botanic Garden. But today, it is a highway disguised as a roundabout, overrun with traffic and disorienting crosswalks. Anyone who’s ever waited on one of its asphalt islands knows the drill: check the walk signal, realize the walk signal means nothing, sprint, and hope no car swings a left turn into you. The plaza that was designed to welcome people has become a place that repels them—a public space transformed into an obstacle course where safety, not enjoyment, is the primary concern.

Grand Army Plaza’s construction was spearheaded by Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted, two landscape architects who had designed Central Park in Manhattan, as well as the plaza meant to be the main entrance to Prospect Park, in 1867. The parkway’s intended purpose was to connect the city’s parks with ornamental roads free of commercial traffic. Vaux and Olmsted envisioned Grand Army Plaza as what we would today call a “complete street,” a place where the journey to the park was as enjoyable as the park itself. The Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch, completed in 1892, symbolized civic pride and public assembly. Built after the Civil War to memorialize Union Army soldiers, this triumphal arch is made of granite and stands 80 feet tall, including sculptural groups like the United States Army and the Navy. Despite Vaux and Olmsted’s original vision, cars began to conquer the plaza in the early 20th century as automobiles replaced horse-drawn carriages. A steady erosion of the plaza’s public space followed. The transformation converted the plaza from a pedestrian-focused gateway to a busy traffic circle, prioritizing vehicular throughput over human experiences. Olmsted and Vaux’s carefully-designed entrance became little more than an intersection.

Safety concerns surrounding the plaza aren’t new. Due to an increase in automobile accidents, Brooklyn authorities installed a “Death-O-Meter,” a sign that tracked accidents and fatalities at the plaza, in 1927. This grim innovation discouraged speeding and reckless driving. However, despite acknowledging the dangers, little has changed in the century since. Over the past decade, 139 people have been injured in collisions at the plaza—including 92 motorists, 26 cyclists, and 21 pedestrians. There were an additional 206 crashes that fortunately didn’t cause injuries between 2017 and 2021. 

The NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) proposed a comprehensive and largely car-free redesign of Grand Army Plaza that deserves our complete support in 2022. The redesign includes two design options: Option A would narrow the roadway between Prospect Park and the Memorial Arch, while Option B would eliminate all traffic between the park and the arch. Both options simplify navigation by reducing the 57 crossings and traffic signals around Grand Army Plaza and expanding pedestrian space. But most significantly, Option B would eliminate the southern segment of the traffic circle, directly reconnecting Prospect Park and Grand Army Plaza. This redesign is not a radical change but a return to the plaza’s original purpose, adapting Olmsted and Vaux’s vision for the 21st century with better infrastructure for cyclists, transit riders and pedestrians.

For public transportation, this redesign extends Flatbush Avenue bus routes through the plaza, giving the B41—one of Brooklyn’s busiest and slowest buses—a faster, more direct connection to Park Slope. This is not merely a matter of convenience but a matter of equity. When public buses, such as the B41, are slow and unreliable, lower-income New Yorkers who depend on them lose time with their families, arrive late to work, and face longer, more stressful commutes. Moreover, the redesign flips the priority from private cars to buses, emphasizing that the public space should serve public transportation. 

The redesign is meant to uplift Park Slope’s vibrant community life. This potential is already visible, even under current restraints. On Saturdays year-round, a Greenmarket fills most of the plaza from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., momentarily transforming asphalt into a vibrant community hub. The Greenmarket brings vendors of fresh groceries, baked goods, and flowers. The redesign could extend that vibrant, people-first atmosphere to every day of the week. 

Redesign is both possible and necessary. A successful case of public-oriented reform occurred at Washington Square Park, arguably one of the most lively squares in New York City. The park was cut through by a busy roadway in the 1960s. After years of pedestrian advocacy, the road was permanently closed to traffic in 1963, transforming Washington Square into the cultural haven it is today, a place where New Yorkers actually want to spend time. The same change happened at Columbus Circle, in 2005. It used to be a chaotic vehicular mess until a redesign simplified traffic patterns, expanded pedestrian space, and created a true public plaza. Both prove that reclaiming space from cars doesn’t just make intersections safer, it makes them more valuable. 

I live in Park Slope, and Grand Army Plaza is stitched into my everyday life. It’s part of my walk to the park, trips to the library, and every weekend market run. This is why the DOT’s redesign isn’t just some policy idea, it’s about whether I can safely cross the street to reach institutions that are supposed to serve my neighborhood. It’s about whether my neighbors and I can embrace a space that belongs to us, not to cars passing through.

But this issue isn’t unique to Park Slope alone. Grand Army Plaza stands at a crucial crossroads (literally and symbolically) for how New York City thinks about public space, transportation equity, and urban design. What happens here will signal whether the city is serious about its climate goals, its promise to prioritize people over cars, and its Vision Zero commitments—an ambitious initiative to eliminate all traffic deaths and injuries. The program has shown measurable success, notably by its 1,484 school and 356 senior center visits to educate citizens on traffic safety as well as additions of exclusive pedestrian crossing times at intersections. Vision Zero, which is based on the principle that traffic deaths are preventable crashes and not inevitable accidents, should be extended to the Grand Army Plaza Redesign. 

Beyond Park Slope, the redesign could support other public events and traditions that bring the community together. Music festivals, firework shows, and even the largest Menorah lighting in Brooklyn are just a few events that take place at the plaza. A safer, more pedestrian-friendly design would encourage more public participation in these activities, making them more accessible to families, seniors, and all people. Every neighborhood in this city has its own version of Grand Army Plaza: a place that could be a great service to people but has been surrendered to traffic. This redesign can serve as a model.

Mayor Eric Adams has already pledged more than $900 million to implement the NYC Streets Plan, and the DOT has committed to reclaiming space for pedestrians, cyclists, and transit riders. Grand Army Plaza is an ideal flagship project to combine both of these visions, and the union of political will and allocated funding should serve as an automatic green light on this redesign. Citizen and government action alike are essential to the success of this redesign. Even if this isn’t your neighborhood or your borough, the Grand Army Plaza redesign serves as an emblem of what’s possible when we demand better from our public spaces, and what we lose when we settle for less.

Support the redesign. Sign the petition. Show up to community meetings. Grand Army Plaza can either remain a dangerous highway disguised as a roundabout, or it can become what it was always meant to be: a grand entrance to one of Brooklyn’s greatest public spaces. The choice is ours to make.