Press Releases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Release #13-05
Seth Solomonow/Nicholas Mosquera (212) 839-4850
NYC DOT Commisssioner Sadik-Khan, DDC Commissioner David Burney, Elected Officials and Downtown Brooklyn Businesses Cut Ribbon on Willoughby Plaza, Providing Enhanced Pedestrian Space in Booming District
14,000 square-foot plaza space has served as community anchor since 2006
Capital reconstruction follows opening of numerous businesses as growth continues
New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, Department of Design and Construction (DDC) Commissioner David Burney, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, Assembly Member Walter T. Mosley, Downtown Brooklyn Partnership President Tucker Reed and Muss Development Chief Operating Officer Jeff Kay, joined by representatives from the MetroTech BID, Shake Shack and NYU-Poly, today announced the opening of the newly reconstructed Willoughby Plaza in Downtown Brooklyn, providing 14,000 square-feet of pedestrian space, enhanced greenery, public seating and other amenities to the neighborhood’s many residents and visitors. Originally installed using temporary seating and other temporary materials on a stretch of Willoughby Street between Adams and Pearl streets in 2006, the plaza has become a hub for development, with Shake Shack, Panera Bread and numerous other businesses opening alongside the now-vibrant pedestrian area and serving major tenants in the area. Muss Development recently created a new building façade at 345 Adams Street to take advantage of the new pedestrian space, with plans to open ground-floor retail and restaurants. The reopened pedestrian space, featuring new planted areas, additional trees tables and other seating areas, is the first of the DOT Plaza Program’s plaza spaces built with temporary materials to be completely redesigned and rebuilt as part of a capital construction project, including extension of concrete sidewalks, underground utility work and new tree plantings. The Downtown Brooklyn Partnership will be responsible for cleaning and maintaining the enhanced space as well as community programming and events in the reconstructed plaza, which will serve as an example of the numerous options available to other neighborhoods as additional plazas around the city are permanently rebuilt.
“With a down payment of just a few planters, seating and some shade, Willoughby Plaza became the anchor of a retail and dining destination, showing once again that better streets mean better business,” said Commissioner Sadik-Khan. “Now with a top-to-bottom redesign, this plaza is a model for neighborhoods across the boroughs that are transforming underused roadbed into permanent public spaces designed, supported and maintained by the community.”
“The new Willoughby Plaza will help connect Brooklyn’s civic center with the downtown commercial core, and hopefully, it will be a destination in its own right. However, this project is about more than just the visible plaza space: working with our partners at DOT and DEP, we also upgraded the area’s infrastructure, with new water mains and sewers, new roadways and curbs, and new street lights and signs. I look forward to continuing our work with Commissioner Sadik-Khan and her team at DOT to create public plazas in other key locations in Brooklyn and around the City,” said DDC Commissioner Burney.
“Public spaces help enliven neighborhoods and draw communities together, and the revitalized Willoughby Plaza is the latest example of where we’re doing that in Downtown Brooklyn,” said Downtown Brooklyn Partnership President Tucker Reed. “With new programming we are planning for the plaza, free WiFi drawing students from neighboring academic institutions, and a wealth of dining options nearby drawing visitors and shoppers to the area, Willoughby Plaza will help showcase Downtown Brooklyn as a dynamic 24/7 destination.”
“We’ve watched Downtown Brooklyn blossom over the years and are so proud to be a part of it. Knowing the Willoughby Plaza was coming was a key factor in why we decided to open in this area,” said Randy Garutti, Shake Shack CEO. “We want to thank Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and his incredible team, as well as Tucker Reed and everyone at the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership who worked so closely with us to help find and open our Fulton Street location. The new Willoughby Plaza will certainly enable us to strengthen our connection with the local community even more.”
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