Ocean Parkway

Ocean Parkway extends over a distance of about five miles, running almost north to south from the vicinity of Prospect Park to Coney Island and Brighton Beach. The parkway runs roughly parallel to Coney Island Avenue, an important commercial avenue several blocks to the east. It consists of a central bidirectional avenue of seven lanes, the middle lane being for left turns or a painted median, two small parallel side streets, and two medians with trees, benches, and pedestrian paths. The west median also has a bike path, part of the Brooklyn-Queens Greenway. The parkway is designated New York State Route 908H, an unsigned reference route.

Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux suggested the Ocean Parkway to Brooklyn park commissioners in reports prepared during the 1860s. They drew up a plan together for the parkway, inspired by boulevards in Berlin and Paris. In 1868 the land was acquired by the City of Brooklyn; work began in 1874 and was completed in 1880. The resulting parkway was similar to the Eastern Parkway, with a central roadway, a grassy median and pedestrian path, and a commercial road, with a total width of 210 feet. Trees, playing tables, and benches lined the pedestrian path and boulevard. The parkway began at Park Circle, and passed through Windsor Terrace, Parkville, and other neighborhoods. As time passed, new neighborhoods were built along its route. The Prospect Expressway, built in the 1950s, replaced the northernmost half-mile of the parkway, and in 1975 the parkway was designated a landmark by the city to prevent any additional alterations.



The pedestrian path was split in 1894 to create the first bike path in the United States. Around 1900, homes were constructed along the perimeter of the parkway, and during World War I, many mansions were built. Buyers came to Ocean Parkway from Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Heights, and Bushwick. In the 1920s, apartment complexes and one- and two-family homes were constructed; the northernmost portion of the parkway became the site of luxurious, elevator-equipped apartment buildings.

history of Ocean Parkway