Grand Ferry Park was a ferry landing that served the burgeoning populace of Williamsburg before it became part of Brooklyn. It is named for the 19th century Grand Street Ferry, which once carried farm goods and passengers across the East River to Manhattan.
The Grand Street Ferry ceased operations in 1918, and the abandoned landing became one of the few stretches of Williamsburg's shoreline accessible to the public. In 1974, the Parks Council, an advocacy group, creat ed an unofficial park in the space using recycled materials; later the land was acquired by Parks in order to ensure its permanence as a park, and sufficient funding for its repair and maintenance.
The new park, located between Grand Street, West River Street, and the East River, officially opened on July 9, 1998. The design incorporates elements from the site's history. A red brick smokestack rising above a circular pattern of cobblestones was part of a molasses plant that Pfizer Pharmaceuticals used in the early 20th century for work that led, eventually, to the large-scale production of penicillin. The cobblestones were salvaged from the section of Grand Street where the park was constructed.
In 2008, the park landscape was reconstructed with new plantings, paths and drainage. This project was funded in part by the New York State Power Authority, in connection with their new plant just north of the park. As part of the wetlands requirements for this waterfront parcel, mandated by the Department of Environmental Protection. At the water's edge, a line of boulders, or rip-rap, protects the shoreline from erosion and provides seating with a view across the water to the downtown Manhattan skyline. On one side of the park's slope, a trench lined with rocks stretches from Grand Street to the water.
