Prospect Park to Get New Flood-Protection Project

By Y.M. Lowy

Mayor Eric Adams, along with city officials and the Prospect Park Alliance, announced a $68 million plan to build Brooklyn’s first Bluebelt in Prospect Park and continue restoring the park’s lakeshore. The project will use natural solutions, like improving the park’s lake and wetlands, to manage heavy rain and prevent flooding in the park, nearby streets, and the Prospect Park Zoo.

The city studied how water moves through Prospect Park during storms and found that rain often rushes over the ground instead of flowing into the park’s 60-acre lake. The lake itself can only hold so much water, which sometimes causes flash floods and puts pressure on the city’s sewer system. To fix this, the project will upgrade the lake’s drainage so water can flow out faster, build rain gardens and a new pond along West Drive to slow and filter rainwater, and restore the pond north of the zoo to protect the zoo and surrounding streets.

This type of project, called a Bluebelt, has already worked in Staten Island, helping reduce flooding while creating more green space for people and wildlife. But plans are only now being made. Construction is expected to start in 2029 and finish by 2032, giving Brooklyn a stronger system to handle future storms.