Brooklyn · Kings County
Brooklyn War Memorial
NYC Parks
- Location
- Cadman Plaza, Court Street entrance, Downtown Brooklyn
- Size
- Part of Cadman Plaza acres
- Hours
- Building hours vary; plaza always open
- Type
- NYC Parks
Brooklyn War Memorial is a civic monument and building within Cadman Plaza in Downtown Brooklyn, honoring the more than 300,000 Brooklyn residents who served in World War II and the over 11,000 who died.
The memorial building, completed in 1951, was designed by Eggers and Higgins in a severe modernist style. The interior contains two large tablets inscribed with the names of Brooklyn's war dead, creating a solemn space of remembrance.
Cadman Plaza, the park surrounding the memorial, was created in the 1950s when the Brooklyn elevated railway was demolished, opening up a civic green space in the heart of Downtown Brooklyn.
Brooklyn contributed more men and women to World War II than many individual states, reflecting both the borough's enormous population and its patriotic tradition. The memorial honors this extraordinary contribution.
Brooklyn War Memorial preserves the memory of a generation of Brooklynites who fought and died in the largest conflict in human history, in a civic setting that reminds the borough of the price of freedom.