Brower Park

Brower Park is a nearly seven-acre park in Crown Heights, bounded by Brooklyn Avenue, Kingston Avenue, and Park Place. Named for George V. Brower, a Brooklyn parks commissioner who served in the late 19th century, the park is the primary recreation space for the surrounding Crown Heights community.

The park is home to the Brooklyn Children's Museum, founded in 1899 as the world's first museum dedicated specifically to children. The museum, which has occupied its current purpose-built facility in the park since 2008, provides hands-on educational exhibits, cultural programming, and nature education to hundreds of thousands of young visitors annually.

Brower Park features playgrounds, basketball courts, a spray shower, and open green areas. The park serves the diverse Crown Heights community, which includes the world's largest community of Lubavitch Hasidic Jews alongside a large Caribbean-American population, creating one of the most culturally distinctive neighborhoods in New York City.

Crown Heights gained national attention during the 1991 riots that erupted following a traffic accident involving a car in the motorcade of Lubavitch leader Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. The tragedy and its aftermath spurred efforts at interracial dialogue and community building that continue to shape the neighborhood's civic life.

Brower Park stands at the center of this complex community, providing shared green space where the neighborhood's diverse populations intersect. The park's combination of the Children's Museum, athletic facilities, and open space makes it one of the most important community assets in central Brooklyn.