Bush Terminal Park

Bush Terminal Park is a 17-acre waterfront park along the Upper New York Bay in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn. The park was created on the site of the former Bush Terminal, a massive industrial complex that was once one of the largest manufacturing and shipping centers in New York City.

Irving T. Bush built the Bush Terminal complex beginning in 1890, eventually creating a 200-acre industrial campus that included warehouses, factories, shipping piers, and a railroad. At its peak, the terminal employed over 25,000 workers and handled goods ranging from textiles to military supplies. The complex played a vital role in supplying the Allied forces during both World Wars.

The park, opened in stages beginning in 2014, features a synthetic turf field, nature trails, kayak launches, waterfront pathways, and habitat restoration areas. The park provides direct waterfront access in a neighborhood that had been cut off from the bay by industrial uses for over a century.

Sunset Park's diverse community, which includes large Chinese, Mexican, and Ecuadorian populations alongside longtime Scandinavian and Puerto Rican communities, has embraced the waterfront park as a major neighborhood improvement. The park's athletic facilities serve youth leagues and informal recreation, while the waterfront promenade provides views across the bay to the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan.

Bush Terminal Park represents the transformation of Brooklyn's industrial waterfront from a working port into public open space. The park preserves elements of the site's industrial heritage while creating the kind of waterfront access that Sunset Park residents had been denied for generations.