Cooper Park

Cooper Park is a 6.4-acre park in the East Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, bounded by Olive Street, Maspeth Avenue, and Morgan Avenue. The park is named for Peter Cooper, the industrialist, inventor, and philanthropist who founded Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in Manhattan.

Cooper was one of the most remarkable figures of 19th-century America: he built the first steam locomotive in the United States (the Tom Thumb), manufactured the first structural iron beams for buildings, laid the first transatlantic telegraph cable, and founded Cooper Union as a free institution of higher education that remains tuition-free to this day.

The park features a swimming pool, basketball courts, handball courts, a playground, and open green areas. The pool is an important community amenity in a neighborhood where summer temperatures and limited air conditioning make free public swimming pools essential for public health.

East Williamsburg sits in the industrial zone between the trendy waterfront section of Williamsburg and the residential neighborhoods of Bushwick. The area's warehouse buildings and manufacturing spaces have attracted artists and small businesses, and the neighborhood is gradually transitioning from industrial to mixed-use character.

Cooper Park serves as the primary recreation space for a neighborhood in transition, providing athletic facilities and green space to a community that includes longtime working-class residents, artists and creative workers, and the growing number of families drawn to the area's relative affordability.