Highland Park

Highland Park is a 141-acre park straddling the Brooklyn-Queens border in the Cypress Hills and East New York neighborhoods. The park occupies a prominent ridgeline that provides some of the most expansive views in Brooklyn, with sightlines extending to Manhattan, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, and the Atlantic Ocean on clear days.

The park is home to the Ridgewood Reservoir, a former water supply facility that operated from 1858 to 1989 as part of the system that delivered fresh water to Brooklyn. The three basin reservoir, now decommissioned, has evolved into an accidental urban wilderness, with mature forest growing in the drained basins and wetland habitat developing in areas that still hold water.

The reservoir's ecological transformation has attracted the attention of naturalists, birders, and environmental advocates who view the site as a rare urban wilderness within the park system. Efforts to balance preservation of this unplanned ecosystem with planned park improvements have generated community debate.

Highland Park's athletic facilities include tennis courts, a running track, a playground, and extensive playing fields. The park also contains a grove of memorial trees and monuments, and its elevated terrain provides a sense of spaciousness that is rare in the densely built neighborhoods of eastern Brooklyn.

Highland Park serves communities in both Brooklyn (Cypress Hills, East New York) and Queens (Ridgewood, Glendale), making it a shared resource that bridges the borough boundary. Its combination of natural terrain, historic infrastructure, and recreation facilities makes it one of the most significant parks in eastern Brooklyn.