Mount Prospect Park

Mount Prospect Park is a 7.79-acre park atop one of the highest points in Brooklyn, at the intersection of Eastern Parkway and Flatbush Avenue in Prospect Heights. The park occupies a hilltop that was used as a lookout point by Continental Army forces during the Battle of Long Island in 1776.

The hill's elevation provided strategic advantages during the Revolution, allowing American forces to observe British troop movements across the surrounding terrain. After the battle, the site passed through various uses before being preserved as public parkland in the 19th century.

The park was also the site of one of Brooklyn's first water supply reservoirs, built in the 1850s to serve the growing city of Brooklyn. The reservoir was eventually decommissioned and the site redesigned as a park, but the elevated terrain that made it suitable for a gravity-fed water system gives the park its distinctive hilltop character.

Mount Prospect Park features a playground, pathways, and landscaped areas with mature trees. Its elevated position provides views across Prospect Heights and toward Prospect Park, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, all of which are located within a few blocks.

The park's location at the gateway to Brooklyn's premier cultural corridor, surrounded by the Museum, the Botanic Garden, the Central Library, and Prospect Park, gives this small hilltop park a significance that exceeds its modest acreage. It provides a green prelude to the cultural riches that surround it.