Domino Park is a beautiful 5-acre public park that spans the Domino Sugar Factory redevelopment site on the Williamsburg waterfront. Through strategic design and extensive community engagement, it’s become a place for every New Yorker.
Inspired by the site’s rich history, Domino Park reconnects the Williamsburg neighborhood to the East River for the first time in 160 years. The park showcases its industrial legacy by integrating over 30 large-scale salvaged relics, including 21 original columns from the Raw Sugar Warehouse, gantry cranes, screw and bucket conveyors, and syrup tanks into an interpretive and educational “Artifact Walk.”
The park is raised above FEMA flood elevations with native plant species that reduce stormwater runoff, functioning as an absorbent sponge and first line of defense for the neighborhood against sea level rise.
The park is located in an area with historically one of the lowest open space to people ratios. Now, more than 1,000 residents informed the park programming, reflective of the diverse visitorship today. Active uses include a dog run, flexible field, volleyball and bocce courts. The landmarked Refinery building is the heart of the redevelopment, with features that strongly connect with water, including a Central Water Feature and Fog Bridge. The emblematic Gantry Cranes define the northern part of the park with a focus on family-oriented activities, including an inventive playground, large lawn, and taqueria.
With over 2.5 million visitors since opening in June 2018, Domino Park has been recognized by many as an important anchor for the neighborhood, including the New York Post: “No new park has been so instantly embraced by the public…Domino Park over the past few weekends drew the most enthusiastic multiracial gathering I’ve ever seen at a new Big Apple park.” Last summer, the park hosted over 100 free public events attended by nearly 7,000 New Yorkers.
Credits:
- James Corner Field Operations - Landscape Architect