Eastern Parkway (Brooklyn)
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Eastern Parkway is a street that runs through a portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The road begins at Grand Army Plaza and extends east, running parallel to Atlantic Avenue, to Ralph Avenue. There, it veers north and then northeast until it terminates at Evergreen Cemetery [1].
The section between Grand Army Plaza and Ralph Avenue consists of a central bidirectional avenue of six lanes, two small parallel side streets, and several medians with trees, benches, and pedestrian paths. East of Ralph Avenue, the parkway is reduced to four lanes, heading in a northeast direction towards the Jackie Robinson Parkway.
According to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, Eastern Parkway is "the world's first parkway, was conceived by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux in 1866. The term parkway was coined by these designers as a landscaped road built expressly for 'pleasure-riding and driving' or scenic access to Prospect Park (also designed by Olmsted and Vaux). The parkway was constructed from Grand Army Plaza to Ralph Avenue (the boundary of Brooklyn) between 1870 and 1874. Olmsted and Vaux intended Eastern Parkway to be the Brooklyn nucleus of an interconnected park and parkway system for the New York area. The plan was never completed but their idea of bringing the countryside into the city influenced the construction of major parks and parkways in cities throughout the United States." [2]
In addition to Grand Army Plaza and Prospect Park, other attractions and notable buildings along Eastern Parkway include the Brooklyn Public Library central branch, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. The parkway is the route of the West Indian Day Parade, a festive annual celebration taking place around Labor Day.
