Carroll Park / NYC Parks & Recreation

Brooklyn’s third oldest public park, with a WWI monument, gardens, bocce courts and cultural events. Great separation between toddler and big kid playgrounds. Nice water spray feature.

Solid place for the kiddos and parents in the area — or for any locals or tourists to sit on a bench and enjoy the warm Spring (or Fall, Summer, Winter) air. IF I had more time I would have loved to sit on a bench with some pastries and coffee from all the little eateries and spots on Smith Street (or Court, or anywhere else you are willing to walk!). You hear a lot of noise from the children, but in a way that’s comforting and soothing, seeing all the families enjoying the nice weather.
About four swing sets — usually always full in the early/​mid afternoon
Two little playground/​climbing things
A large court for basketball, baseball, etc
Occasionally, you can find parking near the school — I’ve been lucky enough to snag spots there on 3 – 4 occasions. Sometimes if multiple cars are trying to park in a large space, it can be hectic because it’s not that wide of a street and it’s only one way. No is patient enough to wait and miss the green light at the end of the street.
Best not to use the bathroom — the women’s room only had two stalls, and neither of them have locks! They close, but not entirely and in the place of where a knob/​lock should be, a stuffed up napkin is there instead. It’s akin to a gross beach bathroom, without the musty wet smell. No toilet paper. Luckily there were paper towels. Soap was a little low, and you couldnt get the faucet running without twisting the knob the entire time, so your hands are never able to stay clean for long. Better off relaxing here, then hitting a Starbucks or restaurant to use the bathroom.

This is a great neighborhood park. Clean, vibrant. Big trees.
3 – 4 separate areas. I don’t know what everyone’s problem is. I love it.

If you need a place to sit and eat your Oreo Cakesters and drink the seltzer that you bought at the Rite Aid across the street, while checking your phone to see if anyone responded to the online ad you posted, then this is your place!

Ahhh, my neighborhood park. I’ve got so many memories as a kid in Carroll Park. My mother used to always sign us up for the day camp they offered in the summers (not sure if they do that anymore…) every single summer for about 10 years. We loved it! Every morning, walk over a block to the park and meet up with the rest of the daycare kid crew and have fun all day! Now, as an adult, I usually take my twin baby cousins here or my other toddler cousin who, every time we pass by this place, goes ape shit screaming «PARK!!! PARK!!! PPPAAARRRKKK!!!» So sometimes having a park this close to your house is not a good thing! Once they see the damn thing, they go nuts and start crying until someone takes them! Ugh, kids!
If you visit this park, you’re bound to see a celeb or two. i.e. Ted Danson (enjoy the pic, even though I run into him looking like a hobo, ugh), Ryan Tedder, many of the chicks from the Real Housewives of NY (ew, avoid!), Zach Galifinakis, Jennifer Connoly, the list goes on and on. I don’t know what it is, but this park just draws that crowd! And the good thing is, no one bothers or gawks at them. But come on, that was Ted Danson, I just had to take a pic!
Warning: DO NOT LET YOUR KIDS DRINK FROM THE WATER FOUNTAINS!!! …I always see people washing their feet in them… EWWWW!!!

Replete with spots to sit and eat, some hoops, statues restrooms, water fountains, and children’s recreation areas, Carroll Park is a solid spot to walk through or chill out in for a minute. My most recent experience was delightfully accompanied by youngsters swearing up a creative maelstrom on the court. Ducking out before the 10pm closing, I was barraged by mosquitoes, which were as relentless as the father quizzing his daughter on the product of 6 digit numbers and 7 digit numbers.

Two
Crowded
Tennis courts
Are better than
None. More urban than pastoral but nice.

This place was my Nou Camp, I spent hours of my summer vacation playing soccer on that concrete surface. Yet it was the Summer of 82 that capture my heart, it was Espana 82 and all of the World was watching it’s game. The boys of Degraw Street, Union street, and President gather to produce a summer that would never be matched. Just a few kids playing with a ball became a soccer crazy epicenter in the heart of Brooklyn. We had all types from all over the world bringing their footballing skills to display on at Carroll Park. I remember the climax occuring at the end of the World Cup final when Italy beat Germany. The neighborhood exploded as fireworks and parades fill the streets of this once Italian neighborhood. It was the summer when I found my true love for a game that was always foreign but now is so close to my heart. Thank you France and Platini for showing me this beautiful game and it doesn’t matter if you finish 4^th.

Well, now I do have a child but not much has changed. This park is usually super crowded and there’s always lots of garbage and spilled food everywhere and it’s one of those places in the city that you know is just crawling with huge, mean rats after the sun goes down.
On the bright side, the old men who hang around on the bocce court are charming and I know all is right with the world when I see them sitting there all cool and wise. But mostly I still avoid this park. It’s just not a very pleasant place to hang out.
Oh well.

At less than 2 acres it is the largest park you’ll find in the densely populated neighborhood between Atlantic Ave, the Gowanus Canal, the BQE and the Gowanus Expressway. What green space it has (around the perimeter) are planted areas not lawns, and the majority of the «parkland» is split between ball courts and paved lounging areas. The two small playgrounds are very well attended. The recent rat troubles which earned the park an unflattering «Feral Park» moniker may be under control (early 2006). Nearby alternatives: To the W, near the Brooklyn-​Battery Tunnel are DiMattina ball-​field & playgrounds and across the BQE are tiny Mother Cabrini and large Van Voorhees Park (at least twice as large as Carroll); To the S across Hamilton Ave./Gowanus Expwy. is the vast Red Hook Recreation Area (with pools, ball fields and large green spaces), also 8 acre Red Hook Park — Coffey Playground; To the N lies downtown Bklyn’s malls, the Bk. Heights Esplanade, and the Bk. Bridge Park; To the NE are Boerum Park, Gowanus Playground and across Atlantic & Flatbush is the grand Fort Greene Park; and finally, To the E across the Gowanus Canal, first Thomas Greene Playground then up slope to J.J. Byrne Park w/​The Old Stone House and finally atop the hill is Prospect Park (with its playgrounds at 3^rd St., 9^th St. etc., the zoo, and other attractions). A bus purportedly runs east up Union St. (a block from Carroll Park) towards Prospect Park but walking might get you there faster. Luckily the subway line under Smith Street which harbors the rats also provides easy access to Prospect Park [F southbound to 15^th St./Prosp. Pk. West], or to Central Park and the C. Pk. Zoo [F northbound to Lex/​63^rd (last stop in Manhattan)], or even to Coney Island and The NY Aquarium [F southbound to W. 8^th/​Aquarium or to Stillwell Ave. (last stop)]. On the bright side: At least Carroll Park has occasionally open bathrooms and is a lot cleaner than St. Mary’s Playgrounds which lie further south on Smith Street under the F & G elevated tracks. The Blizzard of ’06 provided the only «cleaning» the St. Mary’s has ever seen.