NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Eric Adams has cut the ribbon on a newly-revitalized portion of “The Arches” — the public space on the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge adjacent to City Hall that is named for the 53 adjacent arches under the Brooklyn Bridge — and announced $50 million in additional funding to improve the public space. As part of Mayor Adams’ Fiscal Year 2026 Executive Budget — referred to often as the city’s “Best Budget Ever” — this investment will add additional amenities to the public space, including public seating, plantings, lighting, and more.
“Public space in this city is precious — it’s where our families create memories, it’s where our children play, and it’s where communities come to relax. Today, we return two more acres of public space back to the local Chinatown community at ‘The Arches,’ giving New Yorkers more outdoor space to exercise, engage with others, and enjoy,” said Mayor Adams. “We are also investing $50 million in funding to bring this space back to life, and transform it into a lively, inclusive space for friends and neighbors to come together — welcoming New Yorkers from all walks of life. Right in time for our ‘We Outside Summer,’ The Arches brings us closer to creating a more equitable, livable, and prosperous New York.”
[Photo above: “The Arches” is named for the 53 adjacent arches under the Brooklyn Bridge.]
“The Lower Manhattan community, and all who visit it each day, can celebrate this special day as we return the space around this beautiful bridge to a neighborhood where public space is so precious,” said New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez. “As the weather warms, we invite the community and tourists who are visiting the bridge and Chinatown to come enjoy this beautiful new public space.”
The phased re-opening of “The Arches” began in 2023 but today marks the return of the largest plaza portion — more than two acres of new public space — to the local lower Manhattan community, to be combined with the more than one acre previously opened. The new space includes access to space under the Brooklyn Bridge’s dramatic vaulted archways — part of the National Historic Landmark that is managed by DOT — which in the last decade has undergone more than $1 billion in improvements, its most significant rehabilitation and restoration since the bridge was first completed in 1883.
The area opening today had served as a contractor staging area for more than a decade, supporting restoration for the Brooklyn Bridge, projects which together totaled more than $1 billion in investments. In spaces re-opened over the last two years, public space was added for pickleball, basketball, and shuffleboard, as well as quiet benched areas.
