Here’s to another fantastic year for Downtown Brooklyn!
2025 was a year of exciting changes and growth for Downtown Brooklyn! The neighborhood saw the completion of the Fulton Mall Revitalization Project, near-endless events, the arrival of great new businesses, record housing creation, and more.
Watch our end-of-year highlights reel!
HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY, ABOLITIONIST PLACE!
May saw the celebration of Abolitionist Place’s one-year anniversary. The park commemorates the Abolitionist Movement in Brooklyn and features a children’s play area, lawn, dog run, plantings, waterplay feature, and seating areas. Since its opening, Abolitionist Place has been embraced by the neighborhood as a great place to meet, enjoy lunch, and play, and has served as a wonderful venue for public programming!
MORE PUBLIC ART
FEAR NO FRONTIER BY ISOLINA MINJEONG | IF WE DON’T, WHO WILL? BY STEPHANIE DINKINS
Stephanie Dinkins’ bold installation, If We Don’t, Who Will?, was featured at The Plaza at 300 Ashland. Curated by More Art, the work presented a laboratory housed in an upcycled shipping container—reimagined as an interactive site for storytelling and exploration. Neighbors, community members, and passersby contributed to a growing dataset of stories that reflect the vast diversity of human experience.
As part of the “Asphalt Art” initiative to enliven DTBK’s Shared Street network, DBP brought Isolina Minjeong’s Fear No Frontier murals to DTBK – increasing pedestrian safety and visually connecting the neighborhood.
REDESIGNING STREETS FOR PEOPLE
The Fulton Mall Revitalization Project wrapped on schedule, featuring enlarged planting beds, signature wooden benches, and permeable pavement — making Brooklyn’s most famous shopping district more beautiful and pedestrian-friendly. The work marks another milestone in achieving the goals of the Public Realm Action Plan, in addition to the streetscape work completed at 11 Hoyt, The Alloy Block, The Brook, and our Shared Street network.
KEEPING DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN SAFE AND CLEAN
Our Clean Team continued its tough work maintaining Downtown Brooklyn’s cleanliness and vibrancy. The Doe Fund team of 82 full-time, year-round workers undertakes a wide range of essential work — from watering plants and trees, to hauling tons of trash, setting up public events, and everything in-between. We celebrated our dedicated team at their annual appreciation lunch in December.
THE BROOKLYN PARAMOUNT’S TRIUMPHANT TURN
The historic Brooklyn Paramount is now firmly established as a centerpiece of the Brooklyn Cultural District. In 2025, the theater saw 300,000 fans enjoy over 180 shows from a diverse range of artists, and even hosted the triumphant victory party of NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani!
new to the brooklyn cultural district
mocada | 651 arts | bpl library for arts and culture | bam kbh
2025 also saw the expansion of the Brooklyn Cultural District with the opening of the 65,000-square-foot L10 Arts and Cultural Center. This much-anticipated new arts hub is the permanent home to four prominent Brooklyn cultural organizations; the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Art (MoCADA), performing arts institution 651 ARTS, the Brooklyn Public Library’s Library of Arts and Culture, and BAM KBH, which houses the BAM Archives as well as new cinema spaces.
GREAT NEW RETAIL
FINER SOUNDS | KASHI INDIAN CUISINE & BAR
Amongst highlights are Downtown Brooklyn’s very first vinyl store, Finer Sounds, which opened at The Ace Hotel Brooklyn. Omikaze spot, Sushi Koju, and restaurant Lele’s Roman were also new additions to the hotel’s space. Kashi Indian Cuisine & Bar is now bringing the bold flavors of North India’s culinary soul to Livingston Street. The old Modell’s store on Flatbush and Atlantic was given new life with the opening of the Brooklyn Basketball Training Center, operated by BSE Global (the parent company of the Brooklyn Nets and New York Liberty).
There was a deluge of new supermarkets – reflecting the needs of the neighborhood’s booming residential population. These include Aldi, Lidl, and Hashi Market. We look forward to family-owned The Fresh Grocer – also on Fulton Mall – joining the list in Jan 2026.
Honorable mentions also go to Atlantic Terminal’s Nike store, Van Leeuwen at City Point BKLYN, Juici Patties, serving flavorful Jamaican patties on Flatbush Ave., Take Me With You, and DTBK’s very first Chick-fil-A.
TAKE ME WITH YOU | VAN LEEUWEN | HASHI MARKET
MAKE IT IN BROOKLYN – FOSTERING INNOVATION IN DTBK
In 2025, Make It in Brooklyn’s (MIIB) programming featured two dynamic pitch contests, which awarded significant prizes and resources to innovative local entrepreneurs. The Diversity in Game Design competition in March saw Made in Brooklyn Games win $5,000 plus legal services and advancement to NYU Tandon’s Game Design Future Lab for their stealth-horror VR game, while the Climate Tech Pitch Contest crowned Coffee Elf as winner for their innovative approach to upcycling spent coffee grounds into bio-based beauty ingredients. MIIB also hosted panels on Tech for Good, Sustainable Technologies, and Design + Technology. MIIB also brought together Downtown Brooklyn’s creative community at the MIIB Design Socials at leading firms like ARO and FXCollaborative, and strengthened local business connections through retail outreach and networking meetups at venues including Sound + Fury Brewery and GOLFZON Social.
amazing PUBLIC PROGRAMMING
LUNAR NEW YEAR | LUNCHTIME ENTERTAINMENT | LE CIRQUE KIKASSE | BARE FEET DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN
The Downtown Brooklyn Presents series of free public programming yet again brought amazing events to the neighborhood’s public spaces. The season began with a Lunar New Year celebration at Albee Square, followed by Car-Free Earth Day in April. Spring saw the return of Albee Square Happy Hours; Ping-Pong with The Push and Zumba with Natarsha McQueen at Brooklyn Commons Park. Summer brought weekly lunchtime shows at Brooklyn Commons Park; salsa nights at Willoughby Plaza; jazz concerts with Jazz Foundation of America and the Office of the Borough President at Columbus Park; summertime dance parties such as Vinyl Nights at Albee Square plus Friday Night Dance and Bare Feet Downtown Brooklyn with Mickela Mallozi on The Plaza at 300 Ashland. Fall featured the joyful BQE Strings at Willoubghby Plaza, the raucous NYC Marathon Mile 8 Cheering Station at 300 Ashland; Fall Into Step lunchtime performances at Brooklyn Commons; a family-friendly Halloween party, BKLYN BOO!, at Albee Square; and the year-end close out, DTBK Gets Lit!, the annual Albee Square holiday lighting ceremony.
WEDNESDAY WONDERS | READING RHYTHMS | PING PONG | DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN GETS LIT!
The opening of Abolitionist Place provided an additional stage for programming. Engarde Arts produced Playdate Fest, an evening of performances by local actors and artists; and PUPS Pet Club hosted Pups in The Park, featuring a doggy runway and pup-friendly photo ops. We took to the park in July to celebrate Abolition Commemoration Day, and again in August for Albee Square Montessori School’s Welcome Day.
FALL FOR DANCE | DOUBLE DUTCH DREAMZ | WUKKOUT!
RECORD HOUSING PRODUCTION
THE BROOK | THE ALLOY BLOCK
Downtown Brooklyn set a new housing record with 3,700-plus units built in 2025 — and there are thousands more to come in 2026. The number of units completed in 2025 shatters the previous record high of 2,925 units completed in 2022, signalling Downtown Brooklyn’s transformation from a 9 to 5 CBD of the past to a 24/7 mixed-use neighborhood. Read all about the neighborhood’s track record of housing development over the past five years and its inclusion of affordable housing. DBP’s Real Estate team also launched the Downtown Brooklyn Development Dashboard – a great tool for noodling around for construction info!
NEW HOLIDAY LIGHTS
Downtown Brooklyn’s new holiday lights launched, with Fulton Street, Court Street, and Abolitionist Place, as the first phase of a gradual rollout. The neighborhood will now shine with a new generation of holiday lighting – an adaptive, programmable network that transforms streets into living lightscapes. Designed by Limbic Media, each installation is distinct and is programmed to shift hues, pulse in rhythm, or cascade dynamically, offering ever-changing combinations of color and motion.
LOOKING AHEAD TO 2026
As we close out 2025, it’s clear that Downtown Brooklyn is thriving. From public space improvements, new businesses, and new residents, to diverse events and celebrations with fantastic local partners, the neighborhood saw another year of remarkable growth and transformation. As we look ahead to 2026, Downtown Brooklyn Partnership remains committed to supporting the people, organizations, and businesses that make our neighborhood so special. Here’s to an even brighter year ahead!
