Community Flocks to Pier

Canarsie Pier was indeed a pleasant, refreshing getaway from the hot summer grid of pavement and traffic and crowds. It was such a contrast to all that it could feel like a small tropical island.

It was really just a parking lot ringed on three sides by a waist-high concrete barrier and a strip of sidewalk.

But! A parking lot with a lilting, splashing ocean on one side, and a wide-open sky above!

On weekends, there was usually always someone playing music. Several people barbecuing. Clusters of people dancing or laughing or shrieking. People riding through on their bikes. Men fishing and families picnicking. Motorboats charging in to literally wave hello—sending a splashing curve shoreward in everyone’s direction.

It wasn’t always the crowd I would have preferred. I disliked the loud radios and the teenage boys playing the hoodlum role. Even disliked a little the cute teenage girls with their short skirts and lush dark hair—because they were there inciting and rewarding the hoodlum boys. But I went there fairly often. I would take my shirt off to feel the sea breeze.

Despite the pockets here and there of hoodlum menace, I felt safe. The old men with their fishing poles and the mamas with their picnic setups and delirious broods of children exuded a kind of protective influence, almost as effective, I think, as a few conspicuous cops in uniform would have been.

The article is maybe a little too much a public service announcement, too little a work of journalism. But I’m glad I wrote it and glad I still have it to think about on a hot day or a discouraging one.

COMMUNITY FLOCKS TO PIER

June 2, 1987—While many were fleeing the heat last weekend, others were courting it, including those who have discovered Canarsie’s own little sunspot on the bay.

Hundreds rode the heat wave to Canarsie Pier, filling the docks and lawns with sunbathers, barbecuers, boat watchers, card players, fishermen, people gazers and fire-hydrant frolickers.

The Pier, maintained by the National Park Service as part of Gateway National Recreation Area, is an inexpensive retreat—free, actually—and as convenient as any Canarsien could wish. Its attractions are simple, but they draw a mixed and genial crowd.

The park has “a real jovial, relaxed atmosphere,” says Frank Abbraciamento, owner of Abbraciamento Restaurant On The Pier. The restaurant, built with a semicircular view of Jamaica Bay, is the hub of the shorefront park, providing elegant indoor and dockside dining as well as a concession stand for ballpark-style refreshments.

Abbraciamento observed that the Pier is probably one of the few places in Brooklyn where such a diverse mingling of ages and cultures could work. He said he hasn’t heard of any crime or violence taking place in the park.

Manny Strumpf, a spokesman for Gateway National Recreation Area, described the Pier as a “quiet, safe, easily-accessible area to get out and enjoy the sun and meet friends. It’s like a neighborhood park.”

Among the Pier’s assets are “lots of parking,” regular security patrols by park rangers and a good variety of things to do, said Strumpf.

He noted that the annual Canarsie Pier Concert Series will kick off Saturday, June 13, with a juggler, magician and a balloon artist. The following Saturday, June 20, will feature a “salute to Brooklyn songwriters,” with members of the Brooklyn Arts and Culture Association performing famous songs written by Brooklynites.

The concert series will run until August 29, with Saturday events beginning at 12:30 p.m. and Sunday programs starting at 6 p.m. It is sponsored jointly by Gateway National Recreation Area, the Brooklyn Arts and Culture Association and Con Edison.

For a small park, Canarsie Pier offers a lot.

Although no swimming is allowed at the Pier, people can get their feet wet on a small sand beach. For those who like to be in the water without getting their feet wet, Abbraciamento’s provides a small-boat dock for its customers.

While younger park goers dance in the spray of a fire hydrant, oldsters gather in the shade to play pinochle or poker.

While some have a meal indoors, or sip a cocktail at the outdoor cafe, others dine on hotdogs and soda at the rail.

Some read books, some nap, some watch. They watch the gulls, the boats, the close underbellies of planes bound for or leaving JFK Airport.

For Canarsiens, a trip to the pier is only a matter of minutes, but the sunshine and sea breeze can set up a bit of illusion.

“People who come in say, ‘Gee, it feels like I’m in Florida,” remarked Abbraciamento. “It doesn’t feel like you’re in Brooklyn when you’re here.”