On Monday, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the NYC Department of Transportation unveiled a sweeping redesign plan for Brooklyn’s most chaotic traffic circle, Grand Army Plaza, one that would ban cars from a key stretch and finally connect the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Memorial Arch directly to Prospect Park.
The idea is to reclaim the southern edge of the plaza—currently a tangle of fast-moving traffic between Union Street and Eastern Parkway—and turn it into pedestrian and cyclist space. Cars wouldn’t disappear entirely, but they’d be rerouted around the northern side of the circle instead of cutting straight across.
“Grand Army Plaza is the gateway to Brooklyn’s backyard, Prospect Park—and it should welcome New Yorkers with street design that puts safety first,” Mamdani said. “Anyone who’s tried to cross here knows how dangerous and chaotic the streets can be.”
He’s not wrong. The 14-acre plaza sits at the intersection of multiple major roads and between 2021 and 2025, there were 219 traffic injuries in and around its central roadways, according to DOT data.
Photograph: Courtesy of NYC DOT
Under the proposal, the redesign would reduce the number of pedestrian-vehicle conflict points—basically, places where you might get clipped by a turning car—and add new public space, wider walking paths and upgraded bike lanes. It would also restore something closer to the plaza’s original vision: the arch as a grand, uninterrupted entrance to Prospect Park.
“When you come into the park and you kind of go under the arch, you’re transformed into a green oasis,” Prospect Park Alliance president Morgan Monaco told Gothamist. “This would help bring that sense of calm even further out.”
Still, before you start picturing a car-free Brooklyn utopia, there are some big caveats. There’s currently no set budget, no timeline and no guarantee the project moves forward anytime soon. And not everyone is sold. Some local groups worry the changes could push traffic onto nearby residential streets or slow emergency vehicles. “Everybody’s safety has to be included,” Lynda Balsama, an organizer with United Neighbors of Prospect and Crown Heights, told the New York Times.
For now, the plan is entering its next phase: public workshops, kicking off April 23, where Brooklynites can weigh in on what the future of the plaza should look like. While the arch-to-park connection might finally happen, it’s still very much a work in progress.