New in September: Brooklyn Public Library opened a landmark Teen Center at Central Library, two Brooklyn moms opened a family photography studio in Williamsburg, McCarren Park’s public tennis courts got lights, NYC Parks’ new Renew Crew gave American Playground in Greenpoint a refresh, PS 380 in South Williamsburg opened a new green schoolyard playground and Kings Athletic Club, a Brooklyn Heights sports club built with children in mind, soft-opened. Brooklyn Children’s Museum will reopen its rooftop roller rink on October 1. Four more that were on our August coming-soon list have since opened their doors — a second Brooklyn Conservatory of Music campus on Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn’s first Goddard School and two studios for the grown-ups — and at the foot of the page, everything still to come.
Teen Center at Central Library | Prospect Heights | NOW OPEN
Brooklyn Public Library unveiled a new Teen Center at Central Library on September 10 — at 4,700 square feet in the second-floor Eastern Parkway wing, the largest dedicated teen space of any of its 62 branches. Designed by Toshiko Mori Architect, it houses the young adult collection, a gaming center, listening and recording pods, and a technology-rich makerspace — and it is for teens only. The same renovation opened a new art and music reading room and a lendable collection of craft tools and kits.
Daysee | Williamsburg | NOW OPEN
Two Brooklyn moms — a photographer and a tech veteran who met in a local parents’ Facebook group — opened Daysee on September 16 at 45 South 4th Street, between Kent and Wythe: a family photography studio and community space with portrait sessions from newborn to birthday, plus classes, events, gifts and a lounge where kids can play. Every session includes a printed portrait to take home that day.
Lights at the McCarren Park tennis courts | Williamsburg | LIGHTS NOW ON
McCarren Park’s seven public tennis courts now have LED lights, the end of a two-year, $300,000 community campaign by the volunteer McCarren Tennis Association with USTA Eastern and NYC Parks. They were switched on at a free celebration on Wednesday, September 23.
American Playground | Greenpoint | REFRESH UNDERWAY
NYC Parks’ new Renew Crew picked American Playground for its first Brooklyn project, and repainted the basketball court. North Brooklyn Parks Alliance said the work was not finished, so crews will be on site for a while yet — but the court itself is back in play.
Empire Skate of Mind | Crown Heights | OPENS OCTOBER 1
Brooklyn Children’s Museum will bring its rooftop roller rink back on Thursday, October 1 and keep it running through April 11 — a nod to the Empire Roller Rink that stood less than a mile away from the 1940s until 2007. Ages 3 and up; helmets and wrist guards are required and provided, and rollerblades are not allowed. Skating is an add-on to the $15 museum admission: $10 with rental skates, $8 with your own, and less for members, who skate free on opening weekend, October 3–4. Public hours are 10am–5pm at weekends and 2–5pm Wednesday to Friday, weather and private parties permitting.
BKCM Prospect Park West | Park Slope | NOW OPEN
The Brooklyn Conservatory of Music’s second Park Slope home opened for classes and lessons on September 14, four blocks from the Seventh Avenue brownstone it has occupied since 1944. The 12,000-square-foot building at 963 President Street holds 13 studios, a performance hall and a community room, with its own entrance and an ADA-accessible ramp. All early childhood music classes and all on-site music therapy have moved here. It also houses BKCM’s new national Music Therapy Institute, backed by a $2 million grant from The Joel Foundation, and the $17 million expansion will get its official ribbon cutting on Thursday, October 8.
The Goddard School of Greenpoint | Greenpoint | NOW OPEN
Brooklyn’s first Goddard School opened in August at 85 Commercial Street, with 11 classrooms for around 140 children from three-month-old infants through pre-K, an indoor gym and stroller storage. Weekdays 7am to 6pm, and still enrolling.
First Class Form | Greenpoint | NOW OPEN
The infrared heated sculpt and semi-private reformer Pilates studio opened September 8 on the second floor at 38 Franklin Street, with classes and memberships bookable on its site. Adults only — one for the parents rather than the kids.
Palette Cleanser | Greenpoint | NOW OPEN
A new series of art workshops started up this month at the Greenpoint Loft, 67 West Street, on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings: mosaics and vase painting, beginner-friendly, run by artists Jen Toth and Lyora Pissarro. Bookable for birthdays and private groups. The evening sessions skew adult.
PS 380 Playground | South Williamsburg | NOW OPEN
PS 380, at Marcy Avenue and Middleton Street, opened a rebuilt schoolyard playground from the Trust for Public Land, with accessible features for children with a range of physical and sensory abilities and dozens of shade trees. It doubles as green infrastructure, built to catch about 1.2 million gallons of stormwater a year and ease local flooding; Council Member Lincoln Restler’s office put in $800,000.
Kings Athletic Club | Brooklyn Heights | NOW OPEN
Kings Athletic Club soft-opened at 43 Clark Street, taking over 52,000 square feet of the former Eastern Athletic Club space in the Hotel St. George complex. The amenity list is unusually child-forward for a gym: a pool, two tennis courts, pickleball, squash, golf simulators, a climbing wall, a half basketball court, yoga and Pilates studios, arcade games, ping pong, VR and babysitters on staff. The club has not published membership pricing. More in our story on Brooklyn Heights’ new buildings and family clubs.
Coming soon to our neighborhoods
Maison Cococo | Williamsburg | Aiming for fall 2027
Two Brooklyn mothers, Kayte Geldzahler and Maayan Perez, are building a family members’ club where parents can work, take a class or see a friend while their children play nearby — art, music, movement and STEM for the kids on one side, fitness and wellness for the adults on the other. No address yet, and they are aiming for fall 2027. Reported by Greenpointers.
Carroll Gardens Library | Carroll Gardens | Reopening late 2026 tbc
The landmarked Carnegie branch at 396 Clinton Street is close to the finish line, but still without a date. Brooklyn Public Library told Brooklyn Bridge Parents that the last major piece of the project is the elevator: once it is installed and inspected, which the library expects next month, the final work can begin — new furniture and shelving, setting up the technology and getting many thousands of books back on the shelves. A specific reopening date will follow that inspection. The two-part renovation adds a dedicated teen space on the mezzanine, the new elevator, new heating and cooling, new lighting and upgraded bathrooms. Until the branch is back, the pop-up library at 250 Baltic Street is open Monday and Tuesday 1–5pm, Thursday 3–7pm and Friday 10am–2pm.
Goodland Pickleball | Williamsburg | Opening late 2026 / early 2027
An indoor pickleball club is fitting out at 105 North 13th Street, with four courts across two floors under 20-foot ceilings, a private court, a terrace and lounge, a pro shop, and a full café and bar. The part that matters for families is the juniors programme — clinics and seasonal camps for ages 7 to 16, on cushioned courts the club says are built to take the impact off young joints. Members and non-members will be able to book a court online or walk in for open play. The club is slated for late 2026 or early 2027; no firmer date and no prices have been published, and a waitlist is open on its site.
Gifted and Talented Kids | Greenpoint | Opening January 2027
The new daycare and preschool at 16 McGuinness Boulevard South is enrolling for a January 2027 opening, with programs for ages 2 to 6 built around Howard Gardner’s multiple-intelligences approach, an after-school program for ages 5 to 7, and weekly open houses from November, no appointment needed. Full-day spots start at $2,700 a month, and the first 15 waitlist families lock in year-one pricing.
Red Hook Library | Red Hook | Reopening 2027
Closed since March 2023, the Wolcott Street branch is getting a $17.5 million rebuild that adds a dedicated children’s room for storytimes, a teen space, a community room and two reservable meeting rooms, along with 14 percent more public space and outdoor reading and activity areas. It is designed as a net zero building with rooftop solar. Brooklyn Public Library told Brooklyn Bridge Parents it now expects Red Hook to reopen in early 2027, later than the 2026 completion previously announced. The interim branch at 362 Van Brunt Street stays open in the meantime.
Century Marketplace | Bay Ridge | Expected 2028
The long-vacant Century 21 building at 458 86th Street is being rebuilt as a 120,000-square-foot retail centre, and the first two tenants are signed. Burlington takes about 44,000 square feet, and a national grocery chain the developers have not yet named takes about 16,000 — the first national grocer to serve southwest Brooklyn, according to MCB Real Estate, which announced the leases this week alongside $76.7 million in construction financing from Truist. The site is half a block from the 86th Street R and has stood empty since Century 21 closed in 2018, and the finished project is meant to anchor the 86th Street shopping strip. This one is a long way out — the opening is expected in 2028 and no certificates of occupancy have been filed yet — but it is the biggest change coming to that stretch in years. The lease was first reported by the Brooklyn Paper.
Perspire Sauna Studio | Downtown Brooklyn | Opening soon
Perspire’s Downtown Brooklyn studio at 281 Livingston Street is still listed as opening soon, with private infrared sauna suites, red light therapy and contrast therapy for parents in need of a reset. Founding memberships are on sale ahead of the opening — $129 a month for eight sessions or $179 for unlimited — and a VIP list gets first access once the doors open.
Outershed | Williamsburg | Opening date TBA
Outershed’s infrared-sauna and cold-plunge studio was slated to open in Williamsburg in mid-August, but no opening has been announced yet — the studio is currently signing up founding members on its site, promising private suites where you can sweat, plunge and reset on your own schedule.
The Beginning | Brooklyn Heights | Opening date TBA
The Beginning, the 45,000-square-foot family clubhouse taking over 50 Columbia Heights, was pitched for a summer debut and is now signing up founding-member interest ahead of opening. The promise is a modern country club for families: dedicated kids’ floors with supervised childcare, play spaces and classes, plus a work lounge, fitness center, spa and several dining rooms for the grown-ups.
Zara | Williamsburg | Coming soon
Zara is taking a large space at 184–192 Bedford Avenue. No opening date has been announced. Big-format retail has landed on Bedford before — Century Marketplace set the precedent — so the block is used to it by now.
Brooklyn Science Spot | Carroll Gardens | Opening mid-October
The two-floor science hangout at 478 Court Street is getting its finishing touches and opens in mid-October, with a chemistry lab, a live animal room and a STEM toy shop upstairs. Fall after-school classes, grouped by age, run to December 13; hours will be 9am to 6pm, seven days. Birthday parties, holiday camps and school trips too.
The Caterpillar Room | Cobble Hill | Opening October 5
The Caterpillar Room, a literacy and learning center that has spent six years accelerating young readers in Bay Ridge, will open its second location on Monday, October 5, at 224 Court Street, with five classrooms for pre-K through 6th grade. Grounded in the science of reading and the work of researchers like Stanislas Dehaene and Nadine Gaab, its small-group reading, writing and math clinics of six to ten children trade worksheets for whole-body movement, keeping kids actively engaged while building skills beyond grade level. More in our feature on The Caterpillar Room.
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