Brooklyn’s biggest stories of the week: the long-vacant Pre-K and 3-K center at Columbia and Van Brunt finally gets a September open date after years of community pushback; Mamdani picks south of Prospect Park for his first Brooklyn rezoning; judges’ parking holds up a $21M Columbus Park redesign at Borough Hall; the biggest summer ferry service in NYC history launches Monday May 18 with new Bay Ridge and Sunset Park weekend stops; the next Greenpoint Landing phase adds 1,000 apartments across three towers; a Brooklyn Heights townhouse trades for $13.3 million and Barclays unveils a $150M renovation; NYC opens a lottery for $50 World Cup tickets and unveils a free ‘Home of Soccer’ fan zone at Brooklyn Bridge Park; Photoville returns through May 30; Alison Roman brings First Bloom to Brooklyn Heights; and Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce crash a Williamsburg wedding. Read on for the latest!
Schools
Columbia Waterfront Pre-K and 3-K Center Finally Opens This Fall
After roughly four years of a finished, fully-equipped building sitting empty at 129 Van Brunt Street, the Department of Education will open the Pre-K for All center this September. The city had been paying more than $1 million annually in rent on a $12 million completed facility while families in the Columbia Waterfront and Red Hook navigated long commutes to other districts. Years of community organizing, petitions, and pressure from local elected officials pushed the issue over the line. A win.
Nearly 100,000 3-K and Pre-K Offers Go Out — Closer to Home
The Mamdani administration sent out roughly 100,000 3-K and Pre-K offers Tuesday May 19. Citywide, seventy percent of 3-K applicants got a top choice (up from 65% last year) and average travel distances dropped. The wins are uneven across Brooklyn, though — many families who listed ten or more options came up empty on every preferred school and are now weighing waitlists, private alternatives, or appeals. Out-of-borough manual placements did fall sharply (from 720 to under 200), a structural improvement for the BoCoCa-area families who came up short in 2025.
Mamdani Mandates Citywide Math Curriculum — Brooklyn Middle Schools Included
Mayor Mamdani announced Friday May 22 that elementary schools in four districts (Manhattan D5, Bronx D11 and D12, Queens D25) will be required to adopt one of three approved math curriculums starting this fall — the first elementary-level curriculum mandate of his term. Brooklyn elementary schools aren’t yet required, but middle schools in Brooklyn Districts 16, 21, 22, and 23 are folded into a parallel middle-school rollout. Every NYC district will eventually be on a city-approved curriculum, though no timeline was given. One of the approved picks is i-Ready, whose ed-tech platform has drawn pushback elsewhere in the country, and some parent leaders say they weren’t consulted.
City Hall
South of Prospect Park Tapped for Mayor’s First Brooklyn Rezoning
Mayor Mamdani and Department of City Planning Director Sideya Sherman announced Wednesday May 20 that the City will open neighborhood plans for the corridors south of Prospect Park — the McDonald and Coney Island Avenue commercial spines, including Little Bangladesh and Little Pakistan, plus the surrounding blocks. The South of Prospect Plan targets taller buildings and more housing; community engagement kicks off with a survey released the same day. It’s the first Brooklyn neighborhood plan to factor in the planned Interborough Express light rail.
Judges’ Parking Lot Stalls $21M Columbus Park Overhaul
Borough President Antonio Reynoso and Council Member Lincoln Restler are pushing the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership’s $21 million reimagining of the eight-acre park around Borough Hall — new lawn, pavilion, dog run, skate park — but the Office of Court Administration is digging in on the surface lot reserved for judges and courthouse staff, citing security. Judges already surrendered a third of their spaces back in 2008. The fight resumed this week, and Restler and Reynoso will hold a rally Sunday May 31 at noon at the Joralemon Street entrance to the lot. Sign up here.
State Budget Deal Locks In Mayoral Control of Schools
The Albany budget deal reported this week keeps mayoral control of NYC schools through June 2028 and routes an additional $143 million to homeless students, foster-care kids, and English-language learners. The funding direction is the part that matters most for Brooklyn families.
Transit
Biggest Summer Ferry Service in NYC History Starts May 18
NYC Ferry’s 2026 summer schedule launched Monday May 18, the largest service expansion in the system’s history, running through Sept. 13. For Brooklyn families: weekend South Brooklyn local service now extends to Bay Ridge and Sunset Park, a high-capacity direct shuttle to Governors Island runs from Pier 11 with free transfer from other routes, and the Rockaway Rocket from Long Island City and Greenpoint launches in early July. Rockaway Reserve seat tickets bookable starting May 23. Full announcement.
Free Williamsburg–Prospect Park Shuttle Launches May 26
Skincare brand The Ordinary is bankrolling a free, limited-run shuttle bus between Domino Park in Williamsburg and the eastern edge of Prospect Park near the Brooklyn Central Library — designed to cut one of Brooklyn’s slowest intra-borough trips roughly in half. Runs Tuesday May 26 through Tuesday June 9: weekdays noon–7 p.m., weekends 8 a.m.–7 p.m. Free, no tickets required. Schedule and pick-up location here.
Real Estate & Development
Greenpoint Landing’s Next Phase: 1,000 Apartments Across Three Towers
The Domain Companies, LMXD, and Park Tower Group announced a joint venture this week to build out the next phase of Greenpoint Landing — three mixed-income rental buildings totaling roughly 1,000 units, with 300 designated affordable. A 40-story tower at 21 Freeman Street (503 units), a 30-story at 37 Freeman (298 units), and a nine-story at 209 West Street (224 units), plus 20,000 sq ft of retail and a waterfront public park. Going vertical this summer.
Brooklyn Heights Townhouse Trades for $13.3 Million
A newly built, six-story townhouse at 299 Hicks Street closed Friday May 15 for $13.3 million — the priciest residential sale in NYC that day, in a 24-hour window that saw 152 city-wide transactions totaling $691 million. Inventory borough-wide is rising; rental landlords still aren’t budging.
Barclays Center Unveils $150M Phase-Three Renovation
New renderings dropped this week for the third phase of the Barclays Center overhaul in Prospect Heights — $150 million toward modernizing the concourse, adding new club areas, and refreshing the venue’s broadcast and production equipment. The arena that hosts the Nets, Liberty, and a steady run of family-relevant concerts gets a quiet upgrade.
Crime
Coney Island Mother Sentenced in 2022 Drowning of Her Three Children
Erin Merdy, 34, was sentenced Wednesday May 20 to 20 years to life in prison in the September 2022 drownings of her three young children — Zachary Merdy, 7, Liliana Stephens Merdy, 4, and 3-month-old Oliver Bondarev — at Coney Island Beach. Merdy pleaded guilty in March to three counts of first-degree murder. Relatives told reporters at the time she may have been experiencing postpartum depression.
Man Sought for Attack on Three Children at Red Hook Playground
NYPD is still searching for a man who approached three children — a 5-year-old girl, a 7-year-old boy, and a 12-year-old boy — at Bush-Clinton Playground in the Red Hook Recreation Area around 6:30 PM Monday May 11. He knocked the 5- and 12-year-old to the ground and placed his hands around the 7-year-old’s neck before fleeing. The 7-year-old was bruised. The suspect was unknown to the children. Anyone with information should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
Events & Entertainment
DanceAfrica Takes Over BAM Memorial Day Weekend
The 49th edition of DanceAfrica lands at BAM Howard Gilman Opera House over Memorial Day weekend — Friday May 22 at 7:30 PM, Saturday May 23 at 2 PM and 7 PM, Sunday May 24 and Monday May 25 at 3 PM. The free outdoor Bazaar runs Saturday through Monday with more than 150 African, Caribbean, and African-American artisans, designers, chefs, and entrepreneurs. Late-night dance party with DJ YB at BAMcafé Saturday May 23 at 10 PM, free. Schedule and tickets.
Brooklyn Memorial Day Parade Marches Bay Ridge Monday May 25
The 159th Brooklyn Memorial Day Parade — the longest continuously running Memorial Day parade in America — steps off at 11 AM Monday May 25 at 3rd Avenue and 78th Street, down to Marine Avenue, up 4th, and into John Paul Jones Park for the memorial service. Details.
NYC Lottery for $50 World Cup Tickets Opens Monday May 25
The Mamdani administration secured 1,000 discounted $50 World Cup tickets for NYC residents — winners also get free round-trip bus transportation to MetLife Stadium. The online lottery opens Monday May 25 at 10 AM and closes at midnight Saturday May 30. Entries are once per day with a 50,000-daily cap. Tickets split across five group-stage matches and two knockout-round matches; winners notified Wednesday June 3, with up to two tickets each. Non-transferable.
Free ‘Adidas Home of Soccer’ Fan Zone Coming to Brooklyn Bridge Park June 13–July 19
Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Emily Roebling Plaza near Pier 1 will turn into a 25,000-square-foot Fan Zone for the duration of the FIFA World Cup, running Saturday June 13 through Sunday July 19. Expect watch parties for every match, a beer garden and curated local food vendors, a small-sided 3v3 pitch (free to rent when not in use), Panini card-creation stations, and live performances by GRAMMY-nominated PinkPantheress and Larry June. Space for up to 3,500 fans. See our FIFA World Cup 2026 guide for more on the tournament.
Photoville Returns to Brooklyn Bridge Park Through May 30
Photoville’s 15th edition is up across Brooklyn Bridge Park’s piers and shipping-container galleries through Saturday May 30. More than 65 free outdoor exhibitions are viewable anytime the park is open; the container shows run noon to 6 p.m. Family-friendly drop-in workshops, photo walks, and Smorgasburg vendors round out the weekends — all free.
Celebrities
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce Turn Up at a Williamsburg Wedding
Taylor Swift and fiancé Travis Kelce showed up Saturday May 17 at a friend’s wedding at Honey’s in East Williamsburg — Swift in a gold Maria Lucia Hohan gown and opal jewelry once owned by Elizabeth Taylor, Kelce in pinstripes. Their own wedding is reportedly slated for later this summer in the city.
Alison Roman Opens First Bloom Grocery-Café in Brooklyn Heights
Cookbook author and longtime Brooklyn resident Alison Roman is bringing First Bloom — her cult grocery-and-café concept, born last fall in the Catskills — to a permanent storefront in Brooklyn Heights. Expect pantry staples, baked goods, and the same designed-by-Roman attention to detail that turned her recipes and newsletter into a small empire. Opening details are still firming up; Curbed first reported the news this week.
Openings
Brooklyn Made Marketplace Opens at Industry City
The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce opened a 1,200-square-foot permanent storefront in Industry City’s Innovation Alley on Thursday May 18 — billed by BK Reader as Brooklyn’s first borough-themed retail concept built entirely around local makers. Roughly 50 vendors are stocked, spanning apparel, art, beauty, housewares, and food, with a BIPOC-makers priority. It grows out of the Chamber’s recurring holiday pop-up at the same site. Open daily; later weekend hours.
Pho Rainbow Brings Vietnamese Comfort Food to Cobble Hill
Pho Rainbow has set up on the Bergen-and-Dean stretch of Cobble Hill with steaming bowls of pho and a stable of Vietnamese staples — a welcome casual option for weeknight family dinners and easy lunches.
Kings Co Imperial Heads to Park Slope
Williamsburg favorite Kings Co Imperial — known for its soy sauce on tap, wok-fired Chinese-American classics, long dumplings, and prawn fries — is taking over the former Stone Park Café events space on 3rd Street. No firm opening date yet, but Park Slope families will soon have another sit-down option in the neighborhood.
Closings
Greenpoint’s Ilis Closes May 28 After Less Than Three Years
Ilis, the ambitious Greenpoint restaurant from Noma co-founder Mads Refslund, will serve its final meal Thursday May 28. The building was sold and the lease lost. One of the more architecturally striking dining rooms in north Brooklyn — gone after fewer than three years.
Sports
On the Court
The Liberty are home twice this week at Barclays Center: Wednesday May 21 at 8 PM ET against the Golden State Valkyries for AAPI Heritage Night, and Sunday May 24 at 3:30 PM ET against the Dallas Wings. The Nets are in offseason mode after landing the No. 6 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft; foundation pouring is underway on the Liberty’s planned Greenpoint practice facility while building permits work through the queue.
On the Diamond
The Brooklyn Cyclones host the Hudson Valley Renegades at Maimonides Park for a six-game Memorial Day-weekend homestand May 19–24. Theme nights stack up: Friday May 22 is Rockaway Neighbor Night, Saturday May 23 is Military Appreciation Day with kids running the bases postgame, and Sunday May 24 is Bark in the Park with the first 500 children getting ice cream vouchers and kids 14-and-under running the bases.
On the Pitch
The Brooklyn FC men play at Rhode Island FC on Saturday May 23 at 7:30 PM ET at Centreville Bank Stadium — a road test in their inaugural USL Championship season. The Brooklyn FC women wrapped their 2025/26 USL Super League regular season last Saturday at Spokane Zephyr, closing out the year. The men carry the Brooklyn soccer flag through the rest of the spring.
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