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DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN

FEBRUARY 2026

IN EVERY TRANSITION, A PATTERN

Thanks to a Public Realm Grant from NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS, Downtown Brooklyn Partnership (DBP), and MASARY Studios brought a new light art installation to the streets of Downtown Brooklyn. In Every Transition, A Pattern energizes the storefront windows of the iconic former Macy’s building on Fulton Street with rhythmic lights driven by audio recordings of the Downtown Brooklyn environment, to create a kaleidoscope of colored lights on the storefront windows and sidewalk.

Visitors to the installation are encouraged to stay awhile and enjoy some of the neighborhood’s great offerings. Over a dozen local businesses are offering deals to entice people to get the full benefit of a trip to Downtown Brooklyn.

This is one of many temporary artworks that contribute to the neighborhood’s vital street life and introduce new audiences to Downtown Brooklyn.

In Every Transition, A Pattern by MASARY Studios

DTBK DEBUTS NEW HOLIDAY LIGHTS

DBP unveiled new and expanded designs for its district holiday lights, featuring a dynamic light network along Fulton Mall, Abolitionist Place, and Court Street. The new lights made their big debut on Tuesday, November 25, at DBP’s annual DTBK Gets Lit! celebration.

For Winter 2025, the neighborhood shone with a new generation of holiday lighting – an adaptive, programmable network that transforms streets into living lightscapes. Each installation is distinct and programmed to shift hues, pulse in rhythm, or cascade dynamically, offering ever-changing combinations of color and motion.

To give the DTBK holiday lights a stunning new look, DBP issued an RFP for fabrication and installation, and following a competitive selection process, awarded the contract to a team comprised of Limbic Media and City1. Limbic Media is a pioneering creative studio based in Victoria, Canada, that specializes in immersive light and visual environments. City1 Maintenance is a Brooklyn-based streetscape maintenance company that has partnered with both Limbic Media and DBP to support lighting installations.

The new designs will be expanded to more of Downtown Brooklyn’s busy corridors in the coming years.

ABOLITIONIST PLACE

Award Finalist!

Exciting news.Abolitionist Place has been selected as a finalist for the NY ULI Excellence in DevelopmentAwards 2026, in the category of Best Urban Open Space. The winners will be announced at the 2026 ULI Gala in April.

The award is testament to the success of the park as a community gathering space and neighborhood anchor. We look forward to welcoming everyone back to enjoy the park in the Spring!

RETAIL NEWS

New Grocery Stores

Downtown Brooklyn continues to attract grocery retailers. Hashi Market, an Asian supermarket offering fresh foods, international cuisines, and daily essentials, opened on in November at 299 Atlantic Avenue. The Fresh Grocer, a grocery chain based primarily in New Jersey, celebrated its first NYC opening in February at 523 Fulton Street. The store is located across from Lidl, which opened last spring at 490 Fulton Street. Aldi also opened in November at 625 Fulton Street on the ground floor of The Rocklyn.

International Brands Arriving

Two major Chinese brands are expanding to Downtown Brooklyn. Mixue (pronounced ME-shway), an ice cream and bubble tea shop known as the world's largest food chain, is coming to 519 Fulton Street, with a lease reportedly at $225 per square foot. Coffee company Luckin Coffee has signed a lease at 211 Schermerhorn Street.

Fine Dining

Two upscale restaurants made announcements this quarter. Din Tai Fung, the Michelin-starred chain known for soup dumplings, will occupy 20,000 square feet at The Brook in early 2027 - its second NYC location. At 286 Livingston St., Kashi, an Indian restaurant described by The New York Times as "lavish," features varied seating areas, vintage décor, elaborate lighting, and a mosaic bar.

Hotel Restaurants

Several hotels are offering new dining options. The Livingston Hotel, opened in February, features two eateries: The Goldfinch Café, for coffee and pastries, and The Grove Lantern for all-day full-service dining and drinks. Italian restaurant Carne by Allora, recently opened at the Hilton Brooklyn Hotel (140 Schermerhorn Street), and POSX Asian Bistro opened at the Sheraton Hotel (228 Duffield Street), claiming to be the first NYC restaurant to accept cryptocurrency.

City Point Additions

City Point welcomed more new tenants. Just Salad, a healthy quick-service restaurant, opened at Albee Square West, and Warby Parker, the eyewear brand, opened at the Prince Street walkway. Recent arrivals also include Swarovski jewelry and Van Leeuwen ice cream. Carnegie Diner will soon bring its farmfresh comfort food and all-day menu to the former Sixpoint space in DeKalb Market.

Fitness & Wellness

Club Studio Fitness has leased 32,200 square feet on the second floor of 625 Fulton Street. The upscale health club will offer premium gym equipment, boutique classes, and wellness services. Cadet Athletic Performance, a locally owned sports training facility, opened this quarter at 299 Livingston Street. CorePower Yoga will open at 1 Willoughby Square, in the building's Albee Square West facing storefront.

Casual Dining

Teriyaki One began operations at 500 Fulton Street. Jimmy John's sandwich shop opened at 32 Court Street. SoBol, an açai bowl chain, opened at the Pioneer Building (41 FlatbushAvenue) in February. Dos Toros Taqueria opened in January at One Boerum Place.

Downtown Brooklyn Foot Traffic

via MRI OnLocation data (formerly Springboard)

In December 2025, foot traffic trends across Downtown Brooklyn’s parks and plazas show the following

Jay St. + Brooklyn Commons recorded the strongest foot traffic, averaging between 14,500 and 19,000 weekday visits per day. Activity typically peaked in the afternoon between 12:00 pm and 4:00 pm, with an additional spike around 8:00 am.

The Plaza at 300 Ashland experienced an average of 6,500 to 9,000 daily visitors, with Wednesdays being the most active. Hourly traffic peaked between 4:00 pm and 6:00 pm at the plaza.

Willoughby Paza also saw 6,500 to 9,000 visitors per day, with the highest activity occurring on Wednesdays. Hourly traffic spiked between 12:00 and 1:00 pm.

Albee Square recorded 6,500 to 8,000 daily pedestrians, again with Wednesdays showing the greatest activity. Foot traffic typically peaked around 3:00 pm.

Abolitionist Place averaged 2,500 to 3,000 daily visits, with pedestrian activity peaking on Wednesdays. The highest traffic occurred between 1:00 pm and 5:00 pm, with an additional peak around 6:00 pm.

DEVELOPMENT UPDATES

As of February 2026, Downtown Brooklyn development includes:

167 projects completed since the 2004 rezoning, including 27,571 residential units (of which 6,062 are affordable), 2.8 million sq. ft. of office space and 2.6 million sq. ft. of retail.

11 projects under construction, including 2,119 residential units (382 of which are affordable) and 70K sq. ft. of retail.

26 projects planned, including at least 5,554 residential units (of which 1,251 will be affordable).

For the latest information on real estate market data, development updates and commercial leasing activity in the fastest growing downtown in the nation, please see DBP’s recent Q4 2025 Market Report

Historic Housing Growth

Downtown Brooklyn delivered a historic 4,421 residential units in 2025, surpassing the previous record of 2,800 units in 2017 This includes 1,308 affordable homes.

Approximately 1,300 units are currently in the development pipeline.

DBP’s Real Estate team maintains an inventory of Downtown Brooklyn’s development activity with its Development Dashboard. This dynamic tool tracks every completed, under construction, and proposed project since the 2004 rezoning. Simply zoom in and click on any property to view detailed project information, photos, and links.

COMMUNITY PROGRAMMING

Our Downtown Brooklyn Presents events series continues to transform our plazas and parks into vibrant centers for placemaking and community gatheringt. We are dedicated to engaging with residents and visitors alike, fostering a shared sense of community and experiences.

In 2025, our plazas and streets transformed into vibrant hubs, hosting over 150 free events, with programming developed by our team and in partnership with key collaborators. In the last quarter, Downtown Brooklyn Presents gathered an excited crowd at Mile 8 of the NYC Marathon at The Plaza at 300 Ashland. Our annual BKLYN BOO! was met with great enthusiasm at Abolitionist Place, followed by the festive DTBK Gets Lit! celebration at Albee Square. Most recently, we celebrated the Lunar New Year at Albee Square, welcoming the Year of the Horse with overwhelming joy!

DTBK Presents 2026 will launch with Car Free Earth Day at Albee Square and Albee Square West. Also at Albee Square and in partnership with City Point and Brooklyn Org, we welcome the return of Show Brooklyn Some Love. On Willoughby Street, we will host NYU Day with special performances by The Clive Davis Institute and presentations by the Interactive Telecommunications Program. Abolitionist Place thrives with Wednesday Wonders, where we collaborate with My Gym City Point as well as showcase local artists for early-morning and after-school activities.

Our dedication to innovative programming and partnerships continues to define our commitment to our public and shared spaces.

DTBK Gets Lit! at Albee Square

MAKE IT IN BROOKLYN

Business Community Connections

Our Winter Workout Crawl marketing campaign successfully activated Downtown Brooklyn's fitness ecosystem, generating strong community participation with over 100 registrants and establishing deeper connections with local studio owners. The fitness passport initiative not only drove traffic to participating businesses but also demonstrated the effectiveness of collaborative marketing in building neighborhood loyalty.

We’ve also leveraged the holiday lighting program and the new lighting installation at the former Macy's building as strategic touchpoints for business engagement. These visibility initiatives serve dual purposes: enhancing the district's aesthetic appeal while promoting local businesses.

Make It in Brooklyn (MIIB) is Downtown Brooklyn Partnership’s initiative to support and highlight the borough’s entrepreneurial spirit and connect local talent to opportunities. MIIB features signature events series such as Pitch Contests, Meetups, and Design Socials.

In January, we launched our Living Lab open call, inviting technology companies to pilot smart city solutions in Downtown Brooklyn's public spaces. The program offers real-world testing environments and collaboration with DBP, building on successful past pilots like Swiftmile's ebattery charging stations and Coord's curb management platform.

MIIB Design Socials

MIIB visited the L10 Arts and Cultural Center at 10 Lafayette Ave for a Design Social and tour of this remarkable shared space and its three cultural institutions: Brooklyn Public Library, 651 Arts, and MoCADA (Museum of Contemporary African DiasporaArts), plus the BAM Archive. The event connected professionals from various local design firms, including Sasi, W Architecture, 3x3, ORG, and SO – IL.

We also hosted a Design Social at the Pratt Institute School ofArchitecture. Chair Andrew Holder led a walkthrough of the Levers Long Enough to Move the World: Sketches in Contemporary Architecture exhibition. The event provided an opportunity to connect professionals from Downtown Brooklyn design firms with aspiring architects, fostering meaningful dialogue and inspiration through engagement with the exhibited work.

MIIB Design Social at Pratt Institute

PUBLIC SAFETY

DBP’s Public Safety team regularly meets with the 84th and 88th Precincts, as well as the newly created Quality of Life Team (QTeam), to continue fostering relationships and discussing issues affecting the Downtown Brooklyn community. Communications are maintained with various stakeholders to ensure areas of concern are properly addressed with focus on specific locations where safety concerns have been identified.

Efforts are also being made with the Q-Team to focus on illicit vending activities. Several enforcement actions have been executed resulting in fines and the temporary closure of several vending operations. Along with focusing on criminal activity, homelessness, and traffic situations, the Q-Team will focus efforts to address these vending issues and has been responsive to situations reported by Public Safety staff.

NYPD continues to post extra officers during school dismissals and will maintain a presence whenever school is in session. NYPD has advised that most larcenies in the area are related to stolen unattended items.

The Public Safety Department is also securing system design and cost proposals for a possible upgrade to the Fulton Mall and MetroTech area camera systems. A patrol tour app is also being reviewed for implementation to enhance the method of filing incident reports, resulting in more efficient means of addressing adverse situations and retaining statistical information.

Downtown Brooklyn Partnership is a not-for-profit local development corporation that serves as the primary champion for Downtown Brooklyn as a world-class business, cultural, educational, residential, and retail destination.

Managing three Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) that cover Downtown Brooklyn, the Partnership's diverse activities include attracting new businesses and improving the environment for existing companies, facilitating the construction of public spaces and streetscapes that promote an active and cohesive community, supporting and promoting Downtown Brooklyn's cultural assets, and encouraging a sense of place and an engaged civic community.

Skyline Photo