Editing Brooklyn (section)

==Parks and other attractions==
{{See also|Tourism in New York City}}
[[File:Bbg cherry esplande.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.15|[[Prunus serrulata|Kwanzan Cherries]] in bloom at Brooklyn Botanic Garden]]
[[File:Coney Island Beach-1.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.15|[[Astroland]] in [[Coney Island]]]]
* [[Brooklyn Botanic Garden]]: adjacent to Prospect Park is the {{convert|52|acre|ha|adj=on}} botanical garden, which includes a cherry tree esplanade, a one-acre (0.4&nbsp;ha) rose garden, a Japanese hill, and pond garden, a fragrance garden, a water lily pond esplanade, several conservatories, a rock garden, a native flora garden, a ''[[bonsai]]'' tree collection, and children's gardens and discovery exhibits.
* [[Coney Island]] developed as a playground for the rich in the early 1900s, but it grew as one of America's first amusement grounds and attracted crowds from all over New York. The [[Coney Island Cyclone|Cyclone rollercoaster]], built-in 1927, is on the [[National Register of Historic Places]]. The 1920 Wonder Wheel and other rides are still operational. Coney Island went into decline in the 1970s but has undergone a renaissance.<ref>[http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=227072 "New park adds rides at Coney Island"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130723151430/http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=227072 |date=July 23, 2013 }}. ''Reading Eagle''. Retrieved June 29, 2010.</ref>
* [[Floyd Bennett Field]]: the first municipal airport in New York City and long-closed for operations, is now part of the [[National Park System]]. Many of the historic hangars and runways are still extant. Nature trails and diverse habitats are found within the park, including [[salt marsh]] and a restored area of [[shortgrass prairie]] that was once widespread on the [[Hempstead Plains]].
* [[Green-Wood Cemetery]], founded by the social reformer Henry Evelyn Pierrepont in 1838, is an early [[Rural cemetery]]. It is the burial ground of many notable New Yorkers.
* [[Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge]]: a unique Federal wildlife refuge straddling the Brooklyn–Queens border, part of [[Gateway National Recreation Area]]
* [[New York Transit Museum]] displays historical artifacts of Greater New York's subway, commuter rail, and bus systems; it is at Court Street, a former [[Independent Subway System]] station in [[Brooklyn Heights]] on the [[IND Fulton Street Line|Fulton Street Line]].
* [[Prospect Park (Brooklyn)|Prospect Park]] is a public park in central Brooklyn encompassing {{convert|585|acre|km2}}.<ref name="parkstat">{{cite web |title=About Prospect Park |work=Prospect Park Alliance: Official Web Site of Prospect Park |publisher=Prospect Park Alliance |year=2008 |url=http://www.prospectpark.org/ |access-date=November 29, 2008}}</ref> The park was designed by [[Frederick Law Olmsted]] and [[Calvert Vaux]], who created Manhattan's [[Central Park]]. Attractions include the Long Meadow, a {{convert|90|acre|ha|adj=on}} meadow, the Picnic House, which houses offices and a hall that can accommodate parties with up to 175 guests; [[Litchfield Villa]], [[Prospect Park Zoo]], the [[Boathouse on the Lullwater of the Lake in Prospect Park|Boathouse]], housing a visitors center and the first urban [[National Audubon Society|Audubon Center]];<ref name="auduboncenter">{{cite web|title=Audubon New York |publisher=National Audubon Society |year=2008 |url=http://ny.audubon.org/CentersEdu_ProspectPark.html |access-date=November 29, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116062220/http://ny.audubon.org/CentersEdu_ProspectPark.html |archive-date=January 16, 2009 }}</ref> Brooklyn's only lake, covering {{convert|60|acre|ha|abbr=on}}; the Prospect Park Bandshell that hosts free outdoor concerts in the summertime; and various sports and fitness activities including seven baseball fields. Prospect Park hosts a popular annual Halloween Parade.
* [[Fort Greene Park]] is a public park in the [[Fort Greene, Brooklyn|Fort Greene]] Neighborhood. The park contains the [[Fort Greene Park#Prison Ship Martyrs' Monument|Prison Ship Martyrs' Monument]], a monument to American prisoners during the Revolutionary War.
{{Further|Wildlife of Brooklyn}}

===Sports===
{{Main|Sports in Brooklyn}}
[[File:Barclays Center Rain Night.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.15|Barclays Center in [[Pacific Park, Brooklyn|Pacific Park]] within [[Prospect Heights, Brooklyn|Prospect Heights]], home of the [[Brooklyn Nets|Nets]] and [[New York Liberty|Liberty]]]]
Brooklyn's major professional sports team is the [[National Basketball Association|NBA]]'s [[Brooklyn Nets]]. The Nets moved into the borough in 2012, and play their home games at [[Barclays Center]] in Prospect Heights. Previously, the Nets had played in [[Uniondale, New York]] and in [[New Jersey]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nba.com/nets/news/feature/2019/09/10/nets-history-timeline-from-1967-to-today|title=Nets History Timeline: From 1967 to Today|website=[[Brooklyn Nets]]|access-date=March 11, 2022}}</ref> In April 2020, the [[New York Liberty]] of the [[WNBA]] were sold to the Nets' owners and moved their home venue from [[Madison Square Garden]] to the Barclays Center.

Barclays Center was also the home arena for the [[National Hockey League|NHL]]'s [[New York Islanders]] full-time from 2015 to 2018, then part-time from 2018 to 2020 (alternating with [[Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum|Nassau Coliseum]] in Uniondale). The Islanders had originally played at Nassau Coliseum full-time since their inception until 2015 when their lease at the venue expired and the team moved to Barclays Center. In 2020, the team returned to Nassau Coliseum full-time for one season before moving to the [[UBS Arena]] in Elmont, New York in 2021.

Brooklyn also has a storied sports history. It has been home to many famous sports figures such as [[Joe Paterno]], [[Vince Lombardi]], [[Mike Tyson]], [[Zab Judah]], [[Joe Torre]], [[Sandy Koufax]], [[Billy Cunningham]] and [[Vitas Gerulaitis]]. Basketball legend [[Michael Jordan]] was born in Brooklyn though he grew up in [[Wilmington, North Carolina]].

In the earliest days of organized baseball, Brooklyn teams dominated the new game. The second recorded game of baseball was played near what is now [[Fort Greene Park]] on October 24, 1845. Brooklyn's [[Excelsior of Brooklyn|Excelsiors]], [[Brooklyn Atlantics|Atlantics]] and [[Eckford of Brooklyn|Eckfords]] were the leading teams from the mid-1850s through the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], and there were dozens of local teams with neighborhood league play, such as at [[Mapleton, Brooklyn|Mapleton Oval]].<ref name="BrooklynBallParks.com">{{Cite web|url=http://www.covehurst.net/ddyte/brooklyn/otherparks.html|title=BrooklynBallParks.com - Other Parks|website=www.covehurst.net|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160331205056/http://www.covehurst.net/ddyte/brooklyn/otherparks.html|archive-date=March 31, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> During this "Brooklyn era", baseball evolved into the modern game: the first [[fastball]], first [[changeup]], first [[batting average (baseball)|batting average]], first [[triple play]], [[Jim Creighton|first pro baseball player]], first [[Union Grounds|enclosed ballpark]], first [[Baseball scorekeeping|scorecard]], first known African-American team, first black championship game, first road trip, first gambling scandal, and first eight pennant winners were all in or from Brooklyn.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oldbrooklynbaseball.com |title=Rare Sport for Connoisseurs: How Baseball Was Born in Brooklyn |publisher=Oldbrooklynbaseball.com |access-date=October 24, 2010 |archive-date=February 2, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110202131230/http://www.oldbrooklynbaseball.com/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Brooklyn's most famous historical team, the [[Brooklyn Dodgers]], named for "trolley dodgers" played at [[Ebbets Field]].<ref>[http://www.ebbets-field.com/FAQ/index.htm Ebbets Field] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071009222151/http://www.ebbets-field.com/FAQ/index.htm |date=October 9, 2007 }}. Retrieved October 10, 2007.</ref> In 1947 [[Jackie Robinson]] was hired by the Dodgers as the first African-American player in Major League Baseball in the modern era. In 1955, the Dodgers, perennial National League pennant winners, won the only [[World Series]] for Brooklyn against their rival [[New York Yankees]]. The event was marked by mass euphoria and celebrations. Just two years later, the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles. [[Walter O'Malley]], the team's owner at the time, is still vilified, even by Brooklynites too young to remember the Dodgers as Brooklyn's ball club.

After a 43-year hiatus, professional baseball returned to the borough in 2001 with the [[Brooklyn Cyclones]], a [[minor league baseball|minor league]] team that plays in [[MCU Park]] in [[Coney Island]]. They are an affiliate of the [[New York Mets]].

The minor-league [[New York Cosmos (2010)|New York Cosmos]] soccer club played its home games at MCU Park in 2017.<ref>Elstein, Aaron. [http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20170911/NEWS/170919987/soccers-historic-new-york-cosmos-team-faces-possible-extinction-amidst-relegation-threat "Renowned Cosmos soccer team faces possible extinction sport's governing body has moved to relegate the team Pele once played for to a lower division"], ''[[Crain Communications|Crain's New York Business]]'', September 11, 2017. Retrieved September 16, 2017. "In 2009 the NASL was revived, and the Cosmos reappeared soon after. But few attended games at Hofstra University on Long Island, and, after piling up about $30 million in losses, the Cosmos were about to shut down again last year when Commisso rescued the team and moved it to [[Coney Island]]'s [[MCU Park]], the 7,000-seat home of the Brooklyn Cyclones minor-league baseball team."</ref> A new [[Brooklyn FC (USL)|Brooklyn FC]] will begin play in 2024, fielding a women's team in the first-division [[USL Super League]] and a men's team in the second-division [[USL Championship]] beginning in 2025.<ref>{{cite web |title=USL Super League Awards Franchise to Brooklyn for 2024/25 Inaugural Season |url=https://www.uslsuperleague.com/news/2024/02/09/usl-super-league-awards-franchise-to-brooklyn-for-2024-25-inaugural-season/ |website=uslsuperleague.com |publisher=United Soccer League |access-date=April 13, 2024 |date=February 9, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Brooklyn FC Moves to USL Championship Ahead of Men's 2025 Inaugural Season |url=https://www.uslsoccer.com/news_article/show/1303990 |website=uslsoccer.com |publisher=United Soccer League |access-date=April 13, 2024 |date=March 14, 2024}}</ref>

Brooklyn once had a [[National Football League]] team named the [[Brooklyn Lions]] in 1926, who played at Ebbets Field.<ref>[https://www.pro-football-reference.com/stadiums/BRK00.htm Ebbets Field History], [[Pro-Football-Reference.com]]. Retrieved September 16, 2017.</ref>

In [[rugby union]], [[Rugby United New York]] joined [[Major League Rugby]] in 2019 and played their home games at MCU Park through the 2021 season.

Brooklyn has one of the most active recreational fishing fleets in the United States. In addition to a large private fleet along Jamaica Bay, there is a substantial public fleet within Sheepshead Bay. Species caught include Black Fish, Porgy, Striped Bass, Black Sea Bass, Fluke, and Flounder.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brooklyn-living.com/fishing.html|title=Brooklyn Living: Brooklyn Fishing|website=brooklyn-living.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180825071839/http://www.brooklyn-living.com/fishing.html|archive-date=August 25, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://mj2fishing.com/|title=Sheepshead Bay Brooklyn New York Party Charter Fishing Boat |author=Marilyn Jean IV|website=mj2fishing.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/8377.html|title=I FISH NY Saltwater Fishing Guide for New York City Area |publisher= NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation|website=dec.ny.gov}}</ref>