Grand Army Plaza (Brooklyn)

Brief Information

Grand Army Plaza is laid out as a traffic circle from which eight streets spread out through Brooklyn, but its significance is not only as an interchange. The plaza was conceived as the main entrance to Prospect Park: at first, this entrance was to be marked by a fountain with small terraces that protected the space from the already noisy traffic. Later it became clear that such a place needed a true gateway.

That role was taken on by the triumphal arch, selected from John Duncan’s design and opened in 1892. Because of it, the plaza is read on two scales at once: as a transportation hub and as a ceremonial entrance. An important shift in perception comes from the history of the fountains: the current fountain now stands on the site of several vanished predecessors, one of which was removed because of subway construction.

What to Notice First

You can compare the three main parts of the plaza: the circular form, the arch, and the fountain. The circle with eight radiating streets shows that the plaza functions as a traffic node. The arch, by contrast, gathers attention into a single point and turns the entrance to the park into a memorable gesture, not just a passageway.

At the arch, it is worth noticing the inner walls with monuments to Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses Grant, and the exterior sculptural groups added later: “The Spirit of the Army,” “The Spirit of the Navy,” and the quadriga. This makes it clear that the arch’s memorial image did not take shape all at once. At the “Bailey Fountain,” the central figures of a man and a woman, representing wisdom and happiness, and Neptune beside them are important. At the southeastern corner, the plaza is closed by the Brooklyn Central Public Library; its position recalls the unrealized plan to incorporate a subway station here.