Mini-golf comes to the North Brooklyn waterfront

A new climate change-themed mini-golf course is now open on the Williamsburg waterfront at North 1st and River Street.
Dubbed PUTTING GREEN, the attraction is operated by Two Trees Management. It is located at North 1st and River streets where the company hopes to build River Ring, a mixed-use development that would include two 710- and 560-foot towers.
The 18-hole course is meant to educate visitors on sustainability, resiliency and the effects of climate change as they go from hole to hole.
Admission is $5 for kids and $10 for adults and all proceeds will benefit local organizations, including the Newtown Creek Alliance. The course itself is made from 100 percent recycled materials.
“This mini-golf course is an opportunity to start a conversation with players of all ages about climate change and its impacts,” said Two Trees managing director David Lombino. “By repurposing this construction space, we were able to partner with local organizations and environmental groups to collectively create a space that the entire community can enjoy.”
However, the larger plans for the site continue to face community backlash.
The grassroots organization Sustainable Williamsburg argues the River Ring development is out of character with the surrounding neighborhood, and will only intesify gentrification and displacement, as well as overburden the area’s transit and other community services.
“We are at the heart of a neighborhood in the past decade that has seen more development and construction than any across America,” member Matthew Emmi said in a previous interview with this paper. “We as neighbors are asked to stomach another development before we are able to fully digest and comprehend the impacts of 7,500-plus new residents to the waterfront that are currently underway.”