Brooklyn Botanic Garden, abbreviated as BBG, is a New York City botanical garden located in the Brooklyn borough. Located next to Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Museum, it was established in 1910 on land taken from Mount Prospect Park in central Brooklyn. Over 14,000 plant species are housed in the garden’s 21 ha area, which attracts nearly one million visitors each year.
Plant collections, a Steinhardt Conservatory that contains the Bonsai Museum, three climate-themed plant pavilions, a white cast iron and glass aquatic plant house, and an art museum are all part of the garden’s “gardens inside the garden.”
Prospect Park was inspired by a law passed by the New York State Legislature in April 1859, which established a commission of twelve members tasked with recommending locations for new parks in Brooklyn.
Fourteen commissioners proposed park sites in Brooklyn in February 1860, including a 1.3 km2 plot centered on Mount Prospect Park (present-day) and bordered to the north by Warren Street, to the west by Vanderbilt, 9th and 10th Avenues, to the south by 3rd and 9th Streets, and to the east by the Washington Avenue.
Plans for a park that would span Flatbush Avenue and encompass Prospect Hill as well as the space now held by Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and Brooklyn Museum were first drawn up by Egbert Viele.