Memorial gatherings in the Brooklyn parks are one of the truest things the city's permit calendar records — a family books a lawn, and half a block shows up with folding chairs and foil trays. This one takes the East 91st Street lawn in Canarsie Park, a flat green stretch a few minutes from Seaview Avenue and the bay. If you're local and you knew the family, this is the afternoon; if you're not, know that the park around it stays open and unusually quiet for a Brooklyn Saturday.
What to expect
A reserved lawn area with tables, chairs and food set up for a family gathering, likely with speeches and music at some point in the afternoon. The rest of Canarsie Park continues as normal around it — ballfields in use, walkers on the perimeter paths, the Seaview Avenue traffic in the background. Nothing about the surrounding park is closed off.
Good to know
- Canarsie is far southeast Brooklyn — the L to Rockaway Parkway and then a bus is the usual transit route, and most people drive
- This is a private permitted memorial; the lawn is reserved for the family, though the park itself remains open
- Bring your own shade and water — the lawn areas here have limited tree cover
- The park's paths are flat and paved, so it's manageable with a stroller or walker
- Canarsie Pier and the Jamaica Bay shoreline are a short trip further south if you want to make an afternoon of the area
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Common questions
Is this open to the public?
It's a permitted family memorial, so the gathering itself is for invited guests. Canarsie Park and its lawns, paths and ballfields stay open to everyone.
Where is the East 91st Street lawn?
It's the lawn section of Canarsie Park nearest the East 91st Street side, on the park's western edge toward Seaview Avenue.
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