Charles C. Pinn Triangle

What was here before?

Originally home to the Lenape, this site eventually became part of the Lefferts family property. The Lefferts patriarch Leffert Pietersen Van Haughwout arrived in Brooklyn in 1660 and the family became one of the wealthiest and most influential in the area. This piece of land was owned by Sarah Lefferts by the early 19th century, but it was quickly developed with rowhouses. The Fulton Street Line elevated train opened in 1880 and ran through this site, with storefronts and residences lining the street below.

How did this site become a park?

This site and the neighboring block were transformed when the city obtained the property for Fulton Park through condemnation in 1904 and again in 1940 when the train line was closed and later demolished. This traffic triangle was slightly reconfigured when the Risley Dent development across the street was built in 1980.

This property is part of the Greenstreets program, which is a joint project of NYC Parks and the NYC Department of Transportation. Beginning in 1986, this initiative converted paved street properties, such as triangles and malls, into green spaces. This triangle was solid concrete until 2010, when a green space was added to its center. The following year it was renamed Charles C. Pinn Triangle. The garden was replanted in the fall of 2016.

Who is this park named for?

Charles “Chris” Pinn (1966-1995) first served as an intern for Council Member Al Vann while a student at Samuel J. Tilden High School. In 1980, he founded the Young People’s Macon MacDonough Stuyvesant Lewis Block Association in Bedford-Stuyvesant. He attended Howard University, and on his return to Brooklyn in 1985 he continued to pursue his interest in community work. He organized block associations, Parent-Teacher Associations, and tenants’ groups.

In 1991, he was elected Chairperson of Community Board 3 and Secretary of the Brooklyn branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Fort Greene Senior Citizens Council as well as a consultant for the Malcolm X, Marcy and Risley Dent Senior Centers.

In his professional career as assistant to Assemblyman Al Vann and Council Member Annette Robinson, he worked diligently to improve conditions and opportunities, particularly for the youth of central Brooklyn. He formed the Junior Vanguard Independent Democratic Association (VIDA) and was also the first Chairperson of the Bedford-Stuyvesant Community Conference Youth Task Force. In 1995, he died after a prolonged illness.