Where does a Dumbo weekend go in November when the big lawn beside Jane's Carousel is fenced off? Brooklyn Bridge Park closed Empire Fulton Ferry Lawn for renovations in mid-October, and the park lists it as closed "until Spring 2027." For the next few months, that lawn is not part of the neighborhood's waterfront.
What is left fits into a short stretch. The ice rink sits beneath the Brooklyn Bridge. The holiday market, the tree lighting and the studio map all start from the Archway under the Manhattan Bridge. The holiday projections play on the BQE and the Manhattan Bridge itself. Even this season's new museum exhibit is about the waterfront as it looked before either bridge went up. Dumbo's winter this year is the space underneath its two bridges, and its two biggest draws, the rink and the holiday market, open on the same Saturday.
The park's winter is already shrinking
The lawn closure arrives along with the park's usual cold-weather cutbacks. Brooklyn Bridge Park's alerts page lists these changes for this season:
- Pier 2 closes at 9 p.m. from October through February.
- Restrooms close at 10 p.m. from November through February.
- Fountains and water features are shut off in mid-November and stay off until early April.
- Some in-park concessions and vendors close for the winter.
Two construction projects also run on the park's edges this fall. The Pier 4 Transfer Bridge, behind Bird Island, is being demolished, with work scheduled from October 13 through December 1. At Fulton Ferry Landing, crews are repairing the structural piles and bulkheads from a work barge in the former Bargemusic slip. Most of that work is scheduled overnight, and the park describes it as producing minimal noise.
The park has not given a renovation scope for the lawn. Its listing gives only the closure window. In practice, the Empire Fulton Ferry end of the waterfront loses its biggest open space at the start of the season, while the park's other piers shift to winter hours.
November 14 is when the season moves in
The new winter base is Emily Warren Roebling Plaza, directly under the Brooklyn Bridge. The park's crews have been building the ice rink there since October 14, with detour signs in place, and Roebling Rink opens Saturday, November 14.
That same Saturday, the Brooklyn Flea opens its holiday market in the Dumbo Archway and Plaza. It runs weekends from November 14 through December 20, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with more than 40 vendors, mulled wine and live performances, according to the Dumbo Improvement District's holiday page. The district's happy hour roster lists the Dumbo Archway Bar, linked to the Brooklyn Flea, as "Closed in Oct."
Brooklyn Paper reports that the rink's opening day is also its biggest free day of the season:
- 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 12:30 to 2 p.m.: free admission for the first two skating sessions, with a limited number of tickets, per the session times on the rink's own site.
- 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.: educational and craft activities led by Brooklyn Bridge Park educators.
- 12 to 4 p.m.: the Brooklyn Museum's Museum on Wheels, plus holiday movie screenings.
- 6:30 to 8 p.m.: Milk, the drag performer and figure skating champion, performs and joins a skating session.
- 8 to 8:30 p.m.: a holiday performance by the New York City Gay Men's Chorus.
Between the free morning sessions and the Flea's 10 a.m. opening, both of the season's anchor venues start on the same morning, about a five-minute walk apart along the waterfront.
What the rink costs once the free sessions are gone
This is Roebling Rink's third season. Brooklyn Paper lists these prices, including taxes and fees:
| NYC residents | Nonresidents | |
|---|---|---|
| Admission | $16 | $20 |
| Skate rental | $8 | $12 |
| Total with rentals | $24 | $32 |
The district's holiday page still says "Tickets start at $10," which is lower than this season's reported admission. The rink's own site lists skates at $8, helmets at $5 and skate buddies at $5. The checkout page shows the final price.
Each ticket gives you 60 minutes of skating within a 90-minute session window. The gaps between sessions are for ice cleaning. Tickets are nonrefundable, but you can reschedule up to five hours before your session. Walk-up tickets are sold if space allows. Regular hours are 1:30 to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 12:30 to 10 p.m. on Fridays, and 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends. The rink is open daily except Thanksgiving. Fireworks Skating Academy teaches private and group lessons during select sessions on Saturdays, Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Lessons include rink admission, but skate rental costs extra.
The rink's late hours matter this year. Most of the park winds down early in winter, with Pier 2 closing at 9 p.m., but the rink runs until 10 p.m. on Fridays and weekends.
For comparison, a ride on Jane's Carousel costs $4, and one adult can share a ticket with one child under 42 inches. The carousel keeps its fall schedule through December 31: 11 a.m. to 5:50 p.m., closed Mondays and Tuesdays. It closes before dark, while the rink is open most evenings, so the waterfront's evenings this season belong to the rink.
The calendar, November into February
From the library exhibit's opening through the last market weekend, the calendar stays in the same few blocks. The dates below come from the Dumbo Improvement District unless noted otherwise.
| Date | What | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 to Feb 28 | "Dumbo Before the Bridges" exhibit | Adams Street Library |
| Sat, Nov 14 | Roebling Rink opens; Brooklyn Flea Holiday Market begins | Emily Warren Roebling Plaza; Archway + Plaza |
| Weekends, Nov 14 to Dec 20 | Brooklyn Flea Holiday Market, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Archway + Plaza |
| Thu, Nov 26 | Roebling Rink closed for Thanksgiving | Emily Warren Roebling Plaza |
| Daily, Nov 30 to Dec 20 | FAD Market, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. | Empire Stores lobby |
| Wed, Dec 2 | Holiday bar crawl, from 5 p.m. | Neighborhood bars |
| Thu, Dec 3 | Tree lighting, 4 to 7 p.m., lit at 5:30 p.m. | Archway + Pearl Plaza |
| Sat, Dec 5 | Dumbo Shop the Studios, 1 to 6 p.m. | Artist studios; maps at the Brooklyn Flea in the Archway |
FAD Market, which sells gifts from small NYC-based makers, is the one holiday market on this list held indoors. The tree lighting brings the season back to the Archway. Shop the Studios starts there too, since the participating artists' map is handed out at the Flea.
The district also runs nightly holiday projections on the BQE, the Manhattan Bridge and building facades. The animations are made by Augenblick Studios, an independent animation studio based in Dumbo. The holiday page does not give a start date for the projections. The page also mentions sidewalk trees wrapped in lights and a mailbox for letters to Santa. The district says letter writers whose wish lists can be bought in Dumbo may receive $100 in Dumbo Dollars to spend in the neighborhood.
After dark, the season moves onto the streets
Once the market packs up at 5 p.m., the season moves into the streets around the Archway. The district's monthly Dumbo Happy Hour runs on the first Wednesday of every month, all year, with specials of $6 beer, $9 wine, $9 mocktails and $12 cocktails. The November edition was a Friendsgiving theme on November 4. The next first Wednesday is December 2, the same date as the holiday bar crawl. The participating venues include:
- Titán, 5 Front Street
- Time Out Market, 55 Water Street
- Dawn's 'Til Dusk, 33 Main Street
- Ziggy's Roman Cafe, 15 Main Street
- Gair, 41 Washington Street
- Kinjo, 11 Adams Street
- Fontainhas
There is also a new bar for colder nights. Don't Matter, a vinyl listening bar at 55 Sands Street at Adams Street, opened August 5 with records, a serious sound system and a short drinks list, Brooklyn Bridge Parents reported. This will be its first holiday season.
At the waterfront end of Old Fulton Street, the street signs changed this fall. The Brooklyn Eagle reported that Old Fulton Street was co-named for Patsy and Carol Grimaldi, the couple behind the coal-fired pizzeria. The dedication was held outside Juliana's at 19 Old Fulton Street. The block runs from the rink toward the closed lawn, and its new name is the newest marker on the walk.
The exhibit about the waterfront before the bridges
"Dumbo Before the Bridges" runs at the Adams Street Library from November 5 through February 28, 2027. It shows objects dug up during HWKKP005, the city's $108 million rebuild of Dumbo's Belgian block streets, water and sewer lines, and plazas. According to the Dumbo Improvement District, that project broke ground in April 2019 and was finished in December 2025.
Mark Tweedie, the project's archaeologist, chose eighteen objects from the 2,771 found under the streets, many dating to the early 1800s. Historic photographs show the industrial and home lives of Brooklynites on this waterfront before the bridges were built. Those are the same plazas where this winter's markets and tree lighting are held. This is the first full holiday season since that street work finished in December 2025.
After the markets end
The calendar thins in stages after December 20. The Flea and FAD Market both wrap up that weekend. Roebling Rink stays open daily through January 31, 2027, according to Brooklyn Bridge Park. On January 1, Jane's Carousel switches to winter hours. It keeps the same 11 a.m. to 5:50 p.m. day but closes Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays through March 16. The library exhibit stays up through February 28. Empire Fulton Ferry Lawn has no fixed reopening date yet; the park lists it only as spring 2027.
At DE Advisory Team, we live and work a few blocks from these bridges in Cobble Hill and follow Dumbo's waterfront closely through the year. If a winter spent near the Archway has you thinking about what your own Dumbo loft or condo would sell for in spring 2027, request a home valuation and we'll walk you through it.
