108 BROOKLYN NEWS BROOKLYN-USA.ORG
Photo: Erica Sherman/Brooklyn BP’s Office
Borough President Adams, sporting some Brooklyn gear, demonstrated one of the new tablet computer stations in the revamped Brooklyn Tourism Visitors
Center and Gift Shop inside Brooklyn Borough Hall.
A Center of Tourism
Borough President Adams welcomes
the world to Brooklyn!
This February, he joined community
members in celebrating the grand
reopening of the Brooklyn Tourism
Visitors Center and Gift Shop inside
Brooklyn Borough Hall, where visitors
from around the corner or across the
globe have an opportunity to explore
the diverse culture and unique history
of the borough. In recent months, the
center had been closed to allow for
its transformation into an interactive
information hub that provides tourists
with guidance on what to do and see in
the borough.
To create an exciting destination
for visitors near and far, Borough
President Adams formed a partnership
with the Brooklyn Chamber of
Commerce and One Brooklyn Fund
Inc., the official non-profit organization
affiliated with the Office of the
Brooklyn Borough President. In addition
to helping publicize the center’s
various exhibits, it will also foster
efforts to promote local artisans and
manufacturers by featuring a number
of their products and offering them
for sale. The focus on Brooklyn-made
products contributes to the initiative
by Borough President Adams and the
Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce to
support small businesses owners.
Their creations have spurred an internationally
renowned “Brooklyn brand,”
which has cornered the worldwide
market on innovation.
An estimated 15 million people
visited the borough in 2014 alone.
Borough President Adams believes
the new Brooklyn Tourism Visitors
Center and Gift Shop will raise the
profile of neighborhoods throughout
Brooklyn, as part of his plan for
expanding the local economy to create
jobs and opportunities for growth. The
center also includes historic photographs
of Brooklyn landmarks, memorabilia
related to the Brooklyn Dodgers
and other important local institutions,
guides to places of interest throughout
the borough, and useful information
for tourists who want to explore
Brooklyn and its rich diversity.
“Tourists want a memorable experience
when they travel, and our new
and improved center will set the stage
for a day trip, weekend getaway, or
longer excursion that excites their
senses and expands their horizons,”
said Borough President Adams. “The
popularity of our brand must translate
into prosperity for all Brooklynites,
and tourism is a vehicle to achieve
that mission. Efforts like these are
reflective of my commitment to helping
maximize the dollars generated
through local tourism right here in our
borough.”
Borough President Adams hopes
the Brooklyn Tourism Visitors Center
and Gift Shop can build a connection in
the community between the past and
present, particularly with its exhibit
on the sections of the Underground
Railroad in Brooklyn, created in collaboration
with the Weeksville
Heritage Center. To encourage visitors
to further dig deeper into Brooklyn’s
fascinating past, the center also will
include a rotating display featuring a
particular aspect of Brooklyn history,
curated by longtime Brooklyn Borough
Historian Ron Schweiger. To explore
the future of the borough, state-ofthe
art tablet computer stations offer
visitors a fully interactive experience
to seek out local attractions and points
of interest.
Tourism has been vital to the
Brooklyn boom, and Borough
President Adams wants its next chapter
to include and benefit communities
that have long been viewed as off
the beaten path, from Bath Beach to
Brownsville. Whether it has been his
work with the Brooklyn Arts Council
and NYC & Company Foundation to
award tens of thousands of dollars in
mini-grants to dozens of small cultural
organizations for marketing, his
initiative on creating large-scale celebrations
like his One Brooklyn New
Year’s Eve festivities in Coney Island
and Prospect Park, or his reenvisioning
of the Brooklyn Tourism Visitors
Center and Gift Shop, he is seeking to
cement the borough as a premier destination
for tourists everywhere, from
Manhattan to Mumbai and all points
in between.
/BROOKLYN-USA.ORG