I ran the Brooklyn Navy Yard today and went far further than I’ve ever been, getting to nearly the end of Pier K near the Barge Basin in Williamsburg. I intended to run to whatever checkpoint wouldn’t let me go further, but when it turned out that there aren’t any past the dry-docks to Navy Yard Drive, I just kept going. Security guards drove past me a few times.

A great byproduct of Brooklyn’s deindustrialization of its shoreline is getting access to sites that were long-closed off when they were active. I had the same feeling as when stood west of the Domino Sugar Factory or the piers of the old dock facilities in Red Hook for the first time.

By the time I got to the end of the drive and saw Kent Gate’s shipping container wall, I thought I’d run a little further north and then circle back to take that exit Kent Ave. I saw the Brooklyn Navy Yard salt shed and, just across from it, Building 33.

I made it to nearly the end of Pier K, stopping at the gate to Building 45 to take a picture of the handwritten “No Snow” sign on its barrier.

I started heading back after getting a photo of the old transfer bridge but was finally stopped by a security guard who said the area was closed. After I apologized and said I’d leave right away, the guard warned that the Kent Ave exit was closed and I’d have to return the way I came.