Groen Hoek: The East River Community Boathouse Competition was an open international ideas competition to design a boathouse for the community of Greenpoint in Brooklyn, New York. The competition was initiated by the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter Emerging New York Architects (ENYA), in cooperation with the East River Kayak Club (ERKC) and the East River Apprenticeshop (ERAshop).

The competition was an effort to provide young and emerging designers and architects with the opportunity to engage in the development of the Bushwick Creek Inlet, a former industrial site and brownfield, as well as begin to reclaim and reconnect to some of our greatest natural resources, including the harbor, rivers and estuaries of New Yorkr and New Jersey.

The Competition coincided with an announcement by the Greenpoint Waterfront Association for Parks and Planning (GWAPP) and the Trust for Public Land (TPL) for the commencement of an open space study for the Greenpoint and Williamsburg East River Waterfront, as well as the announcement by the New York City Department of City Planning of the Greenpoint and Williamsburg Land Use and Waterfront Plan. The Department of City Planning is proposing changes to allow for housing and open spaces, in tandem with light industry and commercial uses, along two miles of Brooklyn's East River Waterfront and upland neighborhoods. The goal of the open space study proposed by GWAPP and the TPL is to generate the information, insight, creativity, and visual representation necessary to promote the development of meaningful open space and park amenities along the Greenpoint and Williamsburg East River Waterfront at the grass roots level.

The Bushwick Creek Inlet is at the intersection of Greenpoint and Williamsburg and is a natural estuary with an abundant aviary and horticultural ecosystem, sheltered from the East RIver's stong currents and traffic. The Bushwick Creek Inlet is featured prominently in many proposals for the future development of northern Brooklyn. Local activists are attempting to acquire the northern portion of the Bushwick Creek Inlet to commemorate the first Civil War ironclad vessel, The USS Monitor. Additionally, a proposal to purchase the southern portion of the inlet for a 1,100 megawatt combined cycle power plant is attracting vociferous opposition from surrounding residents, many local officials and grass roots organizations, as well as The New York City Department of City Planning. Finally, a recently unveiled zoning proposal for the neighborhoods of Greenpoint and Williamsburg suggest the Bushwick Creek Inlet could become the northern terminus of a 28-acre waterfront park and potential Olympic site.

The East River Community Boathouse would provide the East River Kayak Club and the East River Apprenticeshop, as well as members of the community of Greenpoint and Williamsburg in Brooklyn, New York, with a space with direct access to the Bushwick Creek Inlet and the East River in which leadership and conservation will be taught through guidance and mentorship by members of the community to inner city youth through environmental education and traditional wood boat design, construction, and use on a site that has a strong tradition of ship building, as well as artisan and wood crafts.