The plaza includes the Soldiers' and Sailors' Arch; the Bailey Fountain; the John F. Kennedy Monument; statues of Civil War generals Gouverneur K. Warren and Henry Warner Slocum; busts of notable Brooklyn citizens Alexander Skene and Henry W. Maxwell; and two 12-sided gazebos with "granite Tuscan columns, Guastavino vaulting, and bronze finials".

Olmsted and Vaux's design included only the Fountain of the Golden Spray and the surrounding earth embankments covered in heavy plantings.

[10] In 2008, a competition was held for designs to reorganize Grand Army Plaza to make it a more integral part of Prospect Park and more accessible to pedestrians.

[11] At the same time, the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) made improvements in accessibility, putting sidewalks and planters in many of the striped areas.

[13][14] The proposed pedestrian zone would connect with Underhill and Vanderbilt Avenues; these roads are part of the city's Open Streets program, where vehicular traffic is restricted during certain times of day.

In 1927, Brooklyn's "Death-O-Meter", a sign admonishing drivers to "Slow Up" and displaying a continually updated tally of traffic accident deaths in the borough, was installed.