Parks Dedicates Memorial Garden to Late Brooklyn Parks Supervisor

Commissioner Benepe and family members of Paul Clinton water flowers in McGolrick Park’s Paul Clinton Garden.
Photo by Daniel Avila

On September 29, Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe joined Wanda Clinton, wife of late Brooklyn Parks Supervisor Paul Clinton, Brooklyn Parks Borough Commissioner Julius Spiegel, and Brooklyn Parks Department staff to dedicate the Paul Clinton Memorial Garden in McGolrick Park. This entry garden, located within the park at the corner of Nassau and Russell Streets, commemorates the 19 years of dedicated service of Brooklyn Park Supervisor Paul Clinton who passed away in 2007 at the age of 47.

“Paul Clinton was a dedicated Parks employee, husband and father, and he is deeply missed by all who knew him,” said Commissioner Benepe. “By naming this garden in his memory, we honor with a living memorial his many contributions to the Brooklyn community he served for 19 years. He is remembered in particular for his exceptional commitment to the young people who used his parks, and his unwavering attention to the quality of the playgrounds and recreational facilities available to them.”

Paul Anderson Clinton was born on November 27, 1960 in Manchester, England. His family moved to Barbados when he was a teenager, and later settled in Brooklyn in 1981, where he married and fathered three children. Hired in 1988 by the Parks Department, beginning as a City Parks Worker, Paul worked his way up through the ranks. Later assigned to be the Park Supervisor for Brooklyn Community District 1, Paul oversaw the largest number of park properties of any district in the borough. Until his untimely passing in 2007, Paul served the district and kept his office in McGolrick Park. Under his supervision, the parks of the district won numerous awards including the “Greenest District Award.”

With his passing, the Brooklyn Division of the Parks Department created this garden space at the northwest corner of the park to honor his memory. The site is planted with perennial roses, salvia, coral bells, and some woody plants including yews and cherry laurels. Also planted were a large assortment of spring flowering bulbs, such as crocuses, tulips and daffodils.

QUOTATION FOR THE DAY

“Mountains are earth’s undecaying monuments.”

Nathaniel Hawthorne
(1804 – 1864)

• Msgr. McGolrick Park

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