Ravenswood Playground

21st CENTURY PARK SYSTEM: NYC PARKS BREAKS GROUND ON $7.1 MILLION RENOVATION OF RAVENSWOOD PLAYGROUND IN QUEENS

NYC Parks Queens Borough Commissioner Michael Dockett today joined Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, City Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer, Queens Community Board 1 Chair Marie Torniali, and community members to break ground on the reconstruction of Ravenswood Playground.

“Reconstruction is in full swing at Ravenswood Playground,” said Commissioner Dockett. “By next summer, the children and families of Long Island City will be able to enjoy brand new play equipment, upgraded sports courts, and a more inviting play space. We’re grateful to Mayor de Blasio, Council Member Van Bramer, and the Office of the Borough President for their continued partnership and dedication to providing Queens residents with world-class greenspaces.”

"This is a great day for the children and families of Ravenswood Houses, Queensbridge Houses, and the surrounding neighborhoods as we break ground on the first-class playground this community deserves,” said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. “Fairness and equity demand that all children, no matter where they live, should have access to the top- quality play spaces they need to thrive. Ravenswood Playground will create such a space, and I thank Councilmember Van Bramer and the de Blasio Administration in helping make this project a reality.”

"The people of Ravenswood deserve to have a beautiful, modern park and playground and the way we renovate parks around our City must be done with an eye on equity,” said Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer. “The $7.1 million renovation will make the Ravenswood Playground a welcoming place for kids and adults of all ages."

The $7.1 million project will reconstruct the playground with new, inclusive play equipment and a spray play area. Improvements will include new accessible entrances, repaved basketball courts, and paths. The project will also feature new benches, lighting, native tree and plant beds and a renovated picnic grove which will connect the playground and softball field.

Renovations to Ravenswood Playground were made possible by a $3.9 million allocation from Council Member Van Bramer, $2.5 million from the Borough President’s Office, and $693,000 from Mayor Bill de Blasio. The project is expected to be complete in Spring 2022.

In January 1949, the City of New York acquired this site on behalf of the New York City Housing Authority for the Ravenswood Houses project. The Housing Authority drew up plans to construct a community playground on the land, and finally surrendered the property to Parks on February 2, 1952. Just months later, Ravenswood Houses Playground opened, equipped with basketball, handball and shuffleboard courts, an ice-skating area, a softball field, swings, jungle gyms, and a sand pit. In June 1987, Parks shortened the site's name to Ravenswood Playground. The heavily used community greenspace adjoins the Ravenswood Houses and the Queensbridge Houses, two of the city’s largest housing projects.

800+ COMPLETED CAPITAL PROJECTS
Under the leadership of Commissioner Silver, since 2014 NYC Parks has completed more than 800 capital projects across the five boroughs, advancing the City’s mission to build a more equitable park system for present and future generations. Under this administration, the agency has brought our park system into the 21st century, with guidelines focused on resiliency and access and leading with a data-driven approach to increasing park equity. Parks has also improved its capital process in order to take on more projects and complete them faster. Through these strategies, the agency has reimagined how we invest in parks across the city, including those in communities with the greatest need for open-space improvements that had not seen investment in decades. Parks’ 10-year capital budget is $5.2 billion—the completed projects over the past seven years represents a $1.96 billion investment.