Fort Greene Park

FORT GREENE PARK: NYC PARKS ANNOUNCES NEW DESIGN FOR $24 MILLION RECONSTRUCTION OF THE WESTERN EDGE AND VARIOUS INTERNAL PATHS

Expanded project will create new path connections and increase accessibility to the park

Environmental Quality Review underway as part of expanded project

NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver, FAICP, today announced a new plan that expands the design for its Fort Greene Park’s Parks Without Borders project that will restore the original design intent of the park, while modernizing it to create a fully ADA accessible entrance and reconstruct pathways for users of all abilities. The revamped plan represents a $24 million project budget--$3.75 million of which has been added to expand the scope--funded by Mayor Bill de Blasio, City Council Majority Leader Laurie Cumbo, and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams’ office.

“We are committed to reimagining and restoring Fort Greene Park, and we’ve made sure that accessibility is at the forefront of the work we are doing,” said NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver, FAICP. “The expanded scope of this project will undergo review by an environmental engineer and we are confident that we will be able to move forward with our plans for this park. Fort Greene Park is the focal point of this neighborhood and the community deserves an accessible, inclusive, and renewed space where they can feel safe and welcomed.”

“We are thrilled that these much-needed improvements are moving forward. They will make Fort Greene Park a great community open space to be enjoyed for generations to come,” said New York City Council Majority Leader Laurie Cumbo.

This project will combine the designs of two previous Fort Greene projects and add much-needed additional repair and construction to the western side of the park. It will reconstruct entrances, plaza spaces, update the drainage infrastructure, and the path system. As part of the added scope of work, the new path connections will improve ADA accessibility and address ongoing site issues with erosion from stormwater runoff. The project will also add new trees, plantings, and security lighting throughout the park pathways. Design for the expanded project has begun and will take approximately one year.

As the project eventually moves into construction, we will provide as much access as possible into the park from Myrtle Avenue for parkgoers to safely use.

The broadened project scope will undergo an assessment by an environmental engineer; a standard procedure for projects covering 10 acres or more. The contracted environmental consultant will perform an environmental review of the new plan and will prepare an Environmental Assessment Statement in accordance with the City’s Environmental Quality Review regulations and guidance. This process is occuring parallel to the design phase of the project.

Parks Without Borders, part of OneNYC, was announced in November 2015 with a call for community involvement. NYC Parks asked New Yorkers to nominate the sites that would benefit the most from a PWB improvement project. Utilizing an online survey and 37 conferences with citizens, Parks received more than 6,000 nominations for 691 parks—approximately 30 percent of our parks. The eight selected showcase projects, sharing $40 million in funding from Mayor de Blasio, were revealed in May 2016; and an additional $10 million has been applied to another 40 capital projects in progress.

The following PWB projects have already been completed: Prospect Park (Brooklyn); Van Cortlandt Park; Jackie Robinson Park and Seward Park (Manhattan); Faber Park (Staten Island); and Flushing Meadows Corona Park (Queens). The project at Hugh Grant Circle/ Virginia Park and Playground in the Bronx is scheduled to be complete this spring.