Lafayette Playground

NYC PARKS CUTS THE RIBBON ON COMPLETE RENOVATION OF LAFAYETTE PLAYGROUND AND CELEBRATES THE COMPLETION OF MORE THAN 600 CAPITAL PROJECTS IN FIVE YEARS

Park receives $4.49 million transformation as part of the Mayor’s Community Parks Initiative

NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver, FAICP, yesterday joined City Council Member Mark Treyger, New York State Assembly Member William Colton, Community Board 13 District Manager Eddie Mark, and local community members to cut the ribbon on the total reconstruction of Lafayette Playground through the Community Parks Initiative (CPI). The project was funded by a $4.49 million allocation from Mayor Bill de Blasio. During the Lafayette Playground ribbon cutting, NYC Parks also announced it had completed 648 capital projects since Commissioner Silver joined the agency in 2014.

“We are thrilled to cut the ribbon on this revamped community greenspace. Thanks to the Mayor’s Community Parks Initiative, Lafayette Playground has been transformed with new amenities and opportunities for active and passive recreation for all ages to enjoy,” said Commissioner Silver. “Most notably, this project celebrates the completion of more than 600 capital projects since I joined the agency in 2014. That’s hundreds of projects improving the lives of New Yorkers across the city and making our system stronger and better than ever.”

“I’m elated to see this project finished so that the children, seniors and families in our community can enjoy the new and enhanced Lafayette Playground and green space. Thank you to Parks Commissioners Silver and Maher for making this project a priority. I’m committed to ensuring that our parks in Southern Brooklyn are receiving the care and investment that’s been missing for many years, and that they become beautiful, well-maintained outdoor spaces for local residents to appreciate. I encourage all New Yorkers to come out and enjoy the new facilities at Lafayette Playground, and know that I will continue to allocate and advocate for resources for our neighborhood parks and recreational amenities,” said Council Member Mark Treyger.

LAFAYETTE PLAYGROUND
The new and improved Lafayette Playground features a new basketball court, adult fitness equipment, passive seating areas, picnic tables, a walking trail, synthetic lawn, and plantings. The site also now boasts a gathering/classroom space, a garden, and shade structures to keep parkgoers cool during the summer months.

Launched by Mayor de Blasio in October 2014, CPI strives to build a more equitable parks system by investing in under resourced parks that are located in densely populated and growing neighborhoods with higher-than-average concentrations of poverty. Through CPI, the City is investing $318 million in capital dollars funding renovations of 67 parks that have not undergone improvements in decades.

600+ COMPLETED CAPITAL PROJECTS
As a part of the 648 completed projects, everyday New Yorkers now have access to 205 improved playgrounds and sports courts—like the Lafayette Playground reconstruction project; 102 reconstructed paths & plazas; 39 new comfort stations; 36 athletic fields; and the agency has addressed infrastructure at 24 of its piers, waterfronts and retaining walls. Nearly 90% of these projects was completed on budget, and 85% of them on time. Parks’ 10-year capital budget is $5.2 billion—the completed projects over the past five years represents a $1.3 billion investment.

NYC Parks’ capital division of nearly 500 staff, including more than 100 landscape architects, manages its capital projects from start to finish; designing approximately 70% of its landscape architecture projects in-house—of the 648 projects completed, 410 were landscape projects. Currently, the agency is managing 618 active capital projects: 149 are in construction; 246 are in procurement and 178 are in design.