McCarren Park

You Can Help Design Brooklyn's Parks Of The Future

Tuesday, August 14, 2007
No.
http://www.nyc.gov/parks

The New York City Department of Parks & Recreation wants to hear from you. As part of Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC initiative to create a greener, more sustainable New York City by the year 2030, Parks & Recreation will develop eight regional parks around the City. PlaNYC's long-term planning vision and a total of $1.2 billion in additional funding, comes on top of the largest capital investment in New York City parks since the 1930s.

On Earth Day 2007, Mayor Bloomberg unveiled a sweeping roadmap to the sustainable growth of New York City–planting one million trees, greening 800 traffic triangles and opening playgrounds and ballfields around the City. In addition, PlaNYC commits an additional $400 million to design and build eight underdeveloped regional parks across the City: Soundview, Dreier-Offerman, McCarren, Fort Washington, Highbridge, Highland, Rockaways and Ocean Breeze Parks.

In Brooklyn, surveys for McCarren Park Pool and Highland Park are available online in English and Spanish. Learn more and give us your feedback at www.nyc.gov/parks. Partnerships for Parks, a joint program of Parks and the City Parks Foundation will partner with neighborhood groups to collect surveys in these parks to ensure broad community input about the future designs of parks and amenities

McCarren Park Pool

McCarren Pool was one of eleven pools opened by Robert Moses in 1936. With a capacity of 6800, it was the summertime social hub for Greenpoint and Williamsburg. The pool was closed in 1984 and remained closed until the summer of 2005, when it opened as a popular venue for concerts, dance, and movies.

The $50 million that has been allocated to McCarren Pool will fund the renovation of the pool for swimming, the construction of a year-round recreation facility, and the preservation and restoration of the historic bathhouse building and entry arch.

Highland Park

The basins of Highland Park were initially set aside to supply drinking water to New York City from Long Island, but this system was decommissioned in 1956. The 50-acre site on the Brooklyn/Queens border consists of 3 reservoir basins, pump houses and a caretaker’s cottage. The majority of the site is undeveloped, creating a strikingly natural setting for New York City with incredible potential for community access.

The $46 million that has been allocated will reconstruct Highland Park infrastructure and develop a new destination park. Potential improvements include a pedestrian network, new and enhanced active and passive recreation areas, new playgrounds, concessions and improved park structures.