St. Mary's Park

South Bronx Community Gathers To Plan For The Future

Thursday, March 5, 2015
No.
http://www.nyc.gov/parks

NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver, FAICP, joined City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and Mott Haven community members yesterday, at a public forum to design an upcoming $1.5 million reconstruction of St. Mary's Playground West, and discuss a larger vision for the future of St. Mary's Park.

"St. Mary's is the largest park in the south Bronx, and an incredible space that brings people from all over the borough together," said Commissioner Silver. “Council Speaker Mark-Viverito's support will allow us to take the first step in transforming this park into the high quality, highly activated hub that the south Bronx deserves. We look forward to working hand in hand with community stakeholders as we create a vision for the future of St. Mary's."

As the largest park in the south Bronx, St. Mary's gets plenty of use from those living in the area, but the site has not seen a major capital investment in the last 20 years. Now, thanks to $1.5 million allocated by Speaker Mark-Viverito, NYC Parks will be reconstructing St. Mary's Playground West, and the design will be guided by input received directly from the community.

After opening remarks and a presentation on the current conditions in the park, participants broke up into groups for Parks facilitator-led discussions where they shared ideas and top priorities for the funded reconstruction. At the end of the meeting, all groups presented on their findings, which NYC Parks planning staff will use to guide the final design for reconstruction, and for shaping future projects within St. Mary's Park. The input gathered at this meeting will also help NYC Parks advocate for additional funding for the park.

Also attending the meeting were members of the Friends of St. Mary's Park, the Mexican American Students Association (MASA), and Harvest Home Farmer's Market, as well as families and administration from PS277 and the Academy for Language Technology.