Stockton Playground

NYC PARKS JOINS COMMUNITY FOR RIBBON CUTTING OF BROOKLYN COMMUNITY PARKS INITIATIVE SITE STOCKTON PLAYGROUND

NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver, FAICP, yesterday joined City Council Member Robert Cornegy, members of Community Board 3, administrators and students from PS 297, students from Success Academy of Bed Stuy, and local community members to cut the ribbon on Stockton Playground, a Community Parks Initiative (CPI) site in Brooklyn. Stockton Playground funded with $4.9 million from Mayor de Blasio to reconstruct the park and the comfort station, which includes additional green infrastructure funds provided by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The comfort station will be completed and reopened this fall.

“Like all of the Community Parks Initiative sites, the new Stockton Playground is a reflection of the creative visions and ideas of the community it serves,” said Commissioner Silver. “Thanks to Community Parks Initiative funding, Stockton Playground has gotten the fresh start it deserves with new play equipment for all ages, water features, seat areas, and an upgraded comfort station coming this fall.”

"Stockton Playground has provided critically important open space to this community since 1957. I am extremely grateful that, thanks to the $4.9 million allocated for the reconstruction of this park through the Community Parks Initiative, it has received a much-needed refresh, complete with new play equipment, landscaping, spray shower, courts, and comfort station. These upgrades will allow the residents of Central Brooklyn to continue to gather, recreate, and relax here for many years to come," said Council Member Cornegy.

"DEP is proud to partner with NYC Parks through the Community Parks Initiative, which is transforming neighborhood parks in all five boroughs," said DEP Commissioner Vincent Sapienza. "We have committed more than $50 million to this initiative to install new green infrastructure that will help to both capture stormwater and beautify communities."

The new and improved Stockton Playground now features play equipment for all ages with swings and safety surface; a spray shower, drinking fountains, and benches; landscaping, paving, a renovation of sports courts and a synthetic turf field; and an upgraded comfort station which is set to open in the fall. Parks held a public input meeting in January of 2015 when the design process began, allowing the local community to bring their ideas for Stockton Playground to the table and collaborate on reimagining the space.

The project was funded with $4.9 million. Mayor de Blasio funded $2.7 million for the playground, and an additional $1.2 million for the comfort station. DEP contributed an additional $990,000 for green infrastructure features.

DEP has committed approximately $50 million in funding for the construction of green infrastructure installations at CPI sites citywide. The green infrastructure will manage the precipitation that falls on the parks, and some of the surrounding streets, keeping it out of the combined sewer system and helping to reduce combined sewer overflows that sometimes occur during heavy rainfall. New York City has the most ambitious and aggressive green infrastructure program in the nation, with thousands of installations currently under construction across the city. In addition to managing stormwater, green infrastructure helps to improve air quality while also providing shade and lowering summertime temperatures.

CPI was initially launched in 2014, and is funded through 2019 with $318 million in capital dollars funding renovations of more than 60 community parks that have not undergone significant improvements in decades. All of the parks and playgrounds that will receive improvements are in dense, fast-growing neighborhoods with an above-average percentage of residents living below the poverty level.