Mayor de Blasio and Commissioner Silver Announce Completed Targeted Improvements at Sixty Parks and Playgrounds

September 8, 2015

Community Parks Initiative sites receive improvements across five boroughs

NEW YORK—Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver, FAICP, today announced a major milestone for the Community Parks Initiative (CPI): the completion of targeted physical improvements in 60 of the City’s parks and playgrounds. These targeted improvements, which enhance spaces with updated and refurbished resources including basketball hoops, re-painted handball courts, and new plantings, bring immediate results to densely populated and growing neighborhoods with higher-than-average concentrations of poverty throughout the five boroughs.

“In a city like New York, our parks are places for our children to learn, exercise, and play – and we’re bringing improvements to parks across the five boroughs. Every parent knows the value of having a local park where their children can safely play when school is out – and with these targeted parks improvements, we’re improving the quality of life for New Yorkers throughout our city. Since launching last year, the Community Parks Initiative has brought new activities, better play spaces and more greenery to thousands of New Yorkers in every borough,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio.

“Targeted improvements have enhanced these treasured community spaces so neighbors would feel welcomed and proud, and engage their parks and playgrounds,” said NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver, FAICP. “As we move forward with the Community Parks Initiative, we will soon announce more sites for targeted improvements, capital improvements and enhanced public programming.”

In addition to these initial, shorter-term targeted improvements, CPI brings $280 million in longer-term capital improvements – including full redesign and reconstruction – to 67 underserved parks in areas with growing populations and higher concentrations of poverty. This includes a $130 million investment in 35 parks in FY2015, with more sites to come. The Community Parks Initiative also includes enhanced public programming at sites across the city and supporting dedicated outreach staff to connect New Yorkers with their neighborhood parks.

“Public spaces are a foundation of communities across New York City,” said Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. “By improving access to and quality of our City parks, we’re strengthening neighborhoods across the five boroughs. This City Council will continue to work with the de Blasio Administration to fulfill the goals of the Community Parks Initiative to enhance and expand parks throughout New York.”

“Healthy communities need healthy parks. That’s why it’s so important that CPI is improving green spaces in parts of the city that too often have been neglected. This initiative has already improved life in 60 neighborhoods across the five boroughs, and it will continue to benefit New Yorkers for years to come,” said Council Member Mark Levine, Chair of the Committee on Parks.  

“Public spaces that are clean, safe and beautiful are vital in low-income communities where resources are already scarce. New Yorkers of every class deserve parks that are fully supported by their government, and we’re thrilled to have the Community Parks Initiative address that need,” said Council Member Julissa Ferreras-Copeland, Chair of the Committee on Finance.

“In a city where open space for recreation and relaxation is so precious, our parks and playgrounds play an outsized role in improving the quality of life of our residents. I am happy to be part of this important effort to repair, redesign, and reconstruct community spaces that New Yorkers rely on every single day,” said Council Member Margaret Chin.

Council Member Rosie Mendez said, “The Mayor’s Community Parks Initiative allows my community an opportunity to obtain and have a say in the physical improvements to public parks in our neighborhood that have been on our wish list. Through the years, I’ve prioritized numerous parks renovations in my district as a way of encouraging use of our public open spaces, however, obtaining all the needed capital funding is the problem so I am grateful that CPI targets high needs neighborhoods.”

Targeted improvements across the locations included painting, fixing benches, adding sports surfacing, repairing sports equipment, repairing fountains, planting and upgrades to the existing comfort stations.

Sites targeted:

Select before and after photos of targeted improvement sites:

Bronx – Fountain of Youth Playground

Before

After

Brooklyn – South Pacific Playground

Before

After

Manhattan – Martin Luther King Jr. Playground

Before

After

Queens – Sean’s Place

Before

After

Staten Island – Lopez Playground

Before

After

Before and after photos of these targeted improvement sites can be viewed: HERE. High resolution images upon request.

This summer, neighborhoods across the city have also benefitted from the CPI-funded addition of 69 New Playground Associates, a significant expansion of free arts, educational, and sports programming, including Kids in Motion, Summer Sports Experience, Shape Up NYC, the Uni Project and more. Programming is supported by dedicated partnerships – NYRR, El Museo del Barrio and the Public Theater – that provide New Yorkers with resources to help them transform their neighborhood parks into thriving community places. Additionally, the design phase of large-scale capital improvements are moving forward on schedule at 35 parks.

To learn more about how CPI is creating a bright, green future for NYC, visit http://nyc.gov/parks/cpi