Mayor Bill de Blasio. Image credit: CityLand
The de Blasio administration furthers efforts to create more public park space for the North Brooklyn community. On October 31, 2017, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that he will allocate $17.5 million for the development and remediation of two parcels of parkland at Bushwick Inlet Park. $7.7 million of the allocated funds will go towards developing the 50 Kent site into a new park while the remaining $9.8 million will go toward the remediation and development of two parcels of parkland at the Motiva site.
Last year, the City purchased the final parcel of land needed for the total acquisition of the park site. Since then, 3.5 acres have been completed and the park has been opened to the public. Currently, the park has a multi-purpose field and an environmentally-friendly building for community activities and incorporates both natural and urban elements of the surrounding community.
Under the Mayor’s new allocation plan, there will be an additional 3.6 acres of park land opened and available for public use. According to Mayor de Blasio, this allocation of funds for the park will continue to further development and revitalization of park and the surrounding community. The Mayor stated that, “this additional funding will allow the City to move closer to realizing the vision of a fully-developed waterfront park with beautiful views and amenities to match.” Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver stated that the agency is excited by the Mayor’s efforts to complete Bushwick Inlet Park and looks forward to working with community partners to “realize a vision for [the park] that truly serves North Brooklyn.”
Many elected officials of North Brooklyn also praised the Mayor and his administration on their decision to fund Bushwick Inlet Park.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams stated that he commends the collaborative effort between the Mayor, the Parks Commissioner, and Council Member [Stephen] Levin in making the park possible and is proud to allocate $1 million in capital investment to the park itself. Borough President Adams states that “[t]hese kinds of open spaces are an important part of our borough’s physical fabric, weaving together communities and peoples from all walks of life under the tree of One Brooklyn.”
Council Member Stephen Levin, one of the partners working on the Bushwick Inlet Park, stated that he is thankful for the Mayor’s support and efforts in making the North Brooklyn community whole and stated that with full funding for the park, it has been closer than ever before to fulfill a longstanding need in the community. Council Member Levin, like others in the park’s development process, urges the community to be engaged in the planning process.
Assembly Member Joseph R. Lentol praised the initiative and emphasized the park’s importance to the North Brooklyn community. Assembly Member Lentol stated that “[t]he acquisition of all the property to build Bushwick Inlet Park and the investment to remediate and build out the park could not have come at a better time. The community needed open space and it’s getting it.” The assembly member also acknowledged the community and its efforts to the park’s development stating that without their hard work, “[the park] would have never been achieved.”
Parks will begin the design process for the park in the Spring of 2018.
Click here to read the Mayor’s Press Release.
By: May Vutrapongvatana (May is a CityLand Intern and a New York Law School Student, Class of 2019.)