The Ford Amphitheater sits on the former site of a garden. Image Credit: Molly Kaszuba
City-owned land was used as an unlicensed community garden. The City of New York owns a parcel of real property at 3052 West 21st Street along the Coney Island Boardwalk. Between 1997 and 2004 the City licensed the site as community garden under the City’s “Green Thumb” program. In 1999 the City terminated the garden’s license in order to develop the site into a parking lot for a minor league baseball stadium. The City relicensed the garden in 2000 and 2003 following litigation stemming from the 1999 license termination. The City entered into a settlement agreement with the community garden in which the community garden expressly recognized that the site was not dedicated parkland. (more…)
Artistic Rendering of Pier 3. Image Credit: Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates.
City enters final stretch for the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge Park. On October 19, 2016, the conversion of Pier 3 in Brooklyn Bridge Park began. Currently ninety percent of the park, which opened in 2010, is either under construction or completed. When opened, Pier 3 will offer a central lawn, a recreation and programming area, and a play “labyrinth” which will highlight historic elements salvaged from the reconstruction—namely salvaged rail ties and bollards.
Mayor Bill de Blasio called the park the “front lawn of Brooklyn,” adding that Pier 3 would “add more space for kids to play and for families to enjoy this incredible place.” The City has slated $26 million in capital funding in the Mayor’s FY17 budget for the project. (more…)
Councilmember Corey Johnson at a Stated Meeting of the New York City Council. Image credit: William Alatriste/New York City Council
Privately-owned open space will be converted into a new City park that includes an aptly-placed Aids memorial across the street from the former-Saint Vincent’s Hospital. On August 13, 2015, the City Council approved West Village Residences, LLC and the Department of Parks and Recreation’s application to transfer ownership of WVR-owned open space to the City and officially map the space as City parkland. The open space is bounded by Seventh Avenue South, West 12th Street, and Greenwich Avenue, and its main feature will be New York’s largest AIDS memorial. The park officially opened on August 21st, and the AIDS memorial is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
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Pier 5. Image Credit: Google Maps
The City authorized Pier 5 on the Harlan River to be development for housing. The City acquired Pier 5 on the Harlem Riven, a 4.4 acre parcel of land in The Bronx, in 2006 during the $60 million renovation of Yankee Stadium and transferred control of the land to the Parks Department. Pier 5 is bounded on the north by Mill Pond Park, on the east by the Major Deegan Expressway, on the south by 149th Street. Parks fenced off Pier 5 and kept it closed for a most of the following ten years. Parks occasionally rented the land to private companies to host carnivals and small events. Between June 2013 and August 2014 Parks allowed the Bronx Council for Environment Quality to collect air quality data and to conduct environmental experiments on Pier 5. The Council permitted members of the public to come on the land for educational and research purposes. Ultimately Parks allowed the Department of Transportation to use Pier 5 for equipment storage. (more…)
Image credit: NYC Department of Parks & Recreation.
New upgrades make the park safer, more fun, and accessible to all New Yorkers. On November 6, 2020, NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., City Council Member Andrew Cohen, State Assembly Member Nathalia Fernandez, State Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz, Bronx Community Board 7 parks Chair Barbara Stronczer, and representatives from the Friends of Mosholu Parkland unveiled the reconstructed Kossuth Playground located along Mosholu Parkway North and Kossuth Avenue in the Northwest Bronx. (more…)
