Brooklyn Leaders Demand More Funding For Parks

BROOKLYN, NY— Elected officials, park advocates and residents walked through Fort Greene and the Brooklyn Navy Yard on Monday to demand increased investment in parks and public space as New York City faces proposed budget cuts to the Parks Department.

The “Walk & Talk” tour, organized by New Yorkers for Parks, focused on aging infrastructure, overcrowded parks and uneven access to green space in one of Brooklyn’s fastest-growing areas.

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“From NYCHA campuses to neighborhood corridors, we’re hearing a consistent call for safer streets, greener public spaces, and stronger connections between them,” Kathy Park Price, director of advocacy and policy for New Yorkers for Parks, said.

Participants moved through Fort Greene Park, NYCHA campuses, the Flushing Avenue Greenway corridor and several neighborhood streets, calling attention to conditions they said have failed to keep pace with rapid residential development.

More than 12,000 NYCHA residents live in the Fort Greene and Brooklyn Navy Yard area, where access to quality open space varies sharply block by block despite years of development and population growth, said Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso.

“Brooklynites shouldn’t have to leave their neighborhoods to access parks and open space,” Reynoso said.

Advocates highlighted several priorities during the tour, including plans for a new community garden at Whitman Houses, safer street designs along the DeKalb-Lafayette corridor and potential protected bike lanes connecting neighborhood parks and public housing campuses.

Transportation and street safety concerns also surfaced throughout the tour.

Heavy traffic and unsafe crossings near Flatbush Avenue, Atlantic Avenue and Flushing Avenue make it difficult for pedestrians and cyclists to safely move between neighborhood parks, Hunter Armstrong, executive director of the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative, said.

“Increasing [the Greenway’s] user capacity and its connections to Fort Greene Park, Commodore Barry, and other neighborhood parks will be the best way to provide safe, healthy access to current public space,” he said.