$21 Million NYC Park Overhaul Stalled Over Judicial Parking, Officials Say

BROOKLYN, NY— Brooklyn officials have secured $21 million to remake Columbus Park into a larger public green space with playgrounds, a skate park and lawns, but council members say a decades-old fight over a judges’ parking lot threatens to stall the project.

The asphalt lot beside Brooklyn Borough Hall, near Joralemon and Adams streets, serves judges assigned to the neighboring courthouse.

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“It's zoned as parkland, and the judges have refused to move their cars,” Council Member Lincoln Restler said.

Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and Restler announced a Columbus Park rally on Sunday at noon to advocate for the proposed overhaul of nearly eight acres stretching from Joralemon Street to Tillary Street.

“We could turn this space into a great lawn, into a dog run, into a skatepark, a pavilion,” Reynoso said in a video on social media. "It's up to you."

New York City maps from the 1940s identify the site as part of Columbus Park. In 1959, the city allowed judges to park there after complaints that the courthouse lacked adequate parking.

Since then, elected officials and neighborhood advocates have repeatedly tried to reclaim the land as park space.

The latest push gained momentum after Downtown Brooklyn’s residential boom intensified pressure on limited green space.

Restler and Reynoso said they worked with city agencies, architects and local organizations to develop redesign proposals and secure funding for the project’s first phase.

Officials said they offered judges several nearby alternatives, including indoor garages, outdoor lots and valet-style arrangements.

“We’ve offered [judges] multiple alternative locations in immediate proximity to their courthouse — spaces indoors, spaces outdoors, spaces with valet parking and extra security,” Restler said. “They’ve said ‘no’ to everything.”

Retired Judge Abraham Gerges, who previously defended the lot during earlier disputes, told the New York Times that threats against judges “are not unusual things.”

“The security of our judges is our highest priority,” Office of Court Administration spokesperson Al Baker wrote in a statement. “No alternatives have yet been proposed that would provide adequate security for our judges.”