McGolrick Park is Greenpoint’s “Shared Backyard”

The perimeter surrounding the “Gem of Greenpoint” – the iconic McGolrick Park in Greenpoint, Brooklyn – includes several schools, a variety of storefronts, a church, and lots of homes which overlook the park on all four sides. Katerina Athanasiou, a local resident, says, “I love that in this area, McGolrick Park is everyone’s shared backyard.”

So it was not a surprise that when the Greenpoint Community Environmental Fund (GCEF), a grant program created by the State of New York with monies obtained through ExxonMobil over its Greenpoint oil spill, asked residents to vote on the environmental improvement projects they wanted funded in their community in the fall of 2015, McGolrick Park restoration was a top vote-getter. “The community determined what they wanted in the end, and there is a lot of enthusiasm for McGolrick Park,” says Sara Hobel, Director of The Horticultural Society of New York.

The Horticultural Society is the lead coordinator of the McGolrick Park restoration project, which received over $560,000 from the GCEF in 2015 to enhance and restore environmental and community amenities at the park. The Horticultural Society’s project partners include the McGolrick Park Neighborhood Alliance, the Open Space Alliance for North Brooklyn, and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.

For example, a “Citizen Gardener” certification program is planned that along with “It’s My Park” events will engage and educate volunteers in restoration activities at the Park. Konstancja Maleszynska, Greenpoint Parks Project Coordinator for the Open Space Alliance for North Brooklyn, will spearhead this program and other efforts to involve the community in “greening Greenpoint.”

“What’s great about the project is that it is designed so citizens can take ownership of their local park and can become long-term stewards. It gives the community a sense of pride if they can put their name on it and help out,” says Maleszynska.

Monsignor McGolrick would be proud of his namesake park

Also slated for much-needed improvements is the highly popular dog park. “The area has a significant depth of accumulated woodchips, so clearing and refurbishing that area means the contaminated rainwater run-off will no longer end up in our waterways,” says Hobel.

“The old mulch will be removed, lowering the soil to below grade, and filtering stone layers will be created,” says Hobel. This will make for a nicer retreat for dogs and their human owners alike.

Some of the park’s formal grass areas have also become hard-packed from uses like pick-up soccer games, so the “rainwater just rolls off, eroding the soil and clogging drains with silt and debris,” says Hobel. Part of the grant will restore these lawns, as well as create a rain garden near the big pavilion, which will eliminate the standing water that currently forms in the area after rains.

Hobel says “we are trying to get the foundational projects done over the summer and into the fall. A lot of structural work will be completed before the end of this season. Folks will be seeing some exciting changes.”

And there are Greenpoint residents like Athanasiou, who have found that the restoration of McGolrick Park offers something unexpected but of equally great value – an opportunity to meet new friends and build community within the neighborhood.

She found a roommate while both were attending a Saturday morning clean-up at McGolrick Park. She says, “Over time I’ve started to recognize faces. On any given weekend, you can find families taking first communion photos, farmers selling their bounty, dog owners socializing. Parks are the heart of our city, and McGolrick is the perfect example of that.”

With the park’s renovations underway, the “Gem of Greenpoint” promises to again become a focal point of the neighborhood. Father Ed McGolrick would certainly be proud of his community.

For more information, visit www.gcefund.org

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