Fort Greene Park Report Shows City Ignored Architect's Advice

FORT GREENE, BROOKLYN — The city didn't follow a landscape architect's recommendations in their renovation plans for Fort Greene Park and then tried to hide those recommendations from the public, an activist group argues a new report released last week shows.

Friends of Fort Greene Park, a group fighting the $10.5 million renovation of the park, finally got their hands on a full version of the 2015 Nancy Owens Studio report, a 162-page analysis of the park that they had requested through the Freedom of Information Law. The group had sued the city after the Parks Department initially released a heavily redacted version of the report, which had blacked out nearly all recommendations made by the architects.

The advice that was revealed underneath those redactions, the group says, proves that the city hadn't followed the landscape architects' advice when coming up with their plans to redesign the park.

“We couldn’t help but wonder what the text under all those black splotches said, and why the Parks Department would not want us to see it," attorney Michael Gruen said. "The more adamantly they refused, the more curious we became. In the end, we learned that the report gave sensible advice — and Parks refused to follow it.”

The city had originally blacked out about one-third of the report, at some points covering up as many as 18 full consecutive pages of Owens' recommendations. The full report shows that the city had redacted seemingly mundane details such as where to put signs, or how to detail jogging paths on park maps.

(Provided by Friends of Fort Greene Park.) A portion of the redacted version of the report.

Friends of Fort Greene Park has fought the city's redesign largely because it proposes removing 58 trees to build a promenade in the northwestern corner. They contend that the green spaces in this area of the park should be preserved, not paved over.

The report, they say, shows that Nancy Owens also had this in mind.

Owens' recommendations do not include the 43-foot plaza and instead largely leave the Myrtle Avenue and St. Edwards Street corner alone, except for repairs to the perimeter wall and existing pavement. Her report also lacks the suggestion of adding an additional entrance that is in the Parks Department's plan and focuses on ensuring a "continuous tree canopy," rather than on removing trees, the group said.

"The recommendations from an expert of Nancy Owens' caliber are in line with community feedback.," FFGP President Ling Hsu said. "Over 500 petitioners have said all along to repair, not to pave over greenery with a hardscape plaza for commercial events in our beloved park."

(Provided by Fort Greene Park) The same portion of the report, unredacted.

The report also suggests improving public restrooms, which Friends of Fort Greene Park said they requested, but were told it is not in the scope of work for the renovation.

When asked for comment, the Parks Department said it could not answer questions about the park renovation, even general details about its timeline, because the project is the "subject of the active lawsuit."

That active lawsuit is another legal action the Friends of Fort Greene Park have taken, which they said this week is even more troubling by what was unveiled in the Owens report.

The group, along with the Sierra Club, have sued the city for not completing an environmental study about the project. They contend that the city incorrectly deemed the renovation a "Type II" project, or a project that is exempt from performing an environmental study since it is "routine agency work."

The city's basis for labeling the project "Type II" included the Owens report, which activists say doesn't seem to make sense since the city's plan is vastly different from what Owens suggested.

The Parks Department declined to answer questions about when the project is scheduled to begin, but a timeline on their website shows that the "procurement period" is scheduled to end in June. The procurement, which includes securing funding for the project, was originally scheduled to be done in February, but was postponed. Construction will likely begin shortly after it is completed.