Residents Protest Fort Greene Park Renovation Plan

FORT GREENE, BROOKLYN — Protesters are fighting to quash plans for a revamped plaza in Fort Greene Park that they say is unneeded and not wanted.

The Parks Department’s $10.5 million project to overhaul the space goes up for a vote in September and, if approved, will mean leveling the grassy mounds in the northwest corner and building a promenade to the Prison Ship Martyrs’ Monument.

Parks officials have held two community meetings this year to present the plan and gather community feedback, but Fort Greene resident Ling Hsu said the designers provided no alternatives and ignored residents’ requests that the grassy mounds be spared.

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“They told us, ‘This is for the community's own good and we should just take it,’” Hsu, 40, recalled of the February meeting. “But the majority of people really don't like the plaza.”

Hsu supports plans to fix drainage problems, repave the basketball courts, add more seating and revamp the barbecue area, but opposes the plaza renovations — which would shut down the area for 12-18 months — because the grassy mounds are beloved in the community.

So she rallied a small group of like-minded neighbors who have since been collecting signatures and testimony calling for the Parks Department to rework the plans. Volunteers collected more than 500 signatures from local residents and published more than 20 videos of park-goers begging that the northwest corner be spared.

(Hsu has collected 47 pages of signed petitions which demand local officials provide "a true public process.")

Brittany Brandon, an Ingersoll Houses resident, said, “My child has been playing here for as long as I can remember. “With the plaza being here, it’s going to disrupt all those things that our kids love.”

“This is our playground, this is where our children have played since my daughter was five years old,” said resident Maria Negron. “Please do not build the plaza.”

“This is what keeps the community together,” said Joe Brown, who lives in the projects across Myrtle Avenue. Brown said that leveling the mounds would discourage his neighbors from coming to the park. “By doing that, you kinda segregate the community.”

But the Fort Greene Park Conservancy, a community organization that helped secure the Parks Without Borders funding, argues the renovation will bring more green space and badly needed renovations to the park.

“We think the plan has been sensitive to community needs and various feedback from the public,” said Program and Development Manager Julian Macrone, adding that hundreds of people came to Parks Department outreach meetings in November, February and May.

“They're increasing the amount of green area and none of the uses that have occurred in the area will be eliminated,” he said. “[The plan] really speaks to the needs of our community and it isn't going to displace any uses.”

And a Parks Department representative wrote in response to the volunteers' concerns, "NYC Parks has been working with neighbors, Councilmember Cumbo and the Fort Greene Park Conservancy to gather ideas for improving access and amenities at this historic space."

"We’ve continued this engagement all summer long with an information booth fixture in the park, where our neighbors can talk to us about the plan and get a closer look at the design."

Hsu is grateful that Parks Department officials asked for feedback, but she worries they didn’t listen to the response.

“The parks has done a lot outreach, but if they don't take us into consideration, it's not helpful in the end.”

Which is why she’ll present the hundreds of signatures she’s garnered over the past month at the Community Board 2 meeting on Sept. 13, when board members are expected to vote on approving the plan.

“There's a fear that if there is too much community feedback the city will pull the funding,” said Hsu. “But we think it can be a win-win if we all work together.”

The plan cannot go into effect without approval from the community board members and from the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Update: This story has been updated to include a statement from the Parks Department and to reflect extra petition signatures collected Hsu and volunteers.

Header photo courtesy of the Parks Department.