By Jeremy Walsh
After months of wrangling and discussions over plans to develop Ridgewood Reservoir into more conventional park facilities, the project may be threatened by Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s latest round of budget cuts.
The reservoir, part of Highland Park, was initially allocated $50 million as part of the mayor’s PlaNYC 2030 initiative to revitalize several large parks throughout the city. But a city Parks Department official said that sum, allocated over six years, would be reduced to $19.8 million.
The Parks Department has held a series of public “listening sessions” over the past two months to get input from Queens and Brooklyn residents, many of whom disagree over whether the three empty reservoir basins should be left as nature preserves or converted to additional ballfields.
In all, Bloomberg’s executive budget plans to slash the Parks Department’s capital project budget by $338 million, or 19 percent, according to a report released by the city Independent Budget Office May 20.
City Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D−Middle Village) criticized the proposed cut and urged the mayor to reconsider.
