Windmuller Park opens for neighborhood

Woodside residents now have a contemporary community park to call their own.
Members of the neighborhood were joined by Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer, Senator Michael Gianaris, Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe and Community Board 2 Chairman Joseph Conley on August 23 at a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Windmuller Park. The event was held to unveil the $1.7 million in improvements made on the park, which is located at 52nd Street and Woodside Avenue, over the past 12 months.
“The renovations to Windmuller Park are a welcomed addition to a wonderful park that serves a strong and vibrant community,” said Van Bramer. “The residents of Woodside now have a state of the art play and recreation space that they can enjoy for years to come. I’d like to thank Commissioner Benepe, the Parks Department and the dedicated community members who, with the council, worked to see this project to fruition.”
The park’s newly renovated sitting plaza, which composes one-acre of the three-acre site, features a new staircase and step ramp, new benches, drinking fountains and nearly 12,000 trees, perennials, and groundcover plants.
Along with the installation of new fences, improvements to the drainage system, lighting and brick piers were also made.
The aesthetics of Windmuller Park were also enhanced by the restoration. The park’s hillside was re-graded to counteract erosion, and numerous trees were removed to create vistas.
“Thanks to $1.7 million from the City Council, Windmuller Park is newly landscaped with a regarded slope and more than 12,000 plantings to prevent erosion,” said Benepe. “New fencing, benches, lighting and drinking fountains make the park a more welcoming place for the residents of Woodside.”
The park is named after prominent banker Louis Windmuller, whose children donated the area to the city to in 1936.