A Long Island City park is getting much needed help to restore it back to being the jewel of western Queens.
On Monday, August 26 Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer announced he secured $2.5 million in funding to fully renovate and restore the park house at Queensbridge Park.
The Parks Department hopes to construct a new facility that will feature a modern comfort station, storage space for sports teams using the playfields and an office for Parks Department staff.
The appointed staff will offer different programming for adults and children in the future.
“It is extremely important that every single senior and child who lives in Queensbridge know that our city has allocated every single cent we could to make sure that western Queens has a park that rivals Central Park in Manhattan and any other park in the City of New York,” said Van Bramer.
In May, local officials, community groups and residents gathered to break ground on the restoration and improvement of the Queensbridge Park Seawall. The $6.65 million project will include a six-foot wide waterfront promenade with benches and plants as well as a small pier at the north end.
The seawall restoration and improvement was funded through allocations from Van Bramer, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Borough President Helen Marshall, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the MTA.
According to Van Bramer, once the restoration of the seawall is completed by next summer, Queensbridge residents and parkgoers will be reconnected to the East River waterfront after a decade of deterioration.
“I look forward to working with him [Van Bramer] and the community on creating a scope of work and design for this project,” said Queens Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski.
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