BY IRENE SPEZZAMONTE
The Parks Department is asking city residents to nominate their neighborhood parks for a chance to receive complete makeovers.
Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver launched Thursday Parks Without Borders (PWB), a program designed to make city parks more open and welcoming to people.
The program is particularly focused on adding plants and trees, making entrances more visible and more accessible to everyone, repairing the pavement and raising the number of facilities such as benches and tables.
Along with announcing the new program, the Parks Department also launched a survey-site where community members and local cultural organizations are asked to go on and nominate any neighborhood park to receive PWB design suggestions.
“Parks Without Borders will open parks to users, weave green space into neighborhoods, and create a flowing, welcoming public realm,” Silver said. “Thanks to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s ‘One NYC’ funding for this major placemaking initiative, we will positively transform New Yorkers’ experience of public space.”
A total of $40 million in funding from de Blasio’s OneNYC initiative will be used to reconstruct eight parks across the five boroughs and the criteria for selecting the parks includes location, entrances, landscaping, fences and perimeters.
Silver will present Parks Without Borders to members of the Queens community on Dec. 7 at 6:30 p.m. during a Queens Borough Board Meeting.
The eight parks will be selected by Spring 2016 and later reconstructed under the PWB program’s standards. Nominations are being accepted until Feb. 28 through the NYC Parks official website.
