The Parks Department announced a $4.6 million renovation to the play area at Gorman Playground in Jackson Heights on Wednesday.
“Gorman Playground, like so many parks in our district, is a lynchpin of the Jackson Heights community,” said Councilman Costa Constantinides. “This will be a state-of-the-art playground that will serve Jackson Heights for generations.”
Constantinides worked with City Council Speaker Corey Johnson to secure funding for the play area from the Fiscal Year 2020 budget. Over the summer, Johnson dubbed 2020 the “year of the parks” after he set aside more money for public parks in the budget than it had included in nearly 30 years.
“We’re thrilled to announce funding to revitalize this treasured community space and look forward to having a scope meeting this fall,” said Queens Borough Parks Commissioner Michael Dockett.
The Parks Department also announced that it will host a scoping hearing on the evening of Oct. 3 at the Lexington School for the Deaf, where officials will collect ideas from the community on what to include in the overhaul.
The park was renamed after Denis P. Gorman shortly after his death in August 1963. Gorman, a Democratic District Leader of Jackson Heights, helped bring city-subsidized bus service to Jackson Heights. In addition to originally constructing this playground, he also built 20 Little League baseball fields throughout the city when he served as Chairman of the Youth Activities Committee.
Constantinides and Commissioner Dockett were joined by Giovanna Reid, district manager of Community Board 3, and the grandson of Denis Gorman who was named after him.
