BP04162021 - Page 16

Spending green on green City relaunches $24m Fort Greene Park redesign, plan to cut trees BY KEVIN DUGGAN City greenspace gurus relaunched a large-scale overhaul of Fort Greene Park Friday, more than a year after a previous plan for the lawn stalled in court. The new $24 million scheme is a combination of two previous proposals and covers almost every corner of the 19thcentury lawn with a focus on making it more accessible, improving drainage, and revamping swaths of its Myrtle Avenue side. “We are committed to reimagining and restoring Fort Greene Park, and we’ve made sure that accessibility is at the forefront of the work we are doing,” said Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver in a statement April 9. “The expanded scope of this project will undergo review by an environmental engineer, and we are confi dent that we will be able to move forward with our plans for this park. Fort Greene Park is the focal point of this neighborhood and the community deserves an accessible, �� COURIER L 16 IFE, APRIL 16-22, 2021 inclusive, and renewed space where they can feel safe and welcomed.” The pricey project falls under Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Parks Without Borders initiative to open up municipal meadows and includes redesigned entrances and plaza spaces, updated drainage infrastructure to prevent erosion, better pathways in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, new trees, and added lighting. This marks is the second attempt by the city agency to spruce up Fort Greene Park’s Myrtle Avenue-facing half, which is more heavily used by adjacent public housing residents than the Dekalb Avenue portion next to well-heeled brownstone parts of the neighborhood. The original plans included fl attening the grassy mounds at the corner of Myrtle Avenue and St. Edwards Street to make way for a grand paved plaza and a redesign of the entrance at far side of the avenue at Washington Park. Several of the old proposals made it into the updated scope of work, including new basketball, adult fi tness, and barbecue areas at that northwestern corner, along with improved wheelchair access and a new sidewalks. The agency will reconstruct the two landings on the steps leading to the Prison Ship Martyrs’ Monument, which towers over the park designed by landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux of Prospect Park fame. Controversially, Parks Department lumberjacks will be chopping down trees in the park as part the makeover — but they promise they’ll plant at least 200 new ones when it’s fi nished, according to an agency spokesperson. “The project will more than double the amount of trees being planted — at least 200 new trees will restore and enhance Fort Greene Park’s existing and future tree canopy. The project still will require tree removals,” said Anessa Hodgson told Brooklyn Paper in a statement. The rep declined to say exactly how many trees are destined for the wood chipper, but said it would be less than the redesign’s previous proposal, which included 83 mature trees getting the axe. “At this time, we do not plan to remove more trees than previously slated,” she said. “As we evaluate and design the expanded scope there may be additional trees that require removal as determined by NYC Parks’ Forestry. A full tree assessment of this area to evaluate the health and condition of the existing trees has not yet been performed at this early stage in the design.” One local activist with Friends of Fort Greene Park bemoaned the plan’s revival, — noting that any tree replacements will take decades to grow back. “Saplings take 20-to-30 years to provide the canopy that provides the same environmental benefi ts like air quality and shade,” said Enid Braun. “What is dismaying is the lack of transparency here. It refl ects the same highhanded approach that they did the last time.” The Park’s Prison Ship Martyrs’ Monument. Photo by Susan De Vries ��