COURIER L 14 IFE, MAY 21-27, 2021
Green-up!
Prospect Park rolls out new upkeep
initiative ahead of Summer season
Prospect Park Prospect Park Alliance
BY BEN VERDE
After a year of heavy use stemming
from the coronavirus pandemic, Prospect
Park is launching a new program
to keep Brooklyn’s Backyard in shipshape
ahead of the summer season.
The initiative, dubbed Re:New Prospect
Park, aims to keep the greenspace
clean and well maintained, with a focus
on trash management, park improvements,
and volunteerism.
“Starting from last March the park
has been absolutely so well used, and
it’s been such a respite for so many people,”
said Sue Donoghue of the Prospect
Park Alliance, the nonprofi t steward of
the park. “But all that love takes its toll
and we really felt it was important as we
think about this spring and this summer
that we are prepared and putting
the resources necessary to really help
to care for and maintain the park — because
we know we’re going to be facing a
good deal of usage again this summer.”
A combination of heavy use and budget
cuts put the park in a tough spot
last summer — one it hopes not to be in
again, according to Donoghue.
“Last summer we really struggled to
have the resources to adequately maintain
the park because of signifi cant cuts
to the Park’s Department budget, and
then by necessity, we at the Alliance also
had to cut our budget,” she said. “The
impacts of those decrease in resources
were signifi cant and immediately noticeable
in overfl owing trash cans.”
The initiative will see the park partner
with job training group Ace New
York and receive funding from e-commerce
giant Amazon.
To curb trash pile up the park faced
last year during a summer of large
crowds, Ace New York crews will provide
rubbage pickup services on peak
weekdays and weekend evenings
through October, and an Amazon representative
said the tech company was
particularly interested in helping pay
for improvements to the east side of the
park.
“Amazon heard that the Alliance is
particularly focused on improvements
to Prospect Park’s East side, adjacent
to the neighborhoods of Crown Heights
and Prospect Lefferts Gardens,” said
Carley Graham Garcia, Amazon’s New
York City head of external affairs. “We
were excited that our support helped
this underserved section of the park,
while creating local employment opportunities.”
Another of the initiative’s tenets involves
improvements to park infrastructure
and greenery. Broadly, spruce-ups
are planned for lawn areas, restrooms,
and barbecues, while specifi c renovations
are planned for the Lincoln Road
and Children’s Corner bathrooms, new
benches and landscaping are planned
for the Drummer’s Grove, and new
grills and furnishings are planned for
the Picnic House and Bandshell barbecue
areas.
A third pillar of the initiative will
be an emphasis on volunteer efforts, according
to the Alliance, with an expansion
of volunteer opportunities including
a “Green and Go” kit for anytime
cleanups and the return of the “It’s My
Park Monday” program.
“It’s so important to support your local
park and be out helping to maintain
it,” said Donoghue. “It’s been such a vital
part of people’s experience during
this pandemic.”