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COURIER L 12 IFE, JULY 12–18, 2019 M BR B G
NOW OPEN: Gov. Andrew Cuomo named the park after native Brooklynite Shirley Chisholm,
who became the country’s fi rst black Congresswoman in 1968 and ran for president four
years later. Kings County muralist Danielle Mastrion created this artwork at the entrance of
the new park. Mike Groll
Cuomo opens fi rst portion
of Shirley Chisholm park
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
State and federal politicians
celebrated the partial opening of a
sprawling, but stripped-down version
of a state park announced last year
honoring the country’s fi rst black
congresswoman in East New York on
July 2.
The state invested $20 million
to fund the fi rst portion of Shirley
Chisholm State Park — located
on 407-acres of former landfi ll off
Pennsylvania Avenue south of Starrett
City — which offers 10 miles of marked
hiking and biking trails, a bayside
pier for picnicking and fi shing along
Pennsylvania Avenue, as well as water
access and a colorful mural of the
trailblazing legislator by Brooklyn
artist Danielle Mastrion, according to
the Governor’s offi ce.
Offi cials claimed last year the state
would solicit input from the public on
the park’s second design phase this fall,
with ambitious proposals including a
connector bridge or cable car over the
water separating the park’s two halves
between the Pennsylvania Avenue and
Fountain Avenue sites, along with an
environmental education center, lawn
patios, and an amphitheater for live
events.
Since then, state parks offi cials
have scaled back plans for the second
phase, replacing the amphitheater
with lawn patios — including one large
enough to accommodate 200 people
and host community gatherings or
performances — the environmental
center with pop-up education facilities,
and axing plans for a connecting
bridge or cable car between the
two landmasses, spokesman Brian
Nearing told this paper via an emailed
statement.
Further design elements could still
be included in future phases, if state
lawmakers agree to provide additional
funding during next year’s budget
negotiations, according to Nearing.
“Additional design elements will be
contemplated in the subsequent phase
once a budget is identifi ed,” he said.
The park is part of Cuomo’s
$1.4 billion health initiative “Vital
Brooklyn,” which aims to improve
the quality of life for residents in
some of the borough’s lower-income
neighborhoods by opening nearby
green spaces and playgrounds.
Cuomo dedicated the park to
Chisholm, who won her seat in Congress
in 1968, ran for president four years
later, and fought for the health and
well-being of her most disadvantaged
constituents throughout her time in
offi ce, according to Cuomo.
“Shirley Chisholm fought to
improve the health and wellness of
underserved communities, a legacy
we are carrying on through the Vital
Brooklyn Initiative, so we are proud
to dedicate this park in memory of her
leadership and accomplishments,” he
said.
Cuomo boasted that the new public
green space is the largest state park
in all fi ve boroughs, but Brooklyn’s
largest will remain the city-owned
Marine Park, at 530 acres, followed
closely by Prospect Park at 526
acres.
The new park is also one of only two
state parks in the borough, along with
Williamsburg’s East River State Park.
Two city leaders are planning to
erect their own memorials to honor the
lawmaker in the borough, including
one sculpture planned for Prospect
Park’s Parkside Avenue entrance
by First Lady Charlene McCray and
a statue in Brower Park in Crown
Heights by local councilman Robert
Cornegy Jr.
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