Vote Now: Monday Deadline To Get $5M For Fort Greene Park And Cuyler Gore Park

Parks-lovers have until this coming Monday, February 29 to vote for their favorite park to get $5 million in funding through the city Parks Department’s $50 million Parks Without Borders initiative — and Fort Greene Park and Cuyler Gore Park are among those up for funds.

First, voting directions: voters need to go to the Parks Without Borders website, click on the map to get to the park you’re interested in, and then tick off the check boxes for things like “Add new entrance,” “Improve accessibility,” “Seating,” “Repair paving,” “Food,” “Art,” and “Performances.” Then, add comments about what specific improvements you would like to see and why.

Fort Greene Park‘s funding proposal centers on the park’s northern perimeter along Myrtle Avenue and has the advocacy support of the Fort Greene Park Conservancy (FGPC) and Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership (MARP).

The hope is to use the funding for temporary or permanent seating along Myrtle Avenue and at the Myrtle/Washington Park corner entrance, replace/repair the BBQ pits, add lighting and wayfinding/educational/history-referencing signage, add workout/fitness equipment, improve/repair the pathways and gathering spaces, and turn “hardscapes into greenscapes” by strategically adding foliage along the park’s borders.

Explaining the potential of the park’s northern perimeter, Julian Macrone, FGPC programming coordinator, wrote on their blog that:

Both the plaza at Myrtle Avenue and Washington Park and the Park’s northwest corner had shown us glimpses of the kinds of vibrant public places they could be. The Myrtle Entrance Plaza has hosted our annual tree lighting for two years in a row, and has a long history as host to a number of public art exhibits. The northwest corner has long been a beloved spot for barbecues, picnics, and active recreation, and one of the Park’s busiest pedestrian thoroughfares cuts through it. We see so much potential to enhance the functions of these spaces —  to take places that park users have already found uses for and figure out how we can amplify amenities to better serve those people.

“It is the partnership’s job to track maintenance of Myrtle Avenue’s streetscape [and] it is no secret that the pavers on that side are in serious disrepair, as are some of the benches,” added MARP Executive Director Meredith Phillips Almeida. “But we have also heard the need from residents directly. As part of our Age-Friendly Neighborhood efforts, we spoke with more than 300 local seniors. One of the most common issues raised was the desire for improvements on this side to pavers, seating, accessibility and lighting.”

She added that “the Myrtle Avenue side hasn’t seen investment in quite some time in terms of capital dollars, and we think it deserves it, and so do the residents who use it!”

Cuyler Gore Park is also up for funding, with its proposal to remove/replace fencing, add trees, install a dog run, add a barrier between the playground and the entrance/exit, and spruce up the space to attract more public programming — like the annual Juneteenth Arts Festival — being supported by the Fulton Area Business (FAB) Alliance.

As FAB Executive Director Phillip Kellogg told DNAInfo, “there’s something about it that’s uninviting, unwelcoming. . . It’s potentially such a wonderful asset for the community.”

Residents on the street and at Community Board 2 agree that Cuyler Gore Park has uneven pavement and other things that need improvement, but apparently its location above the C subway line and tunnel makes improvements “challenging,” according to Marty Maher, chief of staff for Brooklyn parks.

That’s what our feedback is for, so log online and add your two cents about how and why these proposals can and should be funded and made reality!