Work On Henry Street Park III Expected To Begin This Fall

COBBLE HILL – Representatives for Fortis and MPFP Landscape Architecture & Urban Design provided another update regarding the upcoming renovation of Henry Street Park III during the Brooklyn Community Board 6 Parks Committee meeting on Wednesday.

George Fontas, a representative for Fortis, and Rick Parisi of MPFP first presented plans for Henry Street Park III during a community input meeting back in February. They took the feedback received from that meeting and returned in March to present two revised design proposals that included pushing the surrounding fence further out toward the sidewalk; planting a landscaped border with views of the street and adjacent Henry Street Parks I and II; removing the steps from the Pacific Street entrance and adding an ADA accessible ramp.

The two design options Parisi presented at the March meeting included a traditional linear layout and a curvilinear design. Meeting attendees preferred the second softer design. MPFP once again incorporated the community’s input into the revised plan.

At Wednesday’s meeting, the pair presented the most recent design for the green space, which has received NYC Parks approval. “We’ve been racing ahead very aggressively, trying to get that project through approvals at the Parks Department level over the last two months,” Fontas said.

“The goal at the community’s request was to turn this park back over as quickly as possible,” added Parisi, “We think we’re still very close to our original schedule.”

As previously determined, the plan includes restoring the park’s original clock, sloping the northeastern entrance to make it ADA accessible, and keeping the existing trees as well as planting new ones. The park will be fitted out with modern, movable tables and chairs, a contemporary water fountain and trash receptacles, new lights, standard park benches in the southeast corner, and a curvilinear precast bench spanning a large portion of the wall of the neighboring building.

The new design also includes a mid-block crossing (painted stripes) on Henry between Pacific and Amity to connect Henry Street Park III to Parks I and II. The crossing will need NYC DOT approval.

While work was initially scheduled to begin in August, construction at the adjacent building has been delayed two months, preventing crews from accessing the park. “That’s been pushed back because the building that’s going up next to the park requires that the park be closed for a certain amount of time while construction is happening…so we can’t actually get into the park to start the work until it’s safe to enter,” explained Fontas. “It’s our expectation that we’ll get into the park sometime in late September or early October.”

In the meantime, Fontas said MPFP will work on all the required construction drawings and documents and submit them to the necessary city agencies for approval. “That way come September, early October, we’re ready to roll,” he said.

Parisi noted that due to considerable sinking conditions, remediation of the park’s soil will be more extensive than expected and may take a bit longer. “We have to go down deeper than we thought,” he explained, noting that crews will have to excavate and replace approximately four feet of soil. “Our geotechnical engineer is looking at multiple ways to solve the problem so we don’t have sinking again,” he said.

Located on Henry Street (at the corner of Pacific), the passive green space is part of Fortis’ seven-building River Park redevelopment project to convert several former Long Island College Hospital sites into luxury residences. The park is currently closed during the construction of Fortis’ 14-story 5 River Park condo building at 347 Henry Street.

Originally scheduled to be completed by Fall 2019, Henry Street Park III is now expected to be completed by Spring 2020.

Click here to see the Henry Street Park III June 19, 2019 presentation.