Scarangella Park to receive millions for renovations

A Gravesend park will be getting a much-needed, $3.4 million makeover.

Through the Parks Department’s Community Parks Initiative—a $9 million investment that works toward improving and renovating parks across the Gravesend/Bensonhurst area—West 13^th Street’s Scarangella Park will receive $2.4 million in funding secured by Councilmember Mark Treyger in the city budget along with $1 million secured by State Senator Diane Savino, officials announced at the park on Thursday, December 3.

“Outer borough parks are finally starting to see the kind of investment and attention they have been sorely lacking for years,” said Treyger. “This funding is a breath of fresh air. Residents of Gravesend and Bensonhurst have the right to the same opportunities for outdoor activity as all other New Yorkers, and we are ensuring that right by working to provide residents with recreational spaces that match the standards they expect and deserve.”

Renovation plans for the park include the addition of a comfort station and new playground equipment, according to Treyger’s office. The project will also be participatory in nature, allowing community members  to contribute ideas for the park’s redesign.

“I am honored to have been able to help my colleagues achieve this not only needed but necessary goal,” added Savino. “Our constituents deserve a park in their neighborhood that they can actually utilize, and for so long that was not a possibility, but very soon that will become a reality.”

“Scarangella Park will be greatly improved thanks to the generous funding from Councilmember Treyger and Senator Savino,” said New York City Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver. “The residents of Bensonhurst and Gravesend are continuing to see needed improvements to their neighborhood spaces, both with Scarangella and the Community Parks Initiative renovations at nearby Lafayette Playground.”

Lafayette Playground, located directly across the street from Scarangella Park, will receive a $5.4 million renovation as part of the Parks Department’s Community Parks Initiative.