Prospect Park Alliance helps NYC Parks renovate Williamsburg park

From brooklyneagle.com

Penn Triangle playground-sitting area is in shadow of BQE

NYC Parks and Prospect Park Alliance on Monday announced the completion of reconstruction work on Penn Triangle in South Williamsburg, a small neighborhood park and playground adjacent to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.

The $1.7 million renovation was funded by Mayor Bill de Blasio through the Community Parks Initiative (CPI), which seeks to fund improvements to neighborhood parks with the greatest need. Typically, these parks are small, local parks that don’t have support groups.

As part of CPI, the project reconstructed the triangle and added new accessible play equipment, safety surfacing, seating, planting beds and shade trees. The project’s design was completed courtesy of the Prospect Park Alliance (PPA).

This is the second CPI site that PPA has designed pro bono, the first being Stroud Playground in Crown Heights, a few blocks north of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, which was completed in 2019. PPA has also completed the design for Epiphany Playground in Williamsburg, which is currently in procurement and expected to enter construction later this year.

“We are pleased to share that this park has been reopened to the public especially as green spaces have proven to be so vital throughout this pandemic,” said NYC Parks Brooklyn Borough Commissioner Martin Maher. “We are grateful for our partners at Prospect Park Alliance for bringing the community’s vision to life with their transformative design and hope that this small, community park will be treasured for years to come.”

“Prospect Park Alliance has an award-winning team of landscape architects and designers, and we’re pleased to be able to share our expertise to help revitalize this playground in the South Williamsburg community,” said Sue Donoghue, president of Prospect Park Alliance. “This small park now features new play structures and amenities—sure to be an outdoor enhancement when we all need it most.”

CPI, launched by Mayor de Blasio in October 2014, is a multi-faceted $318 million investment in 67 smaller public parks that are located in New York City’s densely populated and growing neighborhoods where there are higher-than-average concentrations of poverty.

Penn Triangle was originally developed as a sitting area as part of the construction of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway. The playground was constructed on the site in 1996, and this reconstruction project has been the first significant capital investment this park has undergone since then. The park is named for the adjacent Penn Street.–>

The park is several blocks north of Flushing Avenue and a few blocks east of Kent Avenue, the Brooklyn Navy Yard and Steiner Studio.