NYC Community Parks Initiative

NYC Public Design Commission Excellence in Design Award

The NYC Community Parks Initiative is a mayoral program to invest in parks in densely populated, low-income communities. At its launch in 2014, the initiative targeted 35 parks with $130 million budgeted for construction, and the funding doubled the following year with plans to remake more than 60 parks throughout the five boroughs.

Quennell Rothschild and Partners has worked on 12 of these parks, creating imaginative designs that respond to the needs of each community, developed after public outreach sessions to gather input from local residents.  The designs provide a complete reconstruction of each park, with improved access, generous new paths, and entrances that better connect the parks to their neighborhood.

The parks include new play equipment, water play areas, and sitting areas for all age groups. Some sites include sports courts and new synthetic turf fields while others feature adult fitness equipment and community gardens.

Many new trees will be planted and green infrastructure measures, including generous areas of native plantings, will infiltrate stormwater on site, in some cases even diverting street drainage into the park area.  The work will transform sites that are currently asphalt fields into vibrant parks that will provide real benefits to the community.

QRP has worked on the reconstruction of twelve CPI parks and playgrounds in the Bronx, Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.

Martin Luther King Playground, Manhattan, NY

Sawmill Playground, Bronx, NY

Lyons Square Playground, Bronx, NY

Longfellow Garden, Bronx, NY

Little Claremont Park, Bronx, NY

Astoria Health Playground, Bronx, NY

Black Rock Playground, Bronx, NY

Walton Park, Bronx, NY

Playground 134, Bronx, NY

Playground 174, Bronx, NY

Audubon Playground, Manhattan, NY

Bartlett Playground, Brooklyn, NY

 

  • Audubon 1

    Audubon Playground, Manhattan

  • Bartlett 1

    Bartlett Playground, Brooklyn

  • Little Claremont 2

    Little Claremont Playground, Bronx

  • Little Claremont 3

    Little Claremont Playground, Bronx

  • Little Claremont 4

    Little Claremont Playground, Bronx

  • Pulaski 1

    Little Claremont Playground, Bronx

  • Saw Mill 1

    Saw Mill Playground, Bronx