New Brooklyn park to honor Shirley Chisholm

In September, Governor Cuomo announced the largest state park in New York City will open in the summer of 2019 along Jamaica Bay in Brooklyn. The park will be named in honor of Shirley Chisholm, a Brooklyn-born trailblazer who was the first African American Congresswoman. The park is part of the Governor’s $1.4 billion Vital Brooklyn Initiative, which aims to add open space and recreational facilities to Brooklyn neighborhoods and bring 34 new or updated playgrounds, pocket parks, community gardens and rec centers within a 10-minute walk for every central Brooklyn resident.

By summer 2019, phase one of the park will be completed and will offer 10 miles of trails for hiking and biking, waterfront access for kayaking, and a pier with picnic areas and concession stands. The state is investing $20 million in phase one. Public meetings for the design of phase two will be held in the fall of 2019, with an expected completion date of 2021. View the proposed park renderings here.

The park site includes former landfills that were operated from 1956-1983 and then deeded to the National Park Service. In 2002, the NYC Department of Environmental Protection began a $235 million site remediation which included an impermeable cap, more than 1.2 million cubic yards of clean soil was spread and 35,000 trees and shrubs were planted. In 2009, the full remediation and site restoration was completed.

"Our state parks are community treasures, and this new park transforms what was once landfill into exquisite open space, waterfront access and outdoor recreation for Brooklyn," Governor Cuomo said.