Three ailing Brooklyn parks are slated to receive major upgrades as part of a larger investment from City Hall.
The city will invest a total of $50 million in ten parks across the city via the Community Parks Initiative in Fiscal Year 2027, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Parks Commissioner Tricia Shimamura announced Thursday.
The CPI focuses on rehabbing historically-neglected parks in high-need neighborhoods, and the parks chosen for this new investment haven’t seen large-scale improvements in at least two decades, according to City Hall. This newest round of funding is expected to benefit more than 10,000 New Yorkers, Shimamura said.
In Brooklyn, the funds will be allocated to Van Dyke Playground in Brownsville, Roebling Playground in South Williamsburg, and Elizabeth Stroud Playground in Bed-Stuy. Elizabeth Stroud, fittingly, is named for the former chair of Community Board 3’s Parks Committee, who championed “the beautification, restoration, and upkeep of neighborhood parks and playgrounds,” per NYC Parks.
“For many New Yorkers, the park is their backyard – a place where they can play a game of pick-up basketball, hold a picnic on the grass or kick a ball with their kids,” Mamdani said, in a statement. “These New Yorkers know the difference between a park in disarray and a park that city government has invested in.”
Recent inspections show that the three Brooklyn parks are in various states of disarray. Elizabeth Stroud’s “parks condition score” is 86/100, and an August 2025 inspection gave it top marks in both cleanliness and overall condition. Roebling Playground’s overall score was 70/100, but was found to be in “unacceptable” condition during a Sept. 2025 inspection, with significant issues related to litter, playground equipment and weeds.
The improvements are expected to include new playground equipment, all-ages recreation amenities and enhanced greenspace to make parks safer and more welcoming. CPI projects are planned with the community via Community Input Meetings, where the department seeks feedback about how locals use the park and what they’d like to see in a reconstruction.
Full renovations are expected to take three to four years.
Over the past ten years, the city has finished 70 projects via the CPI, with another 47 currently underway. According to a recent CUNY study, residents in neighborhoods where parks have had CPI renovations visit parks more frequently, spend more time there, and are overall more satisfied with the condition of the space.
“Urban parks are increasingly being recognized around the world as crucial for the wellbeing of citizens. It is exciting to see that CPI has been successful at improving the level of satisfaction and usage of neighborhood parks throughout the city,” said Terry Huang, Distinguished Professor of Public Health, CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy.
Mamdani has been under scrutiny for proposing a $33 million cut to the parks department budget in his preliminary budget for FY2027. During his campaign, the mayor pledged to allocate 1% of the city’s budget on parks — but allocated roughly 0.5% in his first budget. The administration’s new goal is to spend 1% on parks “by the end of his mayoralty.”
Update 3/5/2026, 11:20 a.m.: This story has been updated with additional information and images.
