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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 17-98
October 31, 2017
deppressoffice@dep.nyc.gov, 718-595-6600

Department Of Environmental Protection Joins NYC Parks to Cut the Ribbon on Reconstructed Thomas Boyland Park in Brooklyn

Thomas Boyland CPI Playground in Brooklyn

Thomas Boyland Park in Bushwick Reconstructed Through $4.3 Million Investment

Addition of Green Infrastructure will help Cleanup Newtown Creek and Improve Air Quality

Photos are Available on DEP’s Flickr Page

The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) on Friday joined NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver, FAICP, Deputy Mayor for Strategic Policy Initiatives and Citywide M/WBE Director Richard Buery, City Council Member Rafael Espinal, and community groups to cut the ribbon on the newly reconstructed Community Parks Initiative (CPI) site Thomas Boyland Park in Brooklyn. The Thomas Boyland Park design is based on feedback gathered directly from the community at public input sessions. The latest CPI site to open after undergoing complete reconstruction, Thomas Boyland was funded by Mayor Bill de Blasio with a $3.3 million allocation from the program’s overall $318 million budget, with an additional $1 million from Council Member Espinal, and $664,000 from the NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

“DEP is proud to be a partner in NYC Parks’ Community Parks Initiative which is transforming neighborhood parks across the city,” said NYC DEP Commissioner Vincent Sapienza. “We are always looking for ways in which we can reduce the water that enters our sewer system to help mitigate the risk of CSO’s, and we were able to do just that with this project at Thomas Boyland Park. The newly installed green infrastructure at this playground will help to reduce stormwater runoff, improve the health of the surrounding waterways, and beautify the neighborhood.”

“We’re so excited about the new and improved Thomas Boyland Playground and what it will mean for the community. And we’re even more excited that Minority and women-owned businesses played such an important role in building it,” said Deputy Mayor Buery. “With nearly $740,000 in landscaping, fencing, and construction completed by M/WBEs, this project demonstrates that we can build the equitable city we envision by being more inclusive and by making opportunity available to all.”

Jonnel Doris, Senior Advisor and Director of the Mayor’s Office of M/WBEs, said, “Parks are green spaces that serve as hubs for communities of all backgrounds to come together. It is imperative that people creating these spaces also reflect the diversity of those same communities. I congratulate the Parks Department on the revitalization of Thomas Boyland Park and ensuring that M/WBEs participated in its construction.”

“Each site rebuilt by the Community Parks Initiative brings us closer to fully realizing our goal of true park equity for millions of New Yorkers. It’s a 67-park, $318-million citywide effort that has real block-to-block impact,” said NYC Parks Commissioner Silver. “The new and improved Thomas Boyland Park is a reflection of the communities’ creative visions with new play areas, sports courts, community gathering areas and more, and we are proud to present to this vibrant community the park they deserve.”

“I am thrilled to see our community’s vision for Thomas Boyland Park come to fruition,” said Council Member Espinal. “I was proud to allocate $1 million to renovate the park through the East New York Rezoning because access to high quality parks should be available to all neighborhoods across the city regardless of wealth or status. After years of neglect, Thomas Boyland Park is now transformed into a park the entire community can be proud of.”

“Parks and open spaces are our city’s great equalizers, allowing people from all walks of life a chance for recreation and relaxation,” said Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams. “I applaud NYC Parks Commissioner Silver for spearheading the rehabilitation of Thomas Boyland Park in a neighborhood that has long faced issues of inequality. With this redesign, we are better equipped to raise healthy children and families in this community, thanks to the new fitness equipment, play areas, and landscaped features that will be here for everyone to enjoy.”

Launched by Mayor de Blasio in October 2014, CPI is a multi-faceted investment in the 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. CPI is NYC Parks' first major equity initiative and part of the Mayor’s OneNYC: The Plan for a Strong and Just City.

Thomas Boyland Park was chosen in the first round of CPI sites and has undergone a complete transformation that includes a new basketball court, a community gathering area, adult fitness equipment, a redesigned children’s play area with a spray shower, a natural turf baseball field with surrounding track, new landscaping, and more. Some severe subsurface sinking conditions were also corrected.

Additional capital program support comes from DEP which has committed approximately $50 million in funding for the construction of green infrastructure installations at the CPI sites. The green infrastructure will manage the precipitation that falls on the parks, and some of the surrounding streets, keeping it out of the combined sewer system and helping to reduce combined sewer overflows that sometimes occur during heavy rainfall. New York City has the most ambitious and aggressive green infrastructure program in the nation, with thousands of installations currently under construction across the city. In addition to managing stormwater, green infrastructure helps to improve air quality while also providing shade and lowering summertime temperatures.

Of the $4.3 million contract for Thomas Boyland, $739,000 was awarded to five minority- and women-owned business enterprises (M/WBEs). The project was completed on budget and three months ahead of schedule, and is one of several Parks projects included in the $125.2 million in contracts awarded to M/WBEs over the last year. Parks has been one of the top three performing agencies for the past three fiscal years, having awarded $120.3 million during Fiscal Year 2017, $90.9 million during Fiscal Year 2016, and $38.3 million during Fiscal Year 2015 to M/WBEs.

DEP manages New York City’s water supply, providing approximately 1 billion gallons of high quality drinking water each day to more than 9 million residents, including 8.5 million in New York City. The water is delivered from a watershed that extends more than 125 miles from the city, comprising 19 reservoirs and three controlled lakes. Approximately 7,000 miles of water mains, tunnels and aqueducts bring water to homes and businesses throughout the five boroughs, and 7,500 miles of sewer lines and 96 pump stations take wastewater to 14 in-city treatment plants. DEP has nearly 6,000 employees, including almost 1,000 in the upstate watershed. In addition, DEP has a robust capital program that will create up to 3,000 construction-related jobs per year. For more information, visit nyc.gov/dep, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.

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