Renovated Mount Hope Garden reopens to cheers
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, M 16 ARCH 22-28, 2019 BTR
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BY ROBERT WIRSING
A long neglected Mount
Hope playground has reopened
just in time for the
spring season.
NYC Parks Commissioner
Mitchell Silver and Bronx
Parks Commissioner Iris Rodriguez
Rosa joined Councilman
Fernando Cabrera,
Community Board 5 district
manager Ken Brown, P.S.
279 students and residents on
Wednesday, March 13 to cut
the ribbon for a $5.1 million
reconstruction of Mount Hope
Garden.
The special occasion commemorated
the fi rst major renovation
for Mount Hope Garden
since NYC Parks acquired
the .28-acre site in 1996.
Silver noted that for more
than two decades Mount Hope
Garden was underinvested
and underserved.
“The added play amenities
and landscape improvements
make this park fun for our
young parkgoers and those
young at heart,” said Silver.
Located at Creston Avenue
between East Burnside Avenue
and East 179th Street, the
revitalized park features new
playground equipment for
children ages 2 to 12-years-old,
a swing set with an Americans
with Disabilities Act accessible
seat, spray showers, an
accessible drinking fountain
and new shaded seating areas
complete with 1964 World’s
Fair benches.
In addition, the retaining
walls around the park’s perimeter
were reconstructed
and landscaping improvements
were added.
Silver thanked Mayor de
Blasio and Councilman Cabrera
for making the reconstruction
possible.
Mayor de Blasio allocated
$4.1 million and Cabrera contributed
an additional $1 million
for the project.
Its reconstruction commenced
on May 30, 2017 following
a groundbreaking ceremony.
Cabrera said he was excited
to play a role in the redevelopment
of the former ‘NYC’s
Worst Playground.’
“The transformation of
this park is truly amazing,”
expressed Cabrera.
The long-shuttered, squareparcel
park reopened fi ve
years after it was closed due to
safety and health concerns including
a standing body of water
in the middle of the park
which attracted mosquitos.
The park’s closure occurred
less than a year following
a previous renovation. After
just six months, sinkholes
began developing in sections
of the park which posed a
safety risk for the community.
“The community is absolutely
thrilled to have its park
back,” said Brown.
Brown confi rmed that local
reaction for the renovated
Mount Hope Garden has been
positive.
Mount Hope Garden is located
in Tremont which was
largely farmland until 1841
when the New York and Harlem
River Railroad opened a
station that became the center
of a village.
In the 1850s, Postmaster
Hiram Tarbox named the
village ‘Tremont’ after the
three major hills in the area,
Fairmount, Mount Eden and
Mount Hope.
Tremont comprises several
smaller neighborhoods
including Claremont, Mount
Eden and Mount Hope.
Mount Hope is centered on
Tremont Avenue and borders
East Burnside Avenue.
Burnside Avenue honors
the Civil War general Ambrose
E. Burnside, who lived
from 1824 to 1881.
Burnside’s unique and extensive
facial hair was the
inspiration for the term ‘sideburns.’
Bronx Parks Commissioner Rodriguez-Rosa (3rd from l) joined community leaders and NYC Parks members at
the newly renovated Mount Hope Garden’s playground. Photo by Malcolm Pinckney/NYC Parks
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