COURIER L 26 IFE, FEB. 22–28, 2019 PS
Meadow made over
Locals propose new amenities for C’Hill park
getting facelift as part of LICH redevelopment
BY AIDAN GRAHAM
It’s their green dream!
A tiny Cobble Hill park that a developer
will refurbish as part of its
scheme to build a seven-building
complex in the neighborhood must
include amenities that make it more
inviting to the community, according
to locals who attended a recent meeting
about the redesign.
“What if you want to have a performance?
If you want to have a puppet
theater come in, or do karaoke,
or a poetry reading, for example. We
could create a space where that might
be possible,” Glenn Kelly, the Chairman
of the local Community Board
6’s Parks Committee, said at the Feb.
7 gathering.
Roughly 40 residents attended
the meeting sponsored by local civic
group the Cobble Hill Association,
where they debated the future of the
park, which Fortis Property Group is
renovating as part of its deal to make
over the former Long Island College
Hospital complex.
Fortis must seek public input on
any changes made to the green space
at the corner of Henry and Pacifi c
streets and two other neighborhood
parks — all of which are privately
owned but open to the public — due
to a 1995 agreement the city made
with former hospital leaders, which
the builder inherited when it got the
green light to redevelop the medicalcenter
site in 2014.
The miniature meadow is the
smallest of the three Fortis must redesign,
and has been closed for almost
two years due to the construction
of the fi rst of the developer’s
seven buildings going up at the hospital
site, a 15-story condo tower on
Henry Street dubbed 5 River Park .
The rectangular recreation space
currently features just six chess tables
and several benches scattered
throughout it, leaving plenty of room
for reimagination, a Fortis rep said.
“Currently it’s just a boring
square. From my perspective, it’s not
engaging in any way, shape, or form,”
said George Fontas.
Fontas and other reps for the developer
presented attendees with renderings
of new park amenities, such
as water fountains, more benches,
and lampposts, in two aesthetic styles
used by the city’s Department of Parks
and Recreation — a classic Victorian
style, and a so-called 1964-contemporary
style, which Fontas admitted is
not as modern as its title suggests.
“1964 isn’t contemporary, but it is
for Parks,” he said.
And although some in the room
demanded more built amenities
in the meadow, others suggested
its redesign should incorporate
more landscaping to improve the
COMMUNITY ADVOCATE: Cobble Hill resident
Alec Baxt shared ideas for the Henry
Street park during the meeting with reps for
developer Fortis Property Group.
Photo by Aidan Graham
park’s visual appeal.
“Personally, I would like more
planting and green space,” said Cobble
Hiller Thomas Spath.
But no matter what new features
Fortis may ultimately install, the
builder must keep the chess tabletops,
which one attendee called a hallmark
of city green spaces.
“There’s something very New
York about a park with chess tables,”
said Alec Baxt.
Spath agreed, claiming the gaming
spaces give the park an intimate,
secure ambiance.
“The tables make the park feel
more inviting and safe,” he said.
Fortis leaders also plan to make
both of the park’s entrances on Henry
and Pacifi c streets handicap accessible
as part of the redesign, a change
all attendees cheered because disabled
residents can now only enter
via Henry Street.
“Along Pacifi c street there is not
any handicap access. So we’d like to
change that,” Fontas said. “We think
it would be good to make both sides
accessible.”
The developer will present a new
round of designs for the Henry Street
park at CB6’s Parks Committee meeting
on March 20, where locals will get
another opportunity to weigh in on
the plans.
Fortis bigwigs will then submit a
fi nal scheme to the Parks Department
for approval, with the hope of kicking
off construction this summer, its reps
said.
And the builder will share its proposed
makeovers of the two other Cobble
Hill parks in the coming months,
as it begins work on more buildings
in its seven-structure complex.