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NYC Parks seeks approval to identify 23 sites in CD5 to close walk‑to‑park gap
Summary
The Parks Department and DCAS submitted a ULURP site‑selection application for 23 candidate properties (7 primary, 16 secondary) in Brooklyn Community District 5; Parks says the list is a readiness tool so the city can move quickly if a willing seller appears, and the authority would sunset after 10 years.
Colleen Alderson, chief of Parklands and Real Estate at the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, told the Brooklyn Borough President’s ULURP hearing that Parks and the Department of Citywide Administrative Services co‑filed a site‑selection and acquisition application to address a “walk to a park” gap in Community District 5. “We view parks as critical infrastructure,” Alderson said, adding parks provide environmental, mental and physical benefits and act as “sponges” in the face of climate change.
Parks described a citywide strategy that uses a public mapping tool and neighborhood‑scale criteria to prioritize locations. Alderson said the city is currently at 84.2 percent of residents within walking distance of a park and is aiming for 85 percent by 2030; she said that gap leaves “1,400,000 New Yorkers that are not within walking distance to an open space.”
For Community Board 5, Parks identified 23 candidate sites to include in the ULURP application: seven primary sites (vacant PLUTO‑tagged parcels of at least 5,000 square feet) and 16 secondary sites (developed parcels at least 5,000 square feet that are underbuilt, roughly 50 percent below their allowable build‑out, and that would close a walk gap). Alderson said the agency does not expect to acquire all 23 parcels because acquisitions depend on willing sellers and budget approvals. “The thing about the secondary criteria is they have to fill a walk gap,” she said.
Alderson also addressed concerns about converting former industrial or manufacturing parcels. She said Parks has experience with many property types and that the agency performs due diligence and would carry out required remediation as part of any capital project. In response to a question about Industrial Business Zone (IBZ) sites, Alderson said Parks removed three candidate properties from its inventory after reviewing IBZ concerns but retained one corner site where adjacent corners include residential uses.
Parks noted process steps that would follow ULURP should a willing seller emerge: budget approval from the Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget, DCAS authority to negotiate, and then acquisition and closing. The agency also noted a built‑in 10‑year sunset in the application: the authority to acquire the identified sites for park purposes would lapse after a decade unless refreshed.
No public testimony was offered on this item at the hearing. The borough president will include comments in his recommendation; the parks application remains under ULURP review.
