Community Board 2 parks committee begins district needs assessment; water access, gardeners and JJ Walker top priorities

The Community Board 2 Parks & Waterfront Committee on Sept. 2025 opened its annual district needs assessment conversation and identified a set of priorities members said they will refine ahead of the board’s October cycle. Committee members emphasized water access and irrigation for small pocket parks, a need for additional gardeners or maintenance staff, and completion and maintenance funding for the James J. Walker (JJ Walker) project on Clarkson Street.

"If we were gonna address so I in capital, I would want to consider having access coordinated with other city agencies to provide water," Coral Dawson said during the meeting, summarizing a recurring point: without readily available water, volunteers cannot sustain plantings. Teresa, who described herself as deeply involved with local pocket parks, said Petrosino Square "has gone through a lot since COVID and including losing a lot of trees" and urged irrigation and gardener resources to prevent further dieback.

Committee members reviewed procedural guidance for the district needs statement. Mark (last name not specified in the transcript) explained capital vs. expense rules used for budget requests: "Capital is a purchase value of $50,000 or more... and has to have a useful life of over 5 years," he said, adding that certain purchases can be aggregated for capital classification. Members noted that the Department of City Planning sets the statement categories and that Parks Commissioner Shimamura recommended a more data-driven approach using NYC Parks’ Vital Parks tool, encouraging friend-group formation for parks and a review of staffing shortfalls including playground associates and gardeners.

Specific priorities raised by multiple members included: - Water access/irrigation systems for pocket parks and small planting beds (members said systems could unlock volunteer efforts and prevent repeated plant losses). - Dedicated gardeners or increased gardener staffing for high‑need downtown parks and pocket parks; committee members discussed how a single gardener previously covered many sites and volunteer capacity is inconsistent. - Continued capital funding and active follow-through on the JJ Walker project; the committee said it had passed a resolution supporting Parks’ request to use Hudson Square funds for JJ Walker and will continue to advocate for completion and maintenance funding. - Safety flooring and gate repairs at Minetta (Moneta) Playground; members described trip hazards and peeling safety surfacing as issues affecting child safety. - A possible dog‑park conversion for the underused Playground of the Americas (small‑dog emphasis was suggested), with residents noting nearby complaints from a small number of adjacent windows but also citing demand for a neighborhood dog facility. - Grouping small pocket-park capital and maintenance requests into a single capital ask to increase feasibility and administrative efficiency.

Committee members also discussed implementation constraints: several pocket parks are on DOT land or have other ownership/utility constraints (the "Time Landscape" parcel was noted as DOT-controlled and not easily mapped to Parks), and converting to permanent water service often requires a metered connection through the Department of Environmental Protection—a process that can be costly and disruptive. Jeffrey (last name not specified) recounted that an elderly volunteer currently maintains one small DOT parcel but cautioned that reliance on a single volunteer is not sustainable.

Staff and committee leads agreed to continue developing the list, gather park-by-park condition data (including which parks have not had capital upgrades in 20+ years), and finalize priorities in the committee and then the executive committee for the board vote later in the fall. No formal votes were taken at the meeting; members asked staff to research feasibility, estimated costs and potential funding sources before the next discussion.