A brand new skatepark is coming down the pipe — half-pipe, that is.
“It’s gonna cement New York’s status as the greatest skate place on the East Coast,” Theo Williams, a longtime skateboarder, said.
He’s stoked about Mayor Eric Adams’ plan to build a 40,000-square-foot skatepark in Mount Prospect Park. The project is in partnership with legendary skateboarder Tony Hawk, whose nonprofit The Skateboard Project, will design the park.
“It’s real money behind it. It can be done properly, much safer, so that’s good. It’s great to see Eric Adams working with Tony Hawk,” Williams said.
According to The Skateboard Project, Mount Prospect Park covers more than 350,000-square-feet. The park will be built on roughly 12% of the land. But some Brooklyn residents say the plan seems sketchy.
“We never imagined that there would be a proposal to pave over parts of green space, especially in this day and age when we know we’re suffering from flooding and heat island effects from too much paving,” Hayley Gorenberg, co-chair of Friends of Mount Prospect Park, said.
Friends of Mount Prospect Park are a group of Brooklyn residents who have repeatedly asked politicians to curb the plan.
Tensions have been rising in the community for months now.
“It is a needless conflict and pitting skaters versus people who are concerned about green space is an artificial conflict and it’s irresponsible,” Gorenberg said.
Back in September, Prospect Park got nearly 7 inches of rainfall, causing Prospect Park Lake to overflow. Gorenberg said the neighborhood cannot afford to lose porous surfaces.
“We have dangerous heat from over paving. So, paving more is totally backwards. It’s dangerous for us all,” she said.
Under Mayor Eric Adams’ $24 million plan, the city will build or refurbish four skateparks: two in Brooklyn, the other in Crown Heights, and two in the Bronx: a new skatepark in Soundview and an upgraded one in Bronxdale. The Skatepark Project said the plan includes planting new trees and landscaping and no existing trees will be disturbed.
“There’s this sort of black and white mentality that they seem to be having which is that, you know, we’re just removing all of the green and putting concrete as if a skatepark can’t have trees,” Williams said.
Williams believes this new park will benefit young skaters from low-income neighborhoods.
“To have a dedicated space for them to practice their craft, their sport, stay out of trouble, make new friends, become a part of a bigger community, it’s a beautiful thing,” Williams said.
According to City Hall, all four skateparks are expected to be completed by 2027.