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May 28, 2026

Dear Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Deputy Mayor Julia Kerson, Parks Commissioner Tricia Shimamura, NYC DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn, Department of City Planning Director Sideya Sherman, and Brooklyn CB2 Chair Lenny Singletary:

We write following New Yorkers for Parks’ May 9 Fort Greene–Brooklyn Navy Yard Walk & Talk to Build a Strong Parks System, which brought together over 75 people including elected officials, agency representatives, community-based organizations, and residents to observe parks and open space conditions and identify priorities across a rapidly growing part of Brooklyn.

What we saw and heard on the ground was clear: as population density increases and neighborhood needs evolve, we need to see investment in parks, public realm infrastructure, and safe, connected streets to match.

Without sustained and equitable funding, the City risks widening disparities in access to safe, high-quality open space.

During our walk, we celebrated parks and open space accomplishments:

• Advancing more than $55 million in planned capital improvements across Fort Greene Park and Commodore Barry Park, including accessibility upgrades, reconstructed paths, drainage improvements, new recreational amenities, expanded tree planting, and enhanced lighting

• Reconstructing and modernizing the public restroom at Commodore Barry Park with ADA accessibility improvements completed in 2024

• Improving streetscape conditions, pedestrian safety and connectivity to parks around NYCHA’s Ingersoll Houses

• Revitalizing the Victory Love Garden at NYCHA’s Whitman Houses

• Maintaining Willoughby Ave. Open Street, which has added open space and served as a critical corridor for safe walking and biking since 2020

• Reconstructing Brooklyn Public Library’s Walt Whitman branch with open space and seating

• Adding a new public plaza with seating at Brooklyn Navy Yard’s redesigned automobile, pedestrian, and cyclist entrance at Flushing Ave. and Cumberland Ave., better connecting the industrial campus with surrounding Brooklyn neighborhoods with improved sightlines for the heavily used Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway.

Across the Fort Greene and Brooklyn Navy Yard area, home to more than 12,000 NYCHA residents, we urge the Administration to advance the following neighborhood priorities:

• Explore the creation of a Fort Greene Improvement District to support parks and open space in BKCB2 east of Flatbush Avenue

• Improve bus speeds and safety along the DeKalb–Lafayette corridor, including adding protected bike lanes as proposed by DOT and advocates

• Enhance connections to and expand capacity of the very popular and heavily used Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway on Flushing Ave., Navy St., and Williamsburg St. West and surrounding parks and open space network. This is a key transportation corridor in the community and it links Fort Greene and Clinton Hill to North Brooklyn (Williamsburg and Greenpoint), DUMBO, Red Hook, and beyond in South Brooklyn.

• Improve the space beneath the BQE adjacent to Commodore Barry Park to increase accessibility and connectivity and address cleanliness concerns

More broadly, we urge the Administration to take the following approaches to parks and public realm investment in Fort Greene, the Brooklyn Navy Yard area, and citywide:

• Prioritize equitable investment in parks and open space in historically underserved communities, including NYCHA campuses

• Improve coordination between NYC Parks, NYC DOT, DCP, and other agencies recognizing that parks, streets, plazas, waterfronts, and greenways function as interconnected civic infrastructure

• Support community-driven planning and explore sustainable funding mechanisms, including improvement districts for parks where appropriate

The Fort Greene–Brooklyn Navy Yard Walk & Talk was part of a broader effort to connect neighborhood-level conditions to citywide policy solutions. Across all communities, the message is consistent: New Yorkers are calling for safe, accessible, and well-maintained public spaces, and they expect leadership to meet that need with real investment.

We look forward to working with your offices to advance these priorities and ensure that every New Yorker, in every neighborhood, has access to the parks and open spaces they deserve.

Sincerely,

Council Member Crystal Hudson

State Senator Jabari Brisport

Assemblymember Phara Souffrant Forrest

Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso

District Leader Shaquana Boykin

New Yorkers for Parks

Fort Greene Park Conservancy

Friends of Commodore Barry Park

Fort Greene Tennis Association

Brooklyn Greenway Initiative

Fort Greene Park Users and Pets Society (PUPS)

Transportation Alternatives

NYC Greenways Coalition