Hizzoner is on a roll
Announces 4 skate park projects coming soon
Skateboarders doing their daily grind across New York City will soon have four new or upgraded skate parks to refine that trick.
Mayor Adams revealed at his State of the City address Wednesday a plan to partner with skateboard legend Tony Hawk’s organization The Skatepark Project to renovate two existing skate parks and build two new ones.
The $24 million project, a public-private partnership arranged via the city’s Economic Development Corp., will renovate the Bronx Skate Park in Allerton and the Brower Skate Park in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
The money will also fund the creation of two additional parks — one in Mount Prospect Park next to Brooklyn’s central library, and another in Soundview, the Bronx.
“These new parks will be able to host major competitions, they’ll boost tourism and the economy, and, most importantly, they’ll give New Yorkers, particularly our young people, a place to get outside, have fun, and express themselves on four wheels,” Adams said in a statement.
The project will be funded through the city’s capital budget and City Council dollars, a mayoral spokesman told the Daily News. The Skatepark Project will be providing technical and design support.
“Public skate parks reflect the communities around them,” Hawk said in a statement. “At any given time, you will usually find people from a diverse range of backgrounds and varying skill levels convening at their local skate park, sharing tips and supporting each other.”
“New York City is an incredible hub of skate culture [and] has been since the early days, so it’s an honor to partner with local advocates and the city in order to provide more skate facilities for millions of New Yorkers,” he added.
Ya-Ting Liu, the city’s chief public realm officer, told The News she hoped to have the parks open and ready for skaters within two years.
Wednesday’s announcement comes on the heels of last spring’s reopening of “The Arches” — formerly known as the “Brooklyn banks” — a famed skateboarding destination under the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge.
That reopening was also a joint venture with Hawk’s The Skatepark Project.