The city is giving $30 million to one park in each borough for a major spruce up job.
Mayor Bill de Blasio and Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver announced Thursday that the “anchor parks” would receive improvements like new soccer fields, comfort stations and hiking trails.
The parks, Saint Mary’s Park in the South Bronx, Highbridge Park in Manhattan, Betsy Head Park in Brooklyn, Astoria Park in Queens and Freshkills Park on Staten Island, were chosen because they were in walking distance of 750,000 New Yorkers and have been underserved when it comes to greenspace, according to the mayor.
“New Yorkers deserve to have the greatest parks in the world steps from their homes,” he said in a statement.
The parks department will reach out to the community to see what improvements they’d like to see the most.
“We call these sites anchor parks because they provide a stabilizing, centering force for the communities they serve by offering larger and more diverse resources than smaller community parks,” he said in a statement.
