ICYMI: Ditmas Park 'Tot Lot' Getting Nearly $1M In Upgrades

DITMAS PARK, BROOKLYN — A playground in Ditmas Park is getting nearly $1 million in upgrades that will improve fencing, expand the play area, curb draining issues and add greenery to the space.

Emmanuel Thingue, a designer at the Parks Department, presented preliminary plans for the park on Wednesday night to Community Board 14's Community Environment Committee.

The plan calls for a spray shower that kids can play in during the warmer months and improved playground equipment in the middle.

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Some community members at the meeting had concerns about the fencing, which was proposed to be lowered from the current seven feet to about four feet tall. Thingue said the lower fence would give the park a more open-air feel.

But parents were worried the lower fence would lead to increased loitering.

"We don’t want people getting in in the evenings and partying and leaving broken bottles," one board member said.

The design for the fence height will likely be changed before the plans are finalized. Thingue and board members discussed a compromise of possibly five feet tall.

Of the $950,000 in funding for improvements to the Lt. Federico Narvaez Tot Lot, on the corner of Argyle Road and Cortelyou Road, $500,000 come from City Councilman Mathieu Eugene and the rest from Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Assuming there are no hang-ups in the design approval process, construction could start on the park in 2018 with the upgrades open to the public by fall 2019, Thingue said.

The park is named for NYPD Lieutenant Federico Narvaez. Narvaez was shot and killed in 1996 in the vicinity of the playground while protecting a woman from a man she said was stalking her, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, which tracks police deaths.

His daughter, Katrina Narvaez, is also an NYPD officer and currently assigned to the 70th Precinct. She has been with the NYPD since January of 2013.

The Parks Department provided Patch with the presentation given Wednesday night to the community board so we could share them with people who weren't able to make it.

Again, these are preliminary designs:

Image via NYC Parks

Editor's note: This story was originally published on Thursday, April 20