2 Harlem Parks To Be Rehabbed Through Citywide Equity Program

HARLEM, NY — A pair of neglected Harlem playgrounds will be among the first to get redesigned through a newly expanded city program, officials announced last week.

William McCray Playground on West 138th Street near Lenox Avenue and Detective Omar Edwards Park on East 124th Street near Third Avenue are among the 10 parks citywide that will soon be renovated through the Community Parks Initiative.

The initiative, first launched in 2014, rebuilds and redesigns community parks that had been left behind under previous administrations, with a focus on high-density, low-income areas. Last week, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the initiative would get an additional $425 million in funding, enabling it to expand its scope to 10 parks every year.

Officials made the announcement Thursday at the Abraham Lincoln Playground in East Harlem, which itself underwent a $9.3 million renovation through the Community Parks Initiative. That project added a new comfort station, replaced play equipment, renovated basketball courts and added a spray shower, an adult fitness area and new seating.

To date, the program has redesigned 67 parks, of which 62 have already reopened to the public. Once the new expansion is complete in a decade, 167 parks will have been rehabilitated.

"The redesign of Abraham Lincoln Playground is a fantastic improvement to the adjacent Lincoln Houses and the overall Harlem neighborhood," Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer said in a statement. "With so many new play areas and features for children and adults– and the soon-to-be-completed pool– it epitomizes the advancements brought about by the Mayor's Community Parks Initiative."

A Parks Department spokesperson did not say when, exactly, work would begin on the William McCray Playground and Detective Omar Edwards Park, but said the design process would be ongoing during the 2022 Fiscal Year.