This Harlem Community Has A Park Problem They’re Desperate To Fix

HARLEM, NY — Central Harlem residents have the least access to parks in the entire borough, according to a study from New Yorkers For Parks, but a group of dedicated neighbors is working to change that.

A proposed $16.77 million revitalization of A. Philip Randolph Square, which would transform the crumbling square into a lush, landscaped park, recently had its design approved internally by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.

According to the New Yorkers For Parks study, residents in Community Board 10, which represents a strip of central Harlem, have just 0.3 acres of city parkland per 1,000 residents in the district, making this project especially dire.

This figure is the lowest ratio of any of the 12 districts in the borough, and much lower than the citywide average, which is at 1.8 acres per district.

It's a bigger problem than a lack of leisure space, Adam Ganser, the executive director of New Yorkers for Parks, a nonprofit focused on advocating for green space, told Patch. Parks and trees mitigate flooding and the lethal effects of extreme heat, he said.

Due to a lack of shade and green space, Central Harlem and East Harlem scored a five on the Heat Vulnerability Index — the highest on the meter that measures which New Yorkers are more at risk for dying during and immediately following extreme heat. West Harlem scored a three.

"We're looking at climate mitigation as a critical reason why investment in an expansion of our park system is so important. There really is just a mountain full of evidence on how parks can serve to make the city more livable," Ganser said.

As it stands now, the square, named for a trailblazing labor organizer and Civil Rights activist, has three empty tree pits, damaged concrete sidewalks, drainage problems, and dark, unlit corners, according to a recent report from Parks published on Monday.

The Greenway

However, the redesign of A. Philip Randolph Square is just the beginning, Gregory Christopher Baggett, founder of the A. Philip Randolph Square Neighborhood Alliance, told Patch.

The Alliance is dreaming up a pedestrian corridor that would run along Saint Nicholas Avenue from 111th Street all the way up to 124th Street.

The greenway, as Baggett calls it, would go directly through the existing A. Philip Randolph Square and be fitted with new benches, landscaped grounds, more trees, better lighting, bike lanes, and improved sanitation conditions for the whole stretch.

Baggett, a longtime Harlem resident who began organizing groups of volunteers to care for the square back in 1981, said the greenway will serve more than just a beautification effort.

"It started out as a vision to create a community hub to activate abandoned areas and create economic development at many of the nearby storefronts, but now it's seen as a way of dealing with the neighborhood's designation as a heat island," Baggett told Patch.

The overhaul of the square itself is currently in the design phase and will now go through review by the community board and external regulatory agencies for comment and approval, according to the Parks website.

The design for the project will be completed in April of 2026, Parks estimates.

The plan to install a greenway along a portion of Saint Nicholas Avenue is in the visioning phase, Baggett told Patch.

"It's the perfect example of slightly outside-of-the-box ideas that are coming from neighborhoods themselves, that actually are getting a little bit of attention and even some funding from local representatives," Ganser said of the greenway.

Other Avenues Of Development

The New Yorkers For Parks' other recommendations include converting schoolyards into public parks when school is not in session, planting more trees, and connecting the Harlem River Greenway, which has a gap from 145th Street to 163rd Street.

In the report, advocates also call for transforming and expanding existing parks and green spaces to improve health and livability.

Among these is Jackie Robinson Park, which is one of the few parks actually located within Community Board District 10. The park recently secured funding for a $5,000,000 makeover that would fix the frequent flooding and sinkholes that render the ball fields useless, Patch previously reported.

However, Sheldon Applewhite, the director of the Harlem Pickleball Association, said more needs to be done to make the park comparable to other, better-kept city-owned green spaces.

"The bathroom facilities are in serious disrepair: stalls lack proper doors (or rely on makeshift fixes), urinals are missing, tiles are broken, and the overall upkeep is poor. These conditions are both unsanitary and undignified for a park that serves so many," Applewhite, who uses the park regularly, told Patch.

Now that the funding has been secured, NYC Parks will create plans and a timeline for construction. Patch will continue to track the renovation's progress as it moves through the various stages of capital projects.

The Parks department previously told Patch that the design process for the reconstruction of the park will likely begin in the 2026 fiscal year.

"There's just a tremendous inequity and access to these green spaces in every borough, and the city needs to address this, and that's really one of our primary goals — keeping our foot on the gas," Ganser said.

For questions and tips, email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.