Ruppert Park's $8.8M Redesign Finally Has A Timeline

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Ruppert Park, the much-loved but awkwardly laid-out green space in the heart of Yorkville at East 90th Street and Second Avenue, finally has a timeline for its complete renovation, which was delayed by around two years.

The $8,894,000 renovation of the park is expected to start this summer and go until summer 2027, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation officials said at a Community Board 8 meeting on Thursday night.

"This project is a long time coming, and truthfully, it's been delayed," Eric Boorstyn, the Deputy Commissioner for Capital Projects, said during the meeting. "But, I'm very pleased to say that we've overcome the major scheduling impediment that we faced in delivering this project."

The design process for the renovation started in October 2021 and was meant to last until October 2022, but the design wasn’t finalized until June 2023, according to the department's Capital Plan Tracker.

Then, the procurement phase — the process of hiring contractors — started in June 2023, and was supposed to be finalized by June 2024, but now it’s projected to be finalized in May 2026.

Part of the delay was due to regulatory approvals, Parks department officials said.

The park occupies the former site of the Jacob Ruppert & Company brewery, which closed in 1965 and was replaced by the Ruppert Towers apartment complex, as well as the park, which opened in 1979. Ruppert Park remains one of the few reminders of Yorkville’s roots as a German immigrant enclave.

Once the park's renovation is complete, the city will build a $4,500,000 public restroom in the southeast corner of the park, starting in the fall of 2027 and ending in the spring of 2029.

As it stands now, the park’s four-leaf-clover layout splits the space into four distinct sections, one of which is a grass-free stretch that has since been converted into an unofficial dog run.

Elsewhere, the park faces a range of challenges, including overgrown plantings that limit sunlight and draw insects, too few places to sit, persistent rat activity, aging playground equipment, and uneven terrain that makes parts of the park difficult to access.

"This park is a strange one for so many reasons, the slope, the way that it was designed, the lack of accessibility, the very, very mature trees, the fact that we have many different use groups using this park all at the same time, and the fact that we're in a district that just does not have enough park space, all make the stakes really high and just make a very complex situation," Tricia Shiamura, the Manhattan Borough Commissioner for NYC Parks and Recreation, said.

The upcoming renovation will add several new playground structures, nine swings and several water features for children ages 6 months through 12 years, as well as a revamped seating area and a dog park with top-of-the-line turf.

The park will also have a dedicated passive lawn and new landscaping that includes rat-deterring plants like Catmint, which is a grassy green-grey foliage with spikes of purple flowers.

As part of the renovation, the park’s steep hill will be regraded into a gentler slope to improve accessibility and meet requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act, Boorstyn said. The playground equipment will have accessible ground-level elements for kids with disabilities as well.

"We had some overarching goals," Alex Zervos, the project manager for the park renovation, said. "We wanted to enhance the playground for the children coming here. We wanted to also improve accessibility to the park."

The gentler slope, as well as pavement with better drainage, will help mitigate flooding in the park once the construction is complete, Boorstyn added.

Though the design for the park has been completed, several Upper East Siders at the meeting asked the Parks officials to reconsider lowering the height of the fences surrounding the park.

The new renovation is designed to include fences around 4 feet tall, replacing the taller fences currently surrounding the park. Parks officials at the Thursday night meeting said they'd look into it.

Previous coverage:

• Ruppert Park's Latest Redesign Adds Dog Run, Pleasing UES Board
• Design Unveiled For Upper East Side's New Ruppert Park: See It
• Upper East Side's Ruppert Park To Get Major Renovation
• Ruppert Park's Big Renovation On UES Gets $8.9M Boost

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