Parks Department trying to avoid mowing lawn at new development

The Parks Department is alright with managing the green space in Greenpoint Landing, just as long as this doesn’t include mowing the lawn.

Greenpoint Landing Associates, an affiliate of Park Tower Group and L+M Development Partners, is planning to build a waterfront park spanning 20,000 square feet as part of the massive Greenpoint Landing project. However, the developer wants the city to waive requirements saying the park needs to have grass due to a “parks maintenance constraint,” according to the New York Post.

Attendees at a May community board meeting say this “constraint” is that the Parks Department does not want to mow the lawn.

The approximate boundaries of the park would be the East River and West, Eagle and Huron Streets, and half of the land is supposed to be plants.

The Parks Department said it wants to get rid of the grass because small lawns in parks typically do not hold up well, but community member Steve Chesler told the Post this was not a good reason.

“If they’re gonna pass rezonings that bring in tens of thousands of people to one area, then they must include the proper resources,” he said. “We need green here. It’s a dangerous precedent.”

Greenpoint Landing will span 22 acres and a half mile along Brooklyn’s East River. The site should see up to 5,500 units, and the Park Tower Group and Brookfield Property Partners recently announced that they would bring two more buildings at the project with 1,240 units.  [NYP]  – Eddie Small