Experts indicate serious risk from Mount Prospect Park skate park
A long line at the entrance to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Skateboarders “hill-bombing” down the Mount Prospect Park ramp could potentially collide with these people. Photo courtesy of Friends of Mount Prospect Park
A long line at the entrance to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Skateboarders “hill-bombing” down the Mount Prospect Park ramp could potentially collide with these people. Photo courtesy of Friends of Mount Prospect Park
Published materials from experts and experienced skateboarders highlight the dangers posed by siting a skate complex on Mount Prospect Park. While it’s safe as a historic park, the site’s physical characteristics are dangerous for crowds of skateboarders. Expert guidance indicates the Mount Prospect Park construction plan is a set-up for harm and liability. Friends of Mount Prospect Park has, to date, received no answers to specific points and questions repeatedly posed about the dangers. Here are a few examples:
Photo showing angle from street level up to Mount Prospect Park courtesy of Friends of Mount Prospect
Sightline problems, foreseeable policing issues
Professional guidelines emphasize the importance of clear sightlines from the street and through the planned skate complex for a healthy site. But these sightlines do not exist in Mount Prospect Park, an elevated park built almost a century ago on top of a historic Brooklyn reservoir.
Some notes from pro design guidelines:
“Skateparks should be located near the street rather than tucked away in the back of a larger park area. Hidden locations attract elements other than skateboarders and can lead to problems the skaters don’t create but may be blamed for.”
Professional skate facility design guidelines warn that there must be “a clear line of sight” through the facility from a nearby street to address issues of “antisocial behavior” and “significant delinquency” (Screenshots from professional manual included below).
A site blocked from view is — as the manual emphasizes in all-caps — “INCORRECT.” Mount Prospect Park is up a hill and screened by trees. The park is, essentially, an elevated green oval surrounded by a ring of trees. The site’s inherent characteristics contradict skate facility best practices for public safety. Skateboard facility designers promote a survey of police they claim to have conducted, concluding the sightline issue is “critical” and that police “cited the location as playing a major role in whether or not they experienced significant delinquency issues.” Physical characteristics of Mount Prospect Park mean that skate construction will foreseeably trigger preventable encounters with law enforcement.
Additionally, numerous respected professional studies show the presence of urban green space correlates to better physical and mental health — including reduced aggression and urban violence.
Screenshots from professional design guidelines courtesy of Friends of Mount Prospect
Screenshots from professional design guidelines courtesy of Friends of Mount Prospect
