Massive Renovation Underway for Bay Ridge’s J.J. Carty Park

August 24, 2018 Meaghan McGoldrick

ebrooklyn media/Photo by Meaghan McGoldrick

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A large-scale renovation is in the works for Bay Ridge’s J.J. Carty Park.

The park, located on Fort Hamilton Parkway between 94th and 101st Streets, will undergo a more than $2 million makeover, funded by former Councilmember Vincent Gentile.

The project – which will include the renovation of 11 of the park’s 12 tennis courts, with the other being converted into a garden for the neighboring Fort Hamilton Senior Center – will take approximately one year, according to Councilmember Justin Brannan, Gentile’s successor.

“As our neighborhood has grown, J.J. Carty Park has grown even more popular,” he told this paper. “The renovations to the tennis courts and the improvements to the recreation center used by many seniors are long overdue and the result of grassroots community involvement.”

Some of the 11 courts, he said, will be lined to accommodate not only tennis but also pickleball. The project will also include a repaving of the parking lot for the senior center.

“As a staffer for my predecessor Councilman Gentile, I distinctly recall residents calling for these very renovations – a perfect example of true local government in action,” Brannan said. “I’m very excited to see this day.”

Neighborhood actions have long proved Bay Ridge’s commitment to the park. In 2015, Bay Ridge Cares, a local not-for-profit organization that gathers Ridgeites to help the community, assembled about 30 volunteers—adults and children—to fix up the playground. They picked up garbage, mowed weeds and even painted its famous whale statue blue.

The park is named after John J. Carty, a Bay Ridge native who lived just five blocks away and dedicated himself to New York City government for more than 30 years.