$3.5M for NYCHA properties in Brooklyn, Bronx for green space initiatives

November 2, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

Marlboro Houses in southern Brooklyn. Photos courtesy of Google Maps®

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On Wednesday, the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust announced the allocation of $3.2 million over three years to “create and activate” green space connections at NYCHA properties in Brooklyn and The Bronx. The transformation will bring visible changes to over 14,000 NYCHA residents.

The beginning of the design process for the green space revitalizations will start in the summer of 2023 and will be completed in 2024.

“Pathways, playgrounds, and open spaces keep public housing residents invested in the future of their communities,” said Interim NYCHA CEO Lisa Bova-Hiatt.

“The launch of the Green Space Connections program through the support of the Helmsley Charitable Trust and the Fund for Public Housing represents an important step in the vision we had for integrating the power of urban design and public engagement when we first established Connected Communities.”

“Green Space Connections” will engage NYCHA residents in the planning process. Four developments, including Marlboro Houses and Roosevelt Houses in Brooklyn, along with Castle Hill Houses and Patterson Houses in The Bronx, were selected for climate vulnerability and documented high need. The procurement of the green architecture alternates around three different key principles: participatory design, physical transformation and sustainability. Through incorporating the opinions and needs of residents the Helmsley Trust said they can best adapt infrastructure.

The Green Space Initiative piggybacks off Connected Communities pilot, which established the procedural structure of the construction. The Fund for Public Housing and NYCHA Asset & Capital Management Division will oversee engaging residents. More than 177,000 people live at NYCHA’s 335 public housing developments citywide.

“Access to safe, well-maintained green public spaces is a crucial health equity issue,” said
Matthew Clarke, Executive Director of the Design Trust for Public Space.

“The Design Trust is proud to empower NYCHA residents through the Green Space Connections program to design community spaces — by them and for them — that improve quality of life and create more opportunities to make our NYC neighborhoods healthier and happier.”

“NYCHA is committed to securing the public-private partnerships capable of reimagining our
communal spaces as vibrant and appealing amenities that are firmly embedded in their
surrounding communities,” said NYCHA Chief Asset & Capital Management Officer Shaan
Mavani.

“The Green Space Connections program will be a vital tool in our ambitious goal of
modernizing the 2,400 public acres we oversee and enlisting NYCHA residents in that process.”

“I would like to thank the partners that we are working with on this project to improve green spaces at Castle Hill,” said Castle Hill Houses Resident Association President Jeannette Salcedo. “We are looking forward to the project helping residents feel that Castle Hill is their home and not just their dwelling.”