A petition from the advocacy group Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park is asking for the turf to be replaced on the field near the Williamsburg waterfront at Kent Avenue between N. 9th and N. 10th Streets this winter in time for use in Spring 2021.
“The playing field at Bushwick Inlet Park, regularly used and enjoyed by many thousands of Brooklynites, has been in terrible disrepair for over two years,” the petition, which currently has over 650 signatures, states. “The situation continues to get worse, and the turf is well past the point where it needs to be replaced.”
FOBIP are requesting that Mayor Bill de Blasio and his Office of Management and Budget release previously earmarked funds for repairs: “We understand that NYC’s financial situation is difficult right now – however we also understand that this turf replacement had previously been budgeted for and scheduled.”
The on-going coronavirus pandemic continues to make NYC’s parks a popular destination, and the field at Bushwick Inlet Park is no exception. In statement sent to Greenpointers, Brooklyn Community Board 1 Environmental Protection chair and FOBIP committee member Steve Chesler emphasized the number of soccer organizations that rely on the field. “Along with a growing coalition of local soccer organizations including GWYSL, FC Select, NYC Footy, Triboro United, Brooklyn City FC, and NY Coed Soccer, we have organized this petition to respectfully ask City Hall to release the necessary funding so that the NYC Parks Dept. can replace the turf this winter, a period of time when the field is least in use.”
Following one of the worst economic crises NYC has faced since the Great Depression, cuts to the Parks and Sanitation departments were made in the city’s $88 billion 2021 budget. “We know there are tough choices to make, but NYC cannot balance its budget on the back of BIP and other NYC Parks,” Chesler said.
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