$21 Million NYC Park Overhaul Stalled Over Judicial Parking, Officials Say

Brooklyn officials secured $21 million to remake Columbus Park into a larger public green space covering nearly eight acres from Joralemon Street to Tillary Street. The plan includes playgrounds, a skate park, and lawns. A decades-old dispute centers on an asphalt judges’ parking lot beside Brooklyn Borough Hall near Joralemon and Adams streets. The site is zoned as parkland, but judges have refused to move their cars. City maps from the 1940s identify the area as part of Columbus Park, and in 1959 the city allowed judges to park there after complaints about courthouse parking. Officials say they offered multiple nearby alternatives, including indoor garages, outdoor lots, and valet-style arrangements, but judges declined. A rally is planned to advocate for the overhaul amid increased pressure on limited green space from Downtown Brooklyn’s residential growth.

"Brooklyn officials have secured $21 million to remake Columbus Park into a larger public green space with playgrounds, a skate park and lawns, but council members say a decades-old fight over a judges' parking lot threatens to stall the project. The asphalt lot beside Brooklyn Borough Hall, near Joralemon and Adams streets, serves judges assigned to the neighboring courthouse."

""It's zoned as parkland, and the judges have refused to move their cars," Council Member Lincoln Restler said. "We could turn this space into a great lawn, into a dog run, into a skatepark, a pavilion," Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso said in a video on social media. "It's up to you.""

"New York City maps from the 1940s identify the site as part of Columbus Park. In 1959, the city allowed judges to park there after complaints that the courthouse lacked adequate parking. Since then, elected officials and neighborhood advocates have repeatedly tried to reclaim the land as park space. The latest push gained momentum after Downtown Brooklyn's residential boom intensified pressure on limited green space."

"Officials said they offered judges several nearby alternatives, including indoor garages, outdoor lots and valet-style arrangements. "We've offered [judges] multiple alternative locations in immediate proximity to their courthouse - spaces indoors, spaces outdoors, spaces with valet parking and extra security," Restler said. "They've said 'no' to everything.""

Read at Brooklyn, NY Patch