Will you help to buy a park for Jackson Heights?
Thanks to everyone who came out last night for the Emergency Community Meeting about the Garden School athletic field. Despite the snow, 150+ people showed up to hear more about the situation and brainstorm ideas for a solution.
Following is a summary of the situation:
- Council Member Daniel Dromm has secured $5 million in capital funds for the City Parks Department to purchase the Garden School athletic field and turn it into an extension of Travers Park.
- While the Garden School would prefer to sell the lot to the city, their Board of Directors has voted to sell to a developer to address their immediate cash flow needs of $500,000 in the next few months. The money from the developer would be available more quickly than the money from the City because the City must go through ULURP (Uniform Land Use Review Procedure). This is the process that allows for public review and environmental study of any purchase of land by the City. ULURP typically takes 12-18 months to complete. The money can not be released until ULURP is completed.
- We want the Garden School to accept the city’s offer, so the attendees at the meeting have proposed that the community lend the money to the Garden School to address their immediate cash flow needs. This would basically be an interest-free loan to be repaid in the next 12-18 months, upon completion of the city’s land use review process. Once the Garden School receives the money from the city, the money will immediately be repaid.
We at the Jackson Heights Green Alliance are reaching out to the community to ask if you would pledge money to this cause. For amounts of $500 and above, this would be a LOAN to be repaid by the Garden School within two years when the purchase by the City is completed. Amounts under $500 would be a donation and would be reserved for Parks-related improvements.
We are in the process of working with an attorney to draft a contract that will establish the terms of the loans from Jackson Heights residents to the Garden School.
If you are willing to help save one of the last remaining open spaces in the neighborhood for the expansion of Travers Park, please email me at [email protected] with your name, email, phone, and the amount you’d be willing to pledge. Once we have worked out the details of where the money will be held we will then request you to honor your pledge.
Let’s do everything we can to preserve the open space we so desperately need!
Get Involved,
Dudley Stewart
Jackson Heights Green Alliance