EV Grieve: Tompkins Square Park

Showing posts with label Tompkins Square Park. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 27, 2026

It's close to midnight somewhere: A 'Thriller' rehearsal in Tompkins Square Park

Photos by Stacie Joy

The 53rd annual Village Halloween Parade takes place this Saturday.

Ahead of the festivities, we spotted a group of dancers in Tompkins Square Park on Sunday rehearsing the choreography from Michael Jackson's "Thriller" to prepare for the parade...

They had the moves down, though the version of "Thriller" playing during their rehearsal wasn't actually Michael Jackson's recording...

Halloween parade Thriller practice at Tompkins Square Park to non-Michael Jackson music https://t.co/2I79uOiC70
— Stacie Joy (@Joy_of_photos) October 26, 2026

Different version, same killer moves...

Sunday, October 25, 2026

Weekend's parting shot

Photo by Stacie Joy

Spellbound in Tompkins...

Today in Tompkins Square Park: A meetup to support the bars and courts

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

The Save Tompkins Square Park Fitness organizers (from left):

Melody Knight-Brown, Jahmal Kirwan, Thea Rae and Rob Hollander.

A two-day community meetup supporting the future of the bars and courts in Tompkins Square Park continues today (Sunday) from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Organized by Save Tompkins Square Park, the gathering invites people of all ages and abilities to stop by, work out, play basketball, dance or simply meet others who use the recreation area.

The event comes ahead of an important vote on the park's proposed $9.93 million renovation. As we reported last week, Community Board 3's Parks, Recreation, Waterfront, & Resiliency Committee voted on Oct. 15 to recommend the most extensive of three renovation options presented by the Parks Department.

The proposal calls for replacing the existing mini-pool with a new in-ground pool, renovating the basketball courts, replacing the fitness equipment and resurfacing the recreation area. Construction is expected to take approximately 18 months.

While Parks officials say they've revised the plans to address concerns about the replacement fitness equipment, some longtime users continue to push for repairs rather than a wholesale reconstruction.

They're also concerned about losing access to the popular recreation area during construction. The committee's recommendation is not final.

The full Community Board 3 will consider the proposal on Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 6:30 p.m. at P.S. 20, 166 Essex St. The meeting is open to the public, with a Zoom option available. Residents who wish to speak during the public session can register online by 3 p.m. Tuesday or sign up in person between 6 and 6:30 p.m. Speakers are limited to two minutes each, with four speakers permitted on each side of an issue, per CB3 officials.

Organizers of today's gathering encourage residents to attend and share their views.

Friday, October 23, 2026

Repairs planned for Tompkins Square Park's pothole-filled paths

Residents concerned about the deteriorating, pothole-filled walkways in Tompkins Square Park may finally see some improvements.

During Community Board 3's Parks, Recreation, Waterfront & Resiliency Committee meeting last Thursday evening (Oct. 15), Steve Simon, chief of staff for the Manhattan borough office of the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, said funding is available for several pathway projects.

Simon said money secured through Councilmember Harvey Epstein will support repairs to the park's paths, with work likely beginning on the west side. He also confirmed that funding is already in the budget to redo the Ninth Street transverse, the east-west pathway through the park.

The project had been planned several years ago but was postponed while the Parks Department prioritized construction of the new field house, completed in April 2025.

Simon also mentioned plans to install synthetic turf in the park's large dog run.

No exact timeline was provided for the pathway improvements or the dog run project.

A slide provided during the meeting shows the paths "completed by 2028"... and the dog run next year.

Wednesday, October 21, 2026

CB3 committee backs major overhaul of Tompkins Square Park recreation area

Photos by Stacie Joy

Community Board 3's Parks, Recreation, Waterfront, & Resiliency Committee voted Thursday evening to support the most extensive of three proposals to renovate the recreation area in Tompkins Square Park.

The committee backed Option 1, which calls for a new in-ground pool to replace the current mini-pool, renovated basketball courts, replacement of the existing fitness equipment, and a resurfaced recreation area.

The committee also requested that the existing half basketball court near the fitness area along Avenue B be preserved.

The overall project has a $9.93 million budget, including $6.1 million from Gov. Kathy Hochul's NY SWIMS grant program and $3.83 million in city funding. (The new pool funding was announced in August 2024.)

Construction for Option 1 is expected to take approximately 18 months. The second option had a two-year timeline with a phased-in work approach. The third option was to leave the current fitness area as is.

The Oct. 15 vote followed Parks' presentation of three renovation options and a public discussion dominated by concerns from members of the park's calisthenics community.

Longtime users have pushed to preserve the decades-old pull-up bars, parallel bars, and other fitness equipment, questioning whether replacements would offer the same functionality and durability. (Read more about that here.)

Parks officials said they have adjusted the plans in response to those concerns. The department plans to use a 3D scan of the existing fitness area to help recreate its layout. The revised design would also include more pull-up and parallel bars than originally proposed, along with equipment intended to meet accessibility standards. Those changes have not resolved all the objections.

The committee's vote is a recommendation, not a final decision. The proposal now goes before the full Community Board 3 on Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 6:30 p.m. at P.S. 20, 166 Essex St.

Meanwhile, opposition continues ahead of the full board vote. Flyers went up around the park this week objecting to the proposed changes ...

Flyers posted around Tompkins Square Park this week direct residents to a new website, Save Tompkins Square Park, organized by park users and neighbors.

Under the heading "Repair, don't demolish," the group argues that the existing fitness equipment and basketball courts should be repaired rather than replaced. The organizers support upgrading the pool, improving accessibility and repairing the courts and fitness-area surfaces, but oppose a lengthy closure of the entire recreation area.

The website also raises concerns about the proposed changes to a shaded courtyard used by delivery workers and questions whether the planned reconstruction is necessary.

Organizers are urging residents to contact elected officials, sign a petition that they say has more than 2,600 signatures and attend the Oct. 27 full CB3 meeting.

The group asks the board to reject all three renovation options and have Parks develop a less disruptive plan that emphasizes repairs and maintenance.

Wednesday, October 14, 2026

Parks to present 3 options for Tompkins Square recreation area

Photos from this summer by Stacie Joy

The Parks Department will present three options for the reconstruction of the Tompkins Square Park mini-pool, basketball courts and fitness area at a Community Board 3 committee meeting tom orrow evening (Oct. 15).

The presentation marks the next step in a project that has prompted concerns among some park users, particularly those who want the existing fitness equipment preserved.

As previously reported, a petition asking the Parks Department to remove the fitness area from the reconstruction plans had collected more than 2,600 signatures.

Supporters say the outdoor workout area, near 10th Street and Avenue B, serves a diverse community of regulars who use the equipment year-round. Several told EVG's Stacie Joy this past summer that they worry replacement equipment won't meet their needs.

The larger reconstruction project calls for replacing the existing above-ground mini-pool with a new in-ground pool that would double its capacity, along with improvements to the basketball courts and fitness area.

Thursday's presentation should offer a clearer picture of what Parks has in mind for the three spaces. The options have not been made public yet.

The Parks, Recreation, Waterfront & Resiliency Committee meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. at the BRC Senior Services Center, 30 Delancey St. between Chrystie and Forsyth streets. The meeting is open to the public, with a Zoom option.

Previously on EV Grieve:

• Petition to preserve Tompkins Square Park fitness area tops 2,000 signatures

• Plans unveiled for reconstruction project at the Tompkins Square Park mini-pool, basketball courts and fitness area

Saturday, October 10, 2026

Saturday's opening shots

From Tompkins Square Park, some new plants and flowers to keep the Hare Krishna tree company... part of the ongoing greening effort around TSP.

Also today, the Lower East Side Ecology Center is giving away free mulch... until 1 p.m. ...

And there's a pleasant fall day ahead (before tomorrow's rain)... FREE neighborhood events today include the East Village Music Festival at La Plaza Cultural .... and the Fall Garden Party from "noon to moon" at El Sol Brillante, 522 E. 12th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B...

Saturday, October 3, 2026

Tompkins Square Park officially has a mini forest

Photos by Stacie Joy

The new mini forest in Tompkins Square Park is now in the ground... along Seventh Street between Avenue A and B, as reported yesterday.

The planting comes just in time for today's fifth annual City of Forest Day, a citywide celebration of New York's urban forest organized by Forest for All NYC in partnership with Parks and Open Space Partners NYC and the city's Parks Department.

Nearly 150 events are taking place across the five boroughs today, with New Yorkers participating in tree care, bulb planting, guided walks, volunteer projects and other activities focused on the city's trees and green spaces.

The event also follows the release earlier this year of New York City's first Urban Forest Plan, a long-term roadmap for managing and expanding a network that includes more than 7 million trees.

As we noted, the Tompkins Square Park mini forest is part of a larger round of plantings in the park that also includes new trees and a rain garden.

Friday, October 2, 2026

Friday's parting shot

Photo by Stacie Joy

A Halloween (movie) motif on the TF in Tompkins Square Park... "The night he came home... to shred"?

New trees, a rain garden and a mini-forest taking root in Tompkins Square Park

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

Tree-mendous news out of Tompkins Square Park.

A burst of planting activity continues in the park, with more to come over the next few weeks.

According to Parks employees, 10 new trees were planted Wednesday alone around Tompkins, with many more expected before the work wraps up later on October.

Crews and volunteers also planted a new rain garden near the dog run, filling the area with native plants.

Elsewhere in Tompkins, a mini-forest is coming to the Seventh Street side between Avenue A and Avenue B.

The work also includes improvements to sidewalk tree pits and planting beds, with old stones being removed, beds refilled and new stones installed. Crews are also performing tree maintenance.