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.

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'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...

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'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.

Additional trees are expected along Avenue B between Seventh and Eighth streets.

Saturday's parting shot

Photo by Jackflashnyc 

Newly assembled Stairway to Heaven on the TF in Tompkins... 

Background.

Monday's parting shot

Photo by Steven 

Redecorating the Steve Jobs Tree in Tompkins Square Park...

Sunday's parting shots

Photos by Stacie Joy

Tabby the Great with her art today in Tompkins Square Park...

A Tompkins Square Park trash can has a warning

Photos by Steven 

An unusual warning appeared early this evening just inside the Seventh Street and Avenue A entrance to Tompkins Square Park. 

Members of the FDNY spray-painted "Look up!" with an arrow on a trash can.

And up? 

A branch looking like, say, an upside-down broccoli floret was dangling from a tree...

The FDNY then taped off the area. 

We're told the Parks Department will need to bring in a cherry picker to remove the wayward-vegetable branch.

Until then: Look up!

Holy Ride meets its maker in Tompkins Square Park

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Written by EVG 

Holy Ride's time among us lasted all of one day. 

On Wednesday, a group of skaters installed the three-ramp creation featuring Jesus on a skateboard at the Tompkins Square Park TF. 

By yesterday, NYC Parks had arrived and told the group that Holy Ride, the heavenly successor to Hell Ride, had to come down. 

But this wasn't quite the end. The skaters repurposed the panels to create a pyramid in the center of the TF. (Jesus was a carpenter, after all.)

Franco The Thirteenth, the artist behind Holy Ride — as well as its predecessor, Hell Ride — was confident about the pyramid's future. 

"Parks can't do anything about the pyramid," he said. "It's here to stay."

Meanwhile, a fundraiser titled "Hell Ride III" continues to help support whatever comes next. 

So Holy Ride may be gone, but apparently there will be a resurrection...

A come-to-Jesus moment on the TF at Tompkins Square Park

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Written by EVG 

Updated: City to Holy Ride: Thou Shalt Not Skate. Holy Ride is gone, but it has been resurrected elsewhere. Read on.

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A month after Hell Ride departed the Tompkins Square Park TF, its successor has arrived from a higher authority. 

Last month, the Hell Ride ramp disappeared from the Tompkins Square Park skateboard area after a relatively brief run. We were told that the Sunday field hockey players had lodged a complaint about the installation. 

At the time, an EVG reader suggested that perhaps the ramp would have been OK without the "Hell." 

And so yesterday, a group of skaters unveiled something bigger: Holy Ride.

The new three-ramp installation features Jesus, arms outstretched, riding a skateboard, flanked by the words "Holy" and "Ride."

Franco The Thirteenth created the artwork and, we're told, was also the artist behind Hell Ride.

The installation on this hot August afternoon required plenty of 2x4s, drill bits, teamwork and some impressive acrobatics as the crew maneuvered the oversized pieces into place.

A local artist even stopped by to sketch the proceedings.

The new addition was already getting plenty of attention — and reviews — before the work was finished. 

"These guys have no respect for Christ," one resident told us. 

Another observer had a different take: He thought Jesus would approve. 

Meanwhile, one woman had a more practical question: Why doesn't Jesus have a neck? 

We don't have an answer for that one. 

By late afternoon, Holy Ride was in place, and skaters were already putting it to use.

How long Holy Ride remains with us is in the hands of a higher power.