Marine Park is finally getting a facelift.
State and city leaders are teaming up to pour $11.1 million into renovations for Marine Park — years after the community was promised funds that never materialized.
“Every single inch of this playground will be redone, starting from scratch starting right now,” said State Sen. Andrew Gounardes.
The freshman state legislator promised $5.6 million for the restoration of the park’s playground, while Councilman Alan Maisel secured another $4.5 million from the City Council to restore the park’s inner oval, and Borough President Eric Adams pledged another $1 million from the city’s fiscal year 2021 capital plan.
The influx of new funding comes after Gounardes’ predecessor, former State Sen. Marty Golden, promised $4 million in funding for repairs in 2018, shortly before losing reelection — but the funding never showed up.
That move sparked accusations from Senate Democrats that Golden — a Republican — had announced the money without first securing the funding as an 11th-hour stunt to win reelection.
“Marty Golden lied to Brooklyn families and took credit for money he did nothing to secure and knew wasn’t coming,” Senate Democratic spokesman Gary Ginsburg told this paper in September.
A spokeswoman for Senate Republicans fired back, saying that the Parks Department had failed to fill out forms authorizing the funds — and chalked up the ordeal to bureaucratic oversight.
Now, Gounardes’ office has promised that all the paperwork is filled out — and the money will be delivered in an expedited manner.
“We have been able to cut through all that red tape in partnership with the mayor’s office to make sure we can start the scoping work now,” said Gounardes. “Not two years from now.”
State funds are typically held for two years before the Parks Department can access them, but the newly earmarked money will be allocated immediately — allowing construction to be completed by 2023, according to Brooklyn Parks Commissioner Marty Maher.
And while the $11.1 million will be enough to facilitate most of the Marine Park renovation, the legislator’s expect to secure even more money once the city budget is finalized.
“By next June, I am confident we will have most of the money that we need to bring this park to the best shape it’s been in many, many, many years,” said Maisel.
The community is invited to the project’s first scoping meeting — which kicks off the design phase — planned for Jan. 22 at the Carmine Carro Community Center.
