BROOKLYN, NY\u2014 A strip of asphalt at the southern edge of Columbus Park remains at the center of a dispute between local officials and state court judges who have used the space as a parking lot for decades.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, several residents gathered at a rally hosted by Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and city council member Lincoln Restler. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis parking lot sits on designated parkland, and it’s about time we return this space to the people,\u201d Reynoso wrote in a statement to Patch. \u201cLet\u2019s come to the table, find a solution that addresses your security concerns, and give this land back to the people of Brooklyn.\u201d<\/p>\n
Restler said the goal is to replace long-standing parking use by judges at the nearby Kings County Supreme Court with a redesigned public space.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese judges have been parking on our parkland for decades, and there’s just no defense of it,\u201d Restler told Patch. <\/p>\n
He added that while safety concerns must be addressed, \u201cthat doesn’t mean that they should park in the middle of our park.\u201d<\/p>\n
Officials say judges have used the lot for about 60 years. The site sits adjacent to the court building and near Cadman Plaza and Brooklyn Bridge Boulevard.<\/p>\n
The Office of Court Administration did not respond to Patch’s request for comment. <\/p>\n
If judges do not agree to vacate the lot, the project could face further legal challenges and additional delays. <\/p>\n
The dispute has already included litigation, with judges previously suing city officials over plans to alter the space, citing a 2008 agreement. <\/p>\n
Officials have said the project cannot move forward without resolving access and security concerns tied to the courthouse, leaving the parking lot\u2019s future uncertain if no agreement is reached.<\/p>\n
Restler and Reynoso have advanced a $21 million first phase of a broader $80 million plan to redesign the space. <\/p>\n
The proposal includes a skate park, dog run, playground, lawn, restroom facilities and a pavilion. <\/p>\n
The proposal was developed with the design firm WXY architecture + urban design and landscape architecture firm Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, which worked with local officials on the concept plan for transforming the parking lot into a mixed-use public park. <\/p>\n
The firms contributed early-stage designs that include green space, recreational areas, and public amenities as part of the broader $80 million vision for Columbus Park.<\/p>\n
Restler said the plan would move forward in stages if judges relocate. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe $21 million that we have secured to date would fund the first phase of this project,\u201d he said, adding that a formal design process with the city Parks Department would determine final features.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BROOKLYN, NY\u2014 A strip of asphalt at the southern edge of Columbus Park remains at the center of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252428,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-252427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}