Queens pols give $6 mil to Eastern Queens Greenway
/
Councilmembers Sandra Ung and Adrienne Adams announced a $6 million influx to complete parts of the Eastern Queens Greenway. Photo via Ung
By Ryan Schwach
Two Queens electeds are hoping to help complete the Eastern Queens Greenway and connect the borough’s parks with a $6 million allocation announced this week.
Councilmember Sandra Ung and Council Speaker Adrienne Adams announced the allocation with Parks Department officials and locals on Monday in Kissena Park. The funding will go toward completing two sections of the Eastern Queens Greenway, a pathway for pedestrians and cyclists to traverse between a number of parks without having to head back into the street.
The greenway hopes to connect Alley Pond Park with Flushing Meadows, with parts of the path going through Kissena and Cunningham Parks. Once complete, visitors will be able to venture through parks all the way from Corona to the Queens-Long Island border.
“We are fortunate in Eastern Queens to have a number of amazing parks, but in many places they are physically close but disconnected from one another,” said Ung. “This funding will create new connections and improve existing ones to create a continuous and safe path from Flushing Meadows to Alley Pond and beyond.”
Adams said that the parks are pillars of the Queens community, and said the allocation will go toward making them a better and more connected place.
“With the Council's $6 million allocation in the city budget, we have the opportunity to make smart improvements to the Eastern Queens Greenway to connect and expand access to our public parks,” she said. “New Yorkers deserve neighborhood parks and open spaces that are safe and well-maintained, and that’s why the Council will continue to invest in them so they can be preserved for generations to come.”
Of the $6 million in City Council funding, $2.1 million will fund ecological improvements to a path that runs along the wetlands in Kissena Park, which includes natural area restoration and plantings. The other $3.9 million will create a new connection between 164th Street and 170th Street that will link to an existing portion of the greenway between 170th Street and Fresh Meadow Lane that will be reconstructed.
“NYC Parks is working to build Greenways that provide not only new transportation connections, but also access to scenic natural areas, while promoting physical activity for all New Yorkers,” said Parks Queens Borough Commissioner Jackie Langsam.
Once fully complete, the Eastern Queens Greenway will create a connection between Flushing Meadows Corona Park and Alley Pond Park, and improvements to the greenway in Alley Pond Park will create a better connection to the Joe Michaels Mile, which runs along Little Neck Bay to Fort Totten and Little Bay Park in more Northern Queens.
