Short-term deal gives local org more control of Roy Wilkins Park
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An interim deal was reached between officials, the city and the Southern Queens Parks Association that gives SQPA more freedom within Roy Wilkins Park in Southeast Queens. Wikimedia Commons Photo by Tdorante10
By Ryan Schwach
An interim deal has been reached between the Parks Department and a Black led nonprofit at Roy Wilkins Park that will allow the organization more freedom with programming and events within the Southeast Queens open space.
The deal was brokered by local officials and will allow the Southern Queens Park Association, which runs programming in a community center within the park, more flexibility at Roy Wilkins as the group continues to fight for sole control over their actions in the park.
The ongoing negotiation for a sole-concession agreement for SQPA, which once was in charge of the park, has led to public spats between the various parties involved in recent weeks.
"This interim agreement is a critical step forward in ensuring that SQPA remains a cornerstone of Roy Wilkins Park while a long-term solution is worked out," Councilmember Nantasha Williams said in a statement. "SQPA has played an indispensable role in our community for decades, and it is essential that their historic role as stewards of Roy Wilkins Park is preserved.”
Williams, who helped broker the deal along with other officials, said that it is a step in the right direction towards a sole-concession agreement – which would give SQPA the ability to operate more autonomously in the park.
In recent months, SQPA and other local activists have pushed for the organization to have increased independence, which included more latitude to hold programming in the park without needing to go through the Parks Department for permits.
Terms of the interim agreement give SQPA more freedom to hold events and programming in the park, and will allow other Roy Wilkins community groups to organize programming there through SQPA.
Previously, SQPA said they had to request a permit from the Parks Department every time they wanted to take the children who attend their programming outside. Under the agreement, they will be able to request seasonal permits.
“The issue was that I have to go get a permit each time I take the kids outside to play,” said SQPA Executive Director Jermaine Sean-Smith. “This agreement now sets us up where the rules are the same. However, we can put in for seasonal permits.”
“[Now] I can take my kids outside to play unlimited amounts of times for the summertime,” he added.
Additionally, the agreement says that SQPA can now get capital funding to make infrastructure improvements to their indoor community center spaces which have struggled with A/C issues, leaks and heating problems.
Williams and Sean-Smith agreed that the interim agreement comes out of an increased push from the community.
“It was really the community getting behind this, understanding what the issue was, and leading us to the place where I believe the Parks Department was activated to get this across the finish line,” Sean-Smith said.
Williams has been involved in the negotiations with the Parks Department and Borough President Donovan Richards on the sole-concession agreement, and said the interim deal was a change in posture for the Parks Department, who has been hesitant to concede authority.
“I'm very thankful, and I appreciate the Parks Department sort of switching gears a bit to try to meet SQPA where they are,” she said.
“We are definitely getting more than I think was previously discussed,” she added.
The interim deal will need to be approved by the city Law Department before it officially goes into effect.
“We have been diligently working with local stakeholders to ensure Roy Wilkins Park continues to thrive as an accessible and welcoming space for the whole community,” the Parks Department said in a statement.
Richards also supported the interim agreement.
“Southeast Queens residents deserve high-quality programming and services in their high-quality park,” he said in a statement. “That’s exactly what we’ve been fighting for at Roy Wilkins Park and I’m encouraged by this interim deal between the Parks Department and Southern Queens Parks Association…I look forward to seeing a final, permanent deal.”
The ongoing negotiations surrounding Roy Wilkins have been contentious, with the various parties in deep disagreement as to what should happen at the park, and even who is to blame for the issues inside the decades-old community center.
A public forum in early February included shouting matches between Richards and community activist James Johnson, the son-in-law of Queens Democratic Party boss Greg Meeks.
“There's a lot of things they were saying that kind of triggered me,” Johnson, who holds an advisory role at SQPA, told the Eagle after the meeting. “As a community member, we've been on the fight…and just trying to act like the community doesn't matter, that's the problem, and that kind of insults our intelligence.”
Though the group previously ran the park, it lost control over Roy Wilkens after several of its employees were convicted of corruption and embezzlement.
The negotiations between the groups are still only about “half-way” there, according to Williams, with several details still to be hammered out, including whether or not SQPA will have a place in the planned $140 million new community center coming to Roy Wilkins.
Parks officials say they intend to include SQPA in that building, but nothing is official.
