Preserving Duane Park for another 225 years . . . Duane Park was created in 1797 when Trinity Church sold the land to the city and set the space aside specifically for park use. To mark its 225thanniversary, the Friends of Duane Park launched this project to restore the park to its original historic footprint.
We commissioned a survey of what lies beneath Duane Street – and there is quite a lot!
There is a gas line running along the south edge of the park that will be a new cost consideration for the restoration plans.
While we discuss the implications with the City, we are inviting our neighbors to join a new focus group to review the plans as they develop.
Friends of Duane Park is suggesting that the city agencies restore the 26% of parkland shaved off of the park in the 1940’s and 50’s to make way for the trucks then operating on the street. Returning this historic space to the park will permit FDP to restore the sidewalk on the park’s southern perimeter, as well as the trees and plantings that stood at the western apex. Restoring Duane Park is beneficial for the neighborhood, climate change, and preserves this tiny and mighty piece of New York history.
Luckily, we have an ace landscape architect on the block! Signe Nielsen created drawings of what our restoration project would look like. A few of the restoration guiding principles are: to restore Duane Park’s historic footprint, reduce the heat-island effect, and retain the quiet and restful character of our neighborhood, while improving the air quality.
Click here to download the FDP restoration presentation PDF.
Duane Park neighbors enthusiastically support the project so far and we continue to seek input from the community.
Community Board 1 passed a resolution in favor of the project. NYC Parks Department and DOT (Department of Transportation) conceptually support the project, but we have more work to do before we can get the green light from these agencies.
Take our poll and stay informed by signing up for the Restoration Project Newsletter. You can attend Community Board 1 meetings, follow us on social, and watch this page to find out more as it happens.
