Borough President Richards celebrates allocation of nearly $17 million to Queens parks and libraries in FY2023

The 2023 fiscal budget year ended last month and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards on Wednesday, July 12, outlined how he allocated nearly $17 million in funding for Queens parks and the Queens Public Library system.

Richards, who has been in office since December 2020, apportioned $10 million for upgrades to be carried out at 11 different parks across the borough. Some of the funding included $1.5 million to renovate the turf field at Idlewild Park in Rosedale, $1.5 million for playground renovations at Lawrence Virgilio Playground in Sunnyside and $1 million to revamp the playground at St. Michael’s Playground in Woodside.

The borough president apportioned more than $6.9 million for upgrades at 12 Queens Public Library branches in last year’s budget. The allocations include expansion projects at Rosedale Library, Arverne Library and the Corona branch.

“It was a historic year for Queens, as we made unprecedented investments in ensuring our students receive the best education possible, our families have high-quality open space in their communities, our hospitals have state-of-the-art equipment and more,” Richards said in a statement. “Queens is the future of New York City, and I’m deeply proud of the work we are doing together as one borough to make that future as bright as possible. We’re just getting started, though, and I look forward to that work continuing in Fiscal Year 2024 and beyond.”

In terms of parks funding, some of Richards’ other major allocations included $1 million to improve the playground at Equity Park in Woodhaven, $1 million to revamp the playground at Frank O’Connor Playground in Elmhurst, and $1 million to upgrade the athletic field at Leonardo Ingravallo Playground in Flushing.

Meanwhile, notable allocations to the Queens Public Library branches included $1 million to overhaul the South Ozone Park branch and $750,000 to refurbish the Richmond Hill branch. Baisley Park and Hollis branches were each awarded $500,000 for upgrades while the Astoria branch was allocated $500,000 for upgrades to its HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) system. The Laurelton branch was allotted $366,000 for renovations too.

Richards also said that he allocated $100,000 to support a tree crowdsourcing campaign, which resulted in the planting of around 30 trees in Community Districts 3, 9 and 12.

He also touted his support for making improvements to a community garden called “Project Eden” in Forest Hills. Richards said he advocated for the upgrades via the Parks Department’s “GreenThumb” urban gardening program which helps thousands of volunteer gardeners throughout New York City.

The borough president said he has allocated more than $127 million in capital funding to projects in Queens during his administration. He has allotted more than $22 million for schools, nearly $20 million for cultural organizations, nearly $19 million for healthcare facilities, more than $16 million for both parks and libraries, $10 million for Queens’ CUNY colleges, $9 million for community spaces and nearly $6 million for streetscape and street safety improvements.

Richards said an announcement on Fiscal Year 2024 allocations will be made in the coming weeks.