Extreme Makeover Planned for J.J. Byrne Park

While Slopers wait for the Boymelbucks revamp of Terrapin Playground (the section of J.J. Byrne Park behind the Novo) to come to fruition, much bigger plans are on the drawing board for the entire park. Councilmembers David Yassky and Bill de Blasio and the Borough President’s office have scared up millions in funding to transform a large chunk of the western section of J.J. Byrne into a wide-open synthetic field, according to Kim Maier, the executive director of the Old Stone House. “The area is now covered in asphalt, and it’ll be a significant community asset in terms of open space,” says Maier. A groundbreaking for the Parks Dept.-helmed project is scheduled to occur in May, and it’s supposed to be timed to coincide with a ribbon cutting for the new Terrapin Playground, according to Maier. That part of the park will have eight new handball courts, a new dog run, two new basketball courts, and a walking oval with four low skateboarding ramps. At the same time, community listening sessions are now being held to discuss the future of the eastern side of the park, which stretches from 5th Avenue to the Old Stone House. Maier says that nascent ideas for that section revolve around making it a more useful public space. At present it’s heavily used by parents, kids, and middle schoolers. Finally, as the Brooklyn Paper reported last week, there’s a strong push right now to rename J.J. Byrne “Washington Park,” its original moniker. GMAP