A $17 Million Glow-Up For Flushing Meadows Corona Park

Flushing Meadows Corona Park is the largest park in Queens, home to the Unisphere, soccer fields, two lakes, two museums, a theater, and a zoo. 

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards thinks the borough’s crown jewel needs some extra shine.

On Thursday, he’s set to announce increased funding for the park, including a more than $17 million overhaul of a historic playground. He’s also announcing the launch of a task force to keep a closer eye on the private entities that utilize the park. 

“I’m putting my money where my mouth is,” he told The City Reporter this week about the new initiatives. 

The Playground for All Children, near 111th Street in Corona, opened in 1984 as the first in the country for children with different physical abilities. It was designed with consideration to children who use crutches, walkers, and wheelchairs, along with signs in Braille, and safety surfaces around equipment.

Richards’ investment will help fund a “complete reconstruction designed to honor its original vision while ensuring full accessibility for children of all abilities,” a Parks official said. 

“There’s one way to know how a society functions is the way you treat your elders, the way you treat your children,” the borough president said. “We want to make sure that all children feel seen, that there are parks worthy of them.”

The Flushing Meadows Task Force includes groups like Governors Ball, which hosts an annual festival at the park, along with the United States Tennis Association, the Mets, cultural institutions like the Queens Museum and the New York Hall of Science, and city agencies. 

The park already has a conservancy, the Alliance for Flushing Meadows Corona Park, which launched in 2016 as part of a deal to expand the site of the U.S. Open. The task force is seen as a temporary group to help fix some of the major issues in the park through better coordination. 

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“A big part of what we grapple with day to day is our plumbing system and our roadway network,” Anthony Sama, the executive director of the Alliance, told The City Reporter.

Most of the park’s plumbing hasn’t been updated since the 1964-1965 World’s Fair — and some not even since the 1939 World’s Fair, he said. This means daily leaks at a park visited by more than 9 million people a year. 

“We’re putting Band Aids on much larger issues here because what we really need are expertise from the Department of Environmental Protection or major investment,” Sama said.

The task force will also ensure all of the private entities that use Flushing Meadows are properly giving back to the park. 

“We’re trying to figure out the ways we could best partner with these organizations,” Sama said. 

A spokesperson for the Parks Department, Judd Faulkner, said the agency has invested more than $120 million into the park, including $56 million to rebuild the iconic New York State Pavillion observation towers and $41 million for a tide gate bridge reconstruction, which helps control the flow from Flushing Creek. 

More than $10 million has been spent on electrical vault reconstruction, fixing infrastructure damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and elevating equipment to protect from future floods. 

“NYC Parks remains steadfastly dedicated to preserving and enhancing this treasured landscape, recognizing it as one of our most beloved and heavily utilized parks that deserves our unwavering commitment to excellence in stewardship and care,” Faulkner said in a statement.  

The Alliance receives the bulk of its money from the USTA, which takes over a large part of the park — all but closing it — from late August through September. 

The tennis association pays $200,000 annually to the conservancy, which along with an annual fundraiser, amounts for two-thirds of its annual revenue, which was just under $700,000 last fiscal year, Sama said. 

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Last summer, the Center for an Urban Future released a report with 20 ideas of how to fix the park, from long-term capital funding to reducing the amount of land covered by asphalt. 

The report suggested new ways for the park to directly financially benefit from the many private events that happen there. At the moment, only the conservancy can accept donations on behalf of Flushing Meadows Corona Park.

The Governors Ball donates money from each ticket sale to the alliance, but voluntarily; their permit fee goes right to the city’s general fund. The park also doesn’t get any direct money from the ground leases for the USTA, which also go into the general fund.

And the park won’t directly benefit from the planned casino next to Citi Field, which was legally parkland before special legislation allowed for construction. Although the development has agreed to give money back into the community, it won’t directly fund the park. Instead, the casino has agreed to dole out $5 million a year through grants to various local applicants.

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