On Sept. 30, community members and Brooklynites with Friends of Mount Prospect Park demonstrated against the upcoming plan for “Mount Prospect Park Skate Garden," and in support for the preservation of green space.
The participants handed out toilet paper marked with promises from officials who are advancing the plan from Mayor Eric Adams’ administration to pour concrete in a section of green space for the skating area.
“Will officials show us that their pledges on paper are more useful than a roll of toilet tissue?” Friends of Mount Prospect Park wrote in a press release.
In the preliminary plan for the skate garden, New York City government outlines that there are no skateparks within a 5-10 minute walk from Prospect Park, highlighting that the nearest parks are located in Brower Park, Golconda Park and Washington Park.
The plan describes the skate garden as a "braid," which would weave together quiet and shady parks of the park with more sunny areas, "building upon an existing threat of flowering trees."
Many advocates, however, do not see it that way.
Advocates called on the Mamdani administration to cancel the construction of the facility, arguing that the park will destroy green parkland. Participants passed out temporary tattoos of Mamdani reading "Don't pave the park."
The site would be located towards the northernmost end of Prospect Park, between the Brooklyn Public Library and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
As of now, the government plan anticipates that contractor procurement will occur during the fourth quarter of 2026 and that construction will begin in the first quarter of 2027.
