Playground upgrades, housing progress and school proposals

Families can comment before the December 16 vote; none of the three plans is a final decision.

Two small public campuses would close after the 2026-2027 school year under new city plans: SEED Harlem and the Urban Assembly School for Global Commerce. The latter is at 2005 Madison Avenue.

A separate proposal would relocate the Center School from West 84th Street to the P.S. 165 campus on West 109th Street. The move is intended to address crowding in its current building.

The Panel for Educational Policy is scheduled to consider these proposals on December 16. Oral and written comments are being accepted through December 15 at 6 p.m.

The finished work is part of a $2.89 million investment spanning five Brooklyn parks.

Three renovated courts are ready for games at the playground bordered by Fulton Street, Saratoga Avenue and Herkimer Street.

Players have repaved courts, new backboards and nets, and a gray, black and seafoam green finish. Benches, a water fountain and replacement fence mesh round out the work.

The Joe and Clara Tsai Foundation’s Social Justice Fund is supporting 13 court upgrades through the city’s Adopt-A-Park program. The five-park effort also includes Jackie Robinson Playground, Breukelen Ballfields, Fox Playground and Sunset Park.

Early 2027 remains the projected completion period for this phase of the former hospital campus.

Exterior work continues on the 18-story affordable apartment building at 89 Maspeth Avenue in East Williamsburg. The structure has reached its full height and its windows are installed.

The building is planned to contain 311 apartments, from studios to three-bedroom homes. St. Nicks Alliance and Hudson Companies are developing this part of the former Greenpoint Hospital site.

The new tower is one stage of the wider Kingsland Commons redevelopment. Its projected early-2027 finish concerns this building rather than completion of the entire campus.

Swings, sensory equipment and a scooter path give Morris Heights families more ways to use the space.

A $7 million reconstruction in Morris Heights has made every play feature and pathway at Galileo Playground accessible. The renewed space was celebrated on October 30.

Children have separate areas for younger and older age groups, along with new swings and sensory play equipment. A spray shower and drinking fountain are among the additions.

The project also created a turf gathering area, seating for performances and a path designed for scooters. New trees and planting add greenery around the play spaces.

Gas wells, groundwater checks and treatment systems remain part of the former landfill’s daily care.

Sanitation crews continue managing the closed Fresh Kills landfill as the surrounding park takes shape. The site has more than 572 gas-collection wells and 238 wells for monitoring groundwater.

Crews mow the grassy mounds each fall so wellheads remain visible for monthly checks. Treatment of liquid draining through the buried waste also continues.

Freshkills Park is opening in phases while that engineering work carries on. The current maintenance picture explains how a green landscape can still require extensive systems below the surface.

A drivers’ union supports the idea, while a rider advocate questions the location and the MTA defends current service.

Staten Island officials want the MTA to examine a fourth bus-storage and maintenance facility on the grounds of Freshkills Park. Borough President Vito Fossella led the November 2 call to explore the site.

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 726 supports the proposal. Express-bus rider advocate Filippa Grisafi agrees that another depot is needed but questions whether the former landfill is a suitable location.

The discussion follows the closure of the temporary Meredith Avenue depot in January 2025. The MTA says that change has not hurt service and that Staten Island buses have become more frequent and reliable.