Makeover the Marsha P. Johnson Park!

Public Design Sessions start March 31^st

Stop The Plastic Park social media graphic, flowers added by Greenline.

After the community and the friends and family of Marsha P. Johnson stood up to speak out against lack of green space and real flowers in the original design of the Marsha P. Johnson State Park (formerly the East River State Park), the original plans were shelved. A new design process allowing public input is about to begin. NY State Parks invites the public’s participation to “develop a shared vision for the commemorative design and interpretive elements to celebrate the life of Marsha P. Johnson and the LGBTQ+ movement,” said their press release.

The series of workshops will be held at 90 Kent Avenue or on Zoom. The initial two public listening sessions launch on Wednesday, March 31^st, one at 10 a.m.–1 p.m. and the second at 3 p.m.–7 p.m. This meeting will be virtual and held on zoom. Link here: https://zoom.us/j/95789928808?pwd=aWR6cE92TWxseThscVNrb1B0c25sdz09#success

“Workshops will be broken into hourly segments. Participants do not need to attend the entire workshop, but should join at the top of the hour.”
NY State Parks

For those who can’t make it on a that day, there will be another two public listening sessions on the following Saturday, April 3^rd at 10 a.m.– 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.– 7 p.m, and two more sessions at the same times on Monday April 5. Saturday’s and Monday’s sessions at present are scheduled in person.

The Public Design Review will then follow a few weeks later with a mix of virtual and in-person sessions. The Final Public Review will be held on May 1^st (in-person) and May 3^rd (virtual). For the complete schedule and more information, here is the updated Press Release.

The more people that show up will emphasize the importance of community input in public works that are developed within their community. According to NY State Parks, “Workshops will be broken into hourly segments. Participants do not need to attend the entire workshop, but should join at the top of the hour. Each hour segment will include a brief introduction, followed by small-group break-out sessions, and a wrap-up.” The need for green space in North Brooklyn has been reported on for many years, this is an opportunity to directly convey that need.