Mayor Adams, the Prospect Park Alliance, the Department of Environmental Protection, and the Department of Parks & Recreation have announced a $68 million dollar investment in Prospect Park to improve resilience and address flooding. This investment will transform Prospect Park into Brooklyn’s first Bluebelt. Improvements to the park’s landscaping and infrastructure will better facilitate the management of storm water, thus reducing flooding in neighboring communities while protecting the park against extreme weather events.
Improvements will include: 1) upgrading the lake’s drainage infrastructure to accelerate the lowering of water levels, 2) using rain gardens and a new pond to capture West Drive floodwaters, and 3) restoring a pond north of the Prospect Park Zoo to collect rainwater and reduce flooding on Flatbush. These features are the result of a year-long study conducted by the Department of Environmental Protection. The agency’s study found that, during heavy rain events, rainwater often rushes over the ground as opposed to flowing into the park’s 60-acre lake, causing flash flooding. The project complements the Lakeshore Restoration plan, which will reconstruct the shoreline of the lake to improve environmental resiliency and visitor experience.
Read the Press Release from the Office of the Mayor.