Hallets Cove Playground to Get $2.2 Million Makeover

NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver, FAICP, Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, City Council Member Costa Constantinides, Community Board 1 District Manager Florence Koulouris, Astoria Houses Tenants Association President Claudia Coger and community members broke ground on the new Hallets Cove Playground today. (NYC Parks Department)

Sept. 6, 2019 By Allie Griffin

The Parks Department broke ground on the reconstruction project of Astoria’s Hallets Cove Playground Thursday — a $2.2 million makeover to better serve the community’s children. 

The playground is nearby NYCHA’s Astoria Houses and will be undergoing a total redesign with an expected completion date of winter 2020, according to the Parks Department. 

The redesign will add new play equipment and safety surfacing, water spray features, site furnishings, planting beds, fencing, pavements and seating areas. New entryways and an ADA ramp will welcome visitors and children into the playground, while additional seating areas will give community members a waterfront view of Manhattan’s skyline. 

“I am so excited to see work begin on a new Hallets Cove Playground,” Council Member Costa Constantinides said at the groundbreaking ceremony. “Renovations will reflect the needs of a community long overdue for new, constructive park space.”

The playground was funded by $673,000 from Mayor Bill de Blasio, $210,000 from the City Council and $1.3 million from Borough President Melinda Katz.

The project is one of several currently underway to improve Hallets Cove Park. Other projects include a reconstruction of the asphalt multipurpose sports field, with new adult fitness equipment, asphalt pavement, color seal coating, benches and plantings and repairs and partial reconstruction of the park’s concrete seawall. 

“The reimagined Hallets Cove Playground, with its breathtaking waterfront views, will be a valuable public space for decades to come and help make Hallets Cove a great place to live and raise a family,” Queens Borough President Katz said.