What's happening
With US$6 million from New York State earmarked for the mini pool and another US$4 million from the city, NYC Parks has money to spend. So it wants to tear down the basketball courts, the calisthenics park and the shaded courtyard, and close them for two years.
Nobody asked for this. On the contrary, the community has been consistent, loud and clear. Repair and improve. Do not demolish and replace what works.
On October 15, the CB3 Parks Committee heard a presentation full of mischaracterizations and leaned towards the worst of all options, which closes everything, for everyone, for two years. The full CB3 will vote on this recommendation on October 27, and we have to be there to be heard. Council member Harvey Epstein can also fulfill his promise to park users and ask Parks to be reasonable.
What the community told Parks
This is not our spin. It is in Parks' own records.
- January 29, community meeting. “Fitness bars are best in city. Do not change! These are loved!” “Fitness area is vital, don't close this area to the public at all.” “Do not close the basketball courts at all.” (Parks' notes)
- May 16, tabling session in the park. “The general feedback was in favor of keeping the courts and fitness areas untouched.” “Phasing was requested to reduce the duration of closure.” “The tabling session confirmed the same feedback that was heard during the Community Input Meeting.” (Parks' minutes)
- October 15, Parks' presentation to CB3. “We heard how cherished the fitness and the basketball courts are.” “We know how beloved it is of a neighborhood. We know that people come from far and wide to use these very neat bars… it transcends demographics, young and old.”
Parks heard us, loud and clear. Then it proposed to close everything, for everyone, for two years anyway.
Used every day, all year
Basketball photos by EV Grieve and @jcproclassicbasketball
“Growing up on Ave D, the pull-up bars in Tompkins Square Park have always been a safe haven for me and so many people from my neighborhood.”
@212mal on Instagram
Read more voices from the park →
This plan does the reverse of what CB3 stands for
- Less affordable. It takes away a free outdoor gym and courts, used every day by people who can't pay for a gym, for two years.
- Less inclusive. It razes the courtyard where deliveristas rest in the shade, to "get rid of some of the undesirable use," in Parks' own words. That is hostile architecture.
- Less accessible. It closes the area for everyone for two years. The bars are versatile, used by people of different ages and abilities, including for rehabilitation after injury. Accessibility can be improved by addition, not demolition.
Let's get a better plan
- Respect the people who use the park. It does not count as listening if you don't listen
- Upgrade the pool
- Repair the courts and the calisthenics surface
- Keep the courtyard open
- Make the area more accessible
- Never close everything at once
- Preserve this area as an epicenter of wellbeing, affordability and community
What Parks isn't telling you
- The basketball courts. There is no problem with them. Parks says it wants a place without tree roots for an underground stormwater tank. Why put it exactly in the middle of the two courts, to disturb both at the same time?
- The calisthenics park. On slide 3, Parks lists its project goals. For the bars, "Maintain/ Reuse Body Weight Fitness Equipment" and "Add ADA Access Equipment." Neither requires demolition or a two-year closure. Then, on slide 23, it lists the most serious defects it could find. One problem consists of dry leaves on top of the bars, identified as "debris." Other problems are peeling paint and worn pavement, both put there by Parks itself, plus a missing bolt or two that have been fixed before and might take a welder 3 to 5 minutes to fix. Why demolish everything?
- The parts "not up to code." Almost all the standards Parks says the current setup violates are voluntary and optional, as Parks admits in a footnote. The only federal standard on the list refers to the route to the equipment, not to the equipment itself. So fix the route.
- Accessibility. Everyone wants the area to be more accessible, and park users have said so from the start. The enhancements that Parks is proposing are actually minor, the addition of a couple sets of low-rise equipment. No need to demolish everything for that.
- The courtyard. It is used mostly by deliveristas who need a shaded place to rest. On October 15, Parks showed CB3 a photo of the courtyard and said: "You can see some of the delivery drivers there. We know it's a hangout spot." The plan turns it into a pathway "to get rid of some of the undesirable use" and adds activity "to help keep more of the undesired use out of the park." If the problem is drug use, address it with adequate solutions, not hostile architecture. Keep the park inclusive.
- The money. The $6.1 million state grant can only go to the pool. "We use it for the pool or we lose it," Parks told CB3. So City Hall added $3.83 million of city money, as Parks put it, "because we can't just do a pool." That is city money spent demolishing urban equipment that works.
- The risk. A major renovation could make the area slightly better, but it could also make it much, much worse. Rules about government contracting make it impossible to know beforehand how things will turn out. The closure will be disruptive no matter what, and the precedents from prior interventions are discouraging. The risk is entirely on the users, and we don't like these chances.
We are not arguing that nothing ever needs repair. We are arguing that Parks is misrepresenting the status of the park and using repairable problems to justify a much larger, more disruptive reconstruction. The result will be a city that is less affordable, less equal and less inclusive.
Our request to CB3: vote no on all three options, and ask Parks to propose a plan that emphasizes repair and maintenance instead of demolition, and improves accessibility while minimizing disruption to users.
In the news
- HoodlineTompkins Square Park Renovation Plan Divides East VillageOct 17, 2026
- GothamistTompkins Square Park is getting a makeover. Some say it's too much.Oct 17, 2026
- EV GrieveParks to present 3 options for Tompkins Square recreation areaOct 14, 2026
- EV GrievePetition to preserve Tompkins Square Park fitness area tops 2,000 signaturesJul 27, 2026
- Instagram, @212mal“Growing up on Ave D, the pull-up bars in Tompkins Square Park have always been a safe haven for me and so many people from my neighborhood”Jul 25, 2026
- GothamistLatest East Village preservation fight: This pull-up bar in Tompkins Square ParkJul 20, 2026
- WNYC, videoThe fight to preserve the pull-up bars at Tompkins Square ParkJul 20, 2026
- Al Kavadlo, videoThe Iconic Calisthenics Bars at Tompkins Square Park are in Jeopardy (We Need Your Help)May 26, 2026
- EV GrieveParks Department seeks input on Tompkins recreation-area upgradesMay 14, 2026
- EV GrieveVirtual meeting set for Tompkins mini-pool and basketball courts redesignJan 27, 2026
Documents
- NYC Parks presentation to CB3, October 15, 2026 (PDF, 17 MB). Budget and funding on page 1, the "debris" on page 23, the "code" footnote on page 24.
- NYC Parks minutes of the tabling session, May 16, 2026 (PDF, 2 pages). Obtained through a FOIL request.
- NYC Parks notes from the Community Input Meeting, January 29, 2026 (PDF, 1 page). Obtained through a FOIL request.
- NYC Parks presentation at the Community Input Meeting, January 29, 2026 (PDF, 15 MB). Obtained through a FOIL request.