This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to expand park space in Jackson Heights.
New York City Council Member Daniel Dromm has secured $5 million in capital funds for the Parks Department to purchase the Garden School athletic field and turn it into an extension of Travers Park.
While the Garden School would prefer to sell the lot to the city, their Board of Directors are considering selling to a developer to address their immediate cash flow needs of $500,000 in the next few months. The money from the developer is believed to be available more quickly than the money from the City because the City must go through ULURP (Uniform Land Use Review Procedure — a process that allows for public review and environmental study of any purchase of land by the City and typically takes 6-18 months to complete) The money can not be released until ULURP is completed.
We want the Garden School to accept the city’s offer, so we are proposing that the community lend the money to the Garden School to address their immediate cash flow needs. This would basically be an interest-free loan to be repaid in the next 12-18 months, upon completion of the city’s land use review process. Once the Garden School receives the money from the city, the money will immediately be repaid.
We at the Jackson Heights Green Alliance are reaching out to the community to ask if you would pledge money to this cause. This would be a LOAN to be repaid by the Garden School within two years once the purchase by the City is completed. Since this is an all volunteer effort, managing many small loans is very time consuming. We need to raise a substantial amount on a short notice so we encourage pledges of $500 and up. Of course, if you are not able to spare that much we will take any amount so please make sure to indicate whether your pledge is a loan or a donation.
Help us make this park a reality. Please make a pledge: pledges@jhgreen.org
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