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Read the press release here.

Queens Boro President Gives $300K to Park on Manhattan's Roosevelt Island

 An aerial view of Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park.
An aerial view of Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park.
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ROOSEVELT ISLAND — Queens Borough President Melinda Katz has set aside $300,000 in capital funds for a Manhattan park, in an effort to "enhance [its] visibility from Queens," officials said.

Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park is the only Manhattan park to be funded as part of $32 million in capital funds that Katz provided to 37 parks this year. The rest were given to parks in Queens. 

The move drew the ire of one DNAinfo reader who questioned Katz's decision to fund a park outside of the borough.

"That park is in Manhattan and is not even a NYC park, it is a state park. Why is no one questioning this," user CleanUpJamaicaQueens wrote on Neighborhood Square.

The funding also garnered a post on the blog Queens Crap, which accused Katz of "sending money across the river while Queens parks look like crap."

In a statement, a spokeswoman for Katz defended the funding for Four Freedoms Park, which will be used to improve lighting on the park's shoreline facing Long Island City.

"Four Freedoms Park is a beautiful memorial that honors the life and legacy of President Franklin Roosevelt, and stands as a universal reminder of the Four Freedoms that still ring true today: for speech and worship, from want and fear," Katz's spokeswoman said.

"The lighting will make it more attractive and enhance visibility from Queens," she added.

The four-acre FDR Four Freedoms Park opened on the south end of Roosevelt Island in 2012 as a memorial to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and includes a 1,000-pound bronze bust of the former leader with inscriptions from his famed "four freedoms" speech.

Katz funded dozens of other parks this year, including $3 million that will go to preserving the New York State Pavilion at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park and $1.5 million to upgrade the running track and athletic court at Baisley Pond Park in Jamaica.

Check out the map below to see the full list of park projects Katz funded.