ASTORIA — Users of the waterfront Rainey Park are being asked for ideas on how to improve it.
Advocate group Green Shores NYC will host the "community visioning session" Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the park on 34th Avenue and Vernon Boulevard. Attendees will be asked to share ideas on how the space could be better.
Those ideas will then be relayed to the Parks Department and elected officials to consider when funding capital projects, according to Le’alani Boykin of the group People Make Parks which is helping to organize the event.
"It's really a form of advocacy," said Boykin, adding that the meetings could also help identify community leaders who could serve as caretakers for the park.
The Parks Department has proposed upgrades for Rainey Park — including reconstruction of the picnic grove, basketball courts and a dog run — but has not secured the full funding for them yet, according to a spokeswoman.
So far, Queens Borough President Melinda Katz has allocated $800,000 while the City Council has secured $400,000.
But the picnic grove and basketball courts alone are estimated to cost around $2 million, Parks Department Spokeswoman Meghan Lalor said.
In addition to ideas for upgrades, Saturday's community meeting will include a park cleanup, plus music and arts and crafts.
"It's also an opportunity for Green Shores to catalog how people are accessing the park and, with that, be able to have more effective conversations with the DOT and Parks on how to create a more accessible park," Boykin said.
For more information, visit Green Shores NYC's Facebook event page.
