Montefiore Park Redesign and new adjacent Plaza Honored at the 33rd Annual Awards for Excellence in Design

Led by community advocacy and commitment, the reconstruction of Montefiore Park nearly doubles the size of this unique urban plaza and park through the incorporation of Hamilton Street. Capitalizing on the naturally steep topography in this area of Harlem, the design has a central terraced lawn with curved granite seat walls, as well as a plaza space for community festivals, performances, and green markets. Planted areas buffer the center of the Park from the street, divert storm water runoff from the combined sewer system, and include designated areas for community gardening. Located at a busy intersection of mass transit and vehicular traffic, the open plaza provides a safer and more pleasant pedestrian connection for the thousands of students who travel across it daily from the subway station to City College and P.S. 192.

A project of the Department of Design and Construction, the Department of Parks & Recreation, and the Department of Transportation, Thomas Balsley Associates, URS Corporation

Design Team: Thomas Balsley Associates Thomas Balsley, Principal; James Welsh, Senior Associate; Gloria Lau, Landscape Designer; URS Corporation Elizabeth Thompson, Project Manager; Tom Tehrani, Principal; Semyon Burshteyn, Principal; Chanel Lubin, Project Engineer; Alex Kraizman, Senior Civil Designer; AIA Engineers Antonio Valente, Associate Surveying; Harlem Community Development Corporation Tom Lunke, Director of Community Development; Montefiore Park Neighborhood Association Michael Palma, Co-Director; Basia Nikonorow, Co-Director, Strategic Planning, Outreach & Social Media; Heritage Health and Housing LaQuita Henry, Director, Heritage Heights Village Program; Department of Design and Construction Dr. Feniosky Peña-Mora, Commissioner; Eric Macfarlane PE, Deputy Commissioner; Yun Poy Ng PE, Associate Commissioner; Mohsen Zargarelahi PE, Assistant Commissioner; How Sheen Pau PE, Director; Arvind Patel, Project Engineer; Jorge Tua PE, Engineer-in-Charge; Sofia Zuberbuhler-Yafar RLA, Design Liaison; Grace Han, Design Liaison; Department of Parks & Recreation Mitchell J. Silver FAICP, Commissioner; Therese Braddick, Deputy Commissioner for Capital Projects; William T. Castro, Manhattan Borough Commissioner; Kevin Quinn AIA, Chief of Architecture and Engineering; Steve Simon, Manhattan Chief of Staff; Namshik Yoon, Manhattan Chief of Operations; Rick Zeidler, Manhattan Deputy Chief of Operations; Nancy Prince RLA, Deputy Chief of Design; Desmond Spillane, Manhattan Team Leader; Leslie Peoples RLA, Manhattan Design Director; Bradley Romaker, Manhattan Director of Requirements Contracts; Daniel Grulich, Director of Interagency; Brendan Shera, Interagency Liaison; Maulin Mehta, Interagency Liaison; George Bloomer RLA, Senior Designer; Christopher Noel, Accessibility Coordinator; Amie Uhrynowski, Design Commission Liaison; Brian Widener, Senior Forester; Ryan Hogan, Manhattan Forester; Department of Transportation Polly Trottenberg, Commissioner; Lori Ardito, First Deputy Commissioner; Ryan Russo, Deputy Commissioner; Joseph Jarrin, Deputy Commissioner; Margaret Forgione, Manhattan Borough Commissioner; Joshua Benson, Assistant Commissioner; Wendy Feuer, Assistant Commissioner; Emily Weidenhof, NYC Plaza Program Director; David Breen, Associate Project Manager; Nicholas Pettinati, Senior Project Manager/PDC Liaison; Neil Gagliardi, Director of Urban Design; Amir Rasty, Director, Capital Project Engineering; Josh Orzeck, Community Coordinator Upper Manhattan