Neighbors of Mount Prospect Park continue to protest skateboard arena

Green vs. Concrete

Isabel Broyer, president of CuRBA, whose mission is to preserve and improve community quality of life and jointly seek solutions to the community’s problems, said, “Ultimately, it’s about green versus concrete; a green space versus an arena; a community space vs. a destination venue.”

“I do not want a world-class arena in my backyard,” one resident explained. “Put in a little skateboard park, I don’t care. But I don’t want an arena stadium; I don’t want lights; I don’t want music; I don’t want events coming to this neighborhood. We already have world-class institutions that bring people here. We are a place that needs quiet.”

The keys to this are [Skateboard Project founder] Tony Hawk and [Councilmember] Crystal Hudson (D-35, representing Prospect Heights, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, and parts of Crown Heights and Bedford Stuyvesant), said another community member. 

“If either one of these people feels enough pain, this thing is gone,” he noted. “And the reason they will feel pain is because of public pressure. The day Tony Hawk thinks he looks bad for this, the money will move; the day Crystal Hudson says, ‘Oh my lord, I’m going to have election issues,’ this project will be gone.”

“This is a David and Goliath issue,” said another resident. “We are David; we are little, but look how many Davids are in this room,” she pointed out.

Benjamin Lowe, community member and co-chair of Friends of Mount Prospect Park (a community group focused on preserving and enhancing the green space here for all who visit), said he has a very specific objective: “to protect and enhance the green space in Mount Prospect Park.”

“We have a petition on our website — here