Park Circle has plans to get greener in the coming years.
North Hempstead Town Council Member Christine Liu spent the summer surveying residents in a 600-square-foot radius of Park Circle, an open, circular park in New Hyde Park.
She learned that Circle Park neighbors are united in a desire for more trees in the space, but divided over whether adding seating is a good idea.
“Our first step is to follow through with what the community overwhelmingly wants, which is more tree plantings and making the space more green and environmentally friendly,” Liu said.
Liu carried out the survey after obtaining a $125,000 state grant, which she expects to cover the cost of planting trees and installing an irrigation system in the park to sustain the new planting. She said she took conducting the survey extremely seriously because she wanted to ensure she was using the money to do exactly what the community wanted before making decisions.
Some 82% of the residents she surveyed responded, a point of pride for Liu. Some 80% of respondents said they wanted more trees in the park, specifically around the perimeter to ensure kids would still have space to play in the middle of the field.
“People were complaining that it’s just weeds and it’s brown most of the year,” Liu said. “It’s a round field in the middle of residences. People throw around footballs, they set up volleyball nets and they play. It’s a very well-utilized space for the community, but the sun is beating down on people, there’s no shade, and there’s not much greenery at all.”
While residents expressed a desire for more lighting and seating, with some suggesting they wanted to dedicate benches to loved ones, over 40% also expressed concern that these amenities might result in “unwanted loitering,” particularly overnight.
“Those things had mixed responses,” Liu said. “We have to really balance that with the concerns of loitering and nighttime activities that these other improvements may bring about, so we’re still reviewing that.”
She said her team would take things “one step at a time,” and would determine if making additional improvements was something the community wanted to explore in the coming months.
Liu and her team conducted the survey by mailing it to over 280 homes in the radius, as well as personally knocking on each door, to ensure they heard everyone’s voice.
“My staff and I put time and effort into ascertaining what the community wants and what they don’t want,” Liu said. “I’m putting the community’s interests and priorities first.”
Liu said she’s still waiting for the grant to be dispersed to her, but once she receives it, she believes the work can be completed within a few months. If she determines that survey respondents desire additional upgrades beyond what can be covered in the grant, such as seating or more trees than there is money for, Liu said she’d work to obtain additional grants to fund those improvements.
The council member said she hopes work on the project will start in 2027.
