06/04/2026
Today, Commissioner Ochoa joined New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, NYC Water, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, the Queens United Sports Club, the Idlewild Environmental Center, and more to cut the ribbon on the upgraded cricket field at Idlewild Park.
Just in time for summer, this park now has upgraded benches, bleachers, tables and chairs, soil and grass. Work included the installation of water mains along Springfield Lane as well as new sewer mains.
These upgrades are part of a much more extensive, ongoing $78.5 million project that is not only beautifying the area, but it is also making Idlewild more resistant to heavy rainstorms (including installation of a triple barrel storm sewer) and protecting the wetlands.
As part of this project in Idlewild, we also restored over five acres of wetland at two sites: Idlewild Park and Brookville Park. Approximately 70,000 tons of non-hazardous contaminated soil containing a large amount of debris, including tires, were cleared out from those areas.
This project is a cornerstone of the $2.7 billion Southeast Queens Initiative, which includes more than 40 infrastructure projects that are rebuilding streets and improving drainage throughout Southeast Queens, and will connect local sewers to massive new downstream storm sewers, channeling stormwater from parts of Queens into the Bergen and Thurston basins near Kennedy Airport.
We thank our partners at Inter LaPeruta Joint Venture, AI Engineers, Inc. and Hazen and Sawyer/AKRF Joint Venture.
