September 22, 2023

Sunnyside – On Friday, September 22, Council Member Julie Won celebrated $12,550,000 in capital funding for District 26 parks at a funding announcement at Lou Lodati/Torsney Playground. In Fiscal Year ‘24, Council Member Won secured a commitment of $7.15 million for improvements to the park, including $6 million to reconstruct Lou Lodati’s playground area and $1.15 million to expand and reconstruct the park’s dog run. In Fiscal Year ‘23, the Council Member secured a total of $6.96 million for improvements to Lou Lodati, including $5.5 million to reconstruct the multipurpose playground area, $850,000 for the handball courts, and $610,000 for drainage and electrical utilities. 

This fiscal year, the Council Member also allocated $3,400,000 in capital funding for Windmuller Park’s Swimming Pool and $2,000,000 to repair a sinkhole at Queensbridge Park Playground. In Fiscal Year ‘23, the Council Member secured $13,247,000 in capital funding for improvements to Big Bush Athletic Field, Windmuller Playground, and Murray Park Athletic Field and Dog Run. 

At the announcement, Council Member Won was joined by the Sunnyside United Dog Society (SUDS) to celebrate the $7.15 million in funding for Lou Lodati. SUDS was formed in 2001 and is made up of Sunnyside residents who frequent the park. The group advocated for the park and the dog run, which opened in 2013.

See our graphics for more information on Park investments and the status of District 26 Parks projects. Visit https://council.nyc.gov/julie-won/budget/ for more information on the Fiscal Year ‘24 budget. 

“This fiscal year, I allocated $12,550,000 in capital funding for our local parks to ensure that our neighbors have access to green space and up-to-date facilities at our parks,” said Council Member Julie Won. “Thanks to our community’s advocacy, our office secured capital funding for much-needed improvements at three parks in our district, including $7.15 million for the playground and dog run at Lou Lodati. Thank you to the Parks Department and our neighbors for ensuring that we are keeping our green spaces modern, safe, and beautiful for our community.” 

“The Sunnyside United Dog Society has been taking care of, and advocating for, Lodati Park for over 20 years. When we were pushing for the dog run in the mid-2000s we made sure to advocate for funding to improve the entire park,” said Rick Duro, SUDS. “The SUDS community works really hard on a daily basis in taking care of the dog run and garden around it, and the run was voted one of the best in the city. People come from all over the city to our dog run because it is safe, clean, and people are actively participating in their dogs’ experiences there. As hard as we work, there are some things we cannot take care of, for example, the surface cracking. Huge thank you to Councilwoman Won and her staff for meeting with us to figure out how we could get the run resurfaced. We hope that the contractor that eventually wins the bid for the project does a better job than the last one, as it started to crack within weeks of it opening in 2013. The SUDS community is very excited about this next chapter in the history of Lodati Park.”