Just as crews were at the tail end of the long-anticipated skateboard park inside Williamsbridge Oval Park, the project hit a snag, delaying the project for several more months. News of the delay

“We thought the skate park in the Oval was completed, however we found out that the surface, whatever they put down, cracked, and it all has to be ripped up again and redone,” said Barbara Stronczer, chair of Community Board 7’s Parks Committee, shared the news to a surprised audience at the latest Community Board 7 general board meeting.

The delay, which was updated on the New York City Parks Department’s Capital Tracker website on May 29, the day after CB7 alerted the public of the news, will likely push the project’s completion toward the beginning of fall. The park, once completed, will feature ramps, mounds, and a quarter pipe surrounded by a chain link fence.  

“I’m besides myself,” said Cohen of the delay. “The Parks Department is having such trouble delivering.”

Over the last few weeks, crews with LC Construction brought back their jackhammers to tear through the concrete, creating a pile-high hill of broken concrete at the site. The problem, according to Parks Department spokesperson Anessa Hodgson, stems from the concrete work failing to meet “our quality standards.”

“[T]he contractor is actively addressing these issues. Despite the contractor re-doing some of the work, the overall budget for this project has not been affected and [New York City] Parks has not incurred any additional costs. While we understand the inconvenience of having this site offline, we want to be sure the final result is on par with our quality and safety standards. We look forward to completing this project this summer,” said Hodgson through a statement.

Still, residents like Ayana Seed said she were disappointed over hearing about the delays. “It kind of sucks because everyone’s anticipating it. No one wants to hear this noise, that’s number one,” she said.

Porsha Williams, a skateboarder who began taking up the sport a year ago, is anxiously awaiting the opening, but was disappointed to hear of the delay.

“Construction always takes forever around here,” said Williams. “It said it was supposed to be done by Winter 2019. I was hoping it would have been done months ago, but now it’s still going. Now we’re going to miss the whole summer not being able to use the skate park that’s ridiculous.”

Jeremy Watson, meantime, didn’t mind the holdup so long “everything is done right.” Watson did point out to the other side of the Bronx that’s noisier.   

News of the project’s hiccup adds even greater pains to get the skateboard park section, which has been in the throes of delays for years. Councilman Andrew Cohen, who represents Norwood, sought to honor a request for a skateboard park after allocating $750,000 to see it through. Last check, the project’s price tag climbed to $888,000. The latest setback doesn’t increase construction costs. 

The vision for such a park goes back 15 years, when clergy members joined forces with neighborhood kids to lobby for such a park. But the project hit even more delays when the two contractors pulled out of the project during the bidding phase after failing to adhere to procurement guidelines. It’s the procurement process that Cohen takes issue, saying it can take eight months for lawyers at multiple city agencies to review the contract.

“It’s one little aspect of doing these capital projects,” said Cohen, who funded the project in 2014, citing it as one of his first early capital projects he funded. “The amount of money that it requires is really ridiculous. It’s really broken.”

The news also irked Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, whose 80th Assembly District covers the Oval side of Norwood.

“We know how long parks project take as it is, let alone when there’s a problem,” said Dinowitz. “It means that the public, particularly kids are being denied the opportunity what for them is a very important resource. And secondly, usually that means more money. And you have to wonder how something so basic can happen.”

For now, skateboarders will have to held elsewhere to practice their heel-flips, nollies, and ollies for practice.

“Who loses out but the kids who would be using the skateboard park?” said Dinowitz.

Additional reporting by Sha-Nia Alston

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.