It’s almost impossible not to feel childlike excitement when construction gets underway. The sheer scale of excavators moving earth, paths being laid, long-desired play equipment getting anchored into place. In 2025, residents in three of NCP’s partner cities are seeing their visions go from plans to tangible reality.  

The year kicked off with the groundbreaking of Westside Park in Paterson, NJ. The 27-acre historic park is our largest project to date. This momentous milestone is the culmination of three years of hard work to not only design the park to match the community’s needs but put together a complex puzzle of public funding to get it built. We have seen great progress all year long and expect the park to open by spring of 2026 –in time for residents to get out for walks under the 255 new trees, leagues to begin cricket and tennis matches, and the first kayaks to push out into the Passaic River.  

Also in Paterson, Vera Ames Park broke ground this year. The two-acre community park will feature revamped basketball courts and a playground with a new splash pad and gathering areas. The park is expected to open before the end of this year.  

Up north, our newest project in Buffalo, NY, Buffalo Promise Neighborhood Park also got underway, transforming what was once a barren field into a community gathering space adjacent to a K-8 school. The new space will also open before the end of this year.  

Growing our successful green schoolyard partnership with the Jersey City Public Schools, NCP took on a new playground at PS 17 early this year – and already has improvements in place. PS 17 is a K-8 neighborhood school serving nearly 1,000 students in a lower-income area of the city. Transformation is underway with the in-kind donation of a soccer “mini-pitch” from the US Soccer Foundation. Thanks to a $90,000 state grant that NCP secured for the district, plantings and painted games will soon be installed on this previously barren asphalt lot, inviting pick-up games and play.  

The momentum continues as three more projects are slated to break ground imminently, weather permitting!  

Also in Buffalo, two of our longest-standing projects (work started in 2020) on Buffalo’s East Side are poised to break ground with construction contracts secured. 9.6-acre Roosevelt Park is currently a dilapidated, uninviting space with only two mature trees. After transformation, it stands to become a hub of community life with new recreational facilities and abundant green life. And Sears Paderewski Park, currently an abandoned pavement-covered lot, is poised to become a much larger public green space with the addition of two adjacent lots, with plans for new play equipment and multiple spaces to gather.  

Back in Jersey City, construction of a green schoolyard will begin on what is now a deteriorated asphalt lot at PS 12. To kick off revitalization, an NCP-funded mural was installed this summer to energize and anchor the space. The new schoolyard will not only feature interactive painted games and a brand-new play structure and splash pad, but also will include stormwater infrastructure to safeguard the school from repeated flooding incidents.  

Moving these projects forward to the point of construction has been no small task. From procurement and bidding to construction oversight. Our project team, helmed by Emily Neye and Emmanuel Thingue and assisted by Shannon Hui, is working to ensure that places to play and be outdoors in nature are available to people as soon as possible while also staying true to the visions and values of each community.