Park Ramp Repair Takes Three Years, Costs $3 Million

Work has reportedly resumed on a ramp in Brooklyn's Shore Road Park that leads to ball fields used by local schools and youth teams, but three years have already elapsed since the ramp was functional, and the repair is expected to cost nearly $3 million.

Problems with the concrete work brought the project to a halt in September, but the New York Parks Department says the repair has resumed and should be completed by June. The ramp has been closed since collapsing in 2016. Users have been understandably impatient, as the nearest park entrances are a half-mile away.

"It's just been really, really difficult for anybody to get down into the park," said Romeo Petric, the athletic director at two Bay Ridge Catholic schools that use the fields, according to the New York Post.

City councilman Justin Brannon's frustration is even more pronounced. "Skyscrapers in Manhattan have gone up in the time this ramp has been closed," Brannon, a Bay Ridge Democrat who is threatening legal action if the project isn't completed by June. "It's a total boondoggle. It's indefensible."

The Parks Department says it actually expedited the $2.7 million project by including the repairs in an existing contract, according to the Post.