Maplewood Park Ribbon-Cutting Celebration on July 17, 2026
Maplewood Park Ribbon-Cutting Celebration (July 17, 2026)
On July 17, 2026, New Rochelle Parks Commissioner Vin Parisi and Councilman Matt Stern led a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Maplewood Park, celebrating the completion of park improvements funded by federal ARPA COVID relief grants, city capital budget, and a $225,000 New York State grant from Senator Shelley Mayer. The event recognized the advocacy of the neighborhood, particularly Clarence, and the work of the parks crew.
Discussion Items
- Project Overview and Funding: Commissioner Parisi detailed that the park's new path was funded by a federal ARPA COVID relief grant, avoiding city taxpayer dollars. The capital budget for other improvements had been delayed for years but was secured through advocacy from City Manager Will Melendez and Councilman Matt Stern. Additionally, a $225,000 state grant from Senator Shelley Mayer supported Maplewood Park and Pinebrook Park.
- Tree Work: Substantial tree work was completed following the July 4th windstorm, which had damaged Ward Acres Park, preventing potential tree falls.
- Acknowledgments: Parisi thanked the parks crew, especially Clarence, who has applied to be a bureau head for the 2027 season. He also thanked Senator Mayer for her grant and the neighborhood for their patience through the red tape.
- Councilman Stern's Remarks: Stern thanked everyone for coming, noted the 20-plus years of advocacy leading to the improvements, and emphasized that the children's enjoyment was the most important outcome. He specifically thanked neighbors and Clarence for staying on top of the project.
Key Outcomes
- Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony: The event concluded with a countdown and ribbon cutting, symbolizing the official opening of the upgraded park facilities.
- Completion of Improvements: The park now features a new path (paid by federal grant), significant tree work, and other capital improvements funded by a combination of city and state money.
Meeting Transcript
My name is Vin Parisi. I know I know a lot of you. I'm the parks commissioner here in Nourishell. Um, just over four years, and uh deputy for three years before that worked for Bill Zimmerman, and that's when I really got to know uh all of you here in the neighborhood association. So I want to thank you all for coming. Um first off, I want to thank you all for your patience. Uh, and that's what brought us to today. So I want to give uh my parks crew uh a shout out here. Um they they worked hard on this project as well, whether it was simple brainstorming ideas or in the field um with our installers here, as you can see, uh Clarence has made himself a part of the parks and recreation team. Clarence has applied to be a bureau head for next season, 2027. Now there were times when we were going back and forth, and I thought that Clarence thought that I was lying to him. Where are we? Where are we? Where are we? There were some weeks the last couple of years to where Clarence and I spoke more than uh me and my wife. This was always one of those parks that kind of went under the radar, and I think as we all know there's benefits to being under the radar sometimes because you don't deal with some of the craziness that we have at other parks and uh worlds here in Nour Shell. But the negative to being under the radar is sometimes years go by and neglect goes by, and all of a sudden it's oh shoot, we got to do something with Maplewood Park, and that's where this really uh came about, and it's been so awesome uh for the timing to work out. Uh the path was the first thing that we had to tackle, and we were able to land um a federal grant with that one, part of the ARPA COVID relief funds. So we're able to do the path with the federal grant and not use city taxpayer dollars. And in terms of the capital budget for this project, kind of just kept sitting on the shelf and kind of just kept getting bumped out, bumped out, bumped out. And that's where I really gotta thank uh our city manager uh Will Melendez is here, and especially uh our councilman for District 6, uh Matt Stern, because the advocacy was there and and the moment was right with where we were in terms of grants and city funding department wide, and we knew we had to pounce and tackle it. So uh we hope that the families uh and the neighborhood enjoy uh what we've been able to pull off here the last couple of years. We also did some substantial tree work that you probably may not notice now, but if you think the back to if you would have saw what Ward Acres Park looked like after that July 4th storm, windstorm that we had, a couple of those uh trees definitely would have been down by then. And then lastly, I want to recognize um New York State Senator Shelley Mayer and the 225,000 state grant that she's given us for District 6 uh recently. So her support of Maplewood Park, her support of uh Pinebrook Park uh has been crucial. And um trying to think if I missed anything else before I turn it over uh to Councilman Matt Stern, but most most importantly, I just want to thank all of you here for your patience in the neighborhood. Um there's a lot of red tape at times, um, but we're proud of what we've done. So here's Matt Stern. Thank you. Hi everyone, um, just thank you for coming out and celebrating with us. I I don't have a whole lot more to add than what Vin added, other than I'm so grateful for all the people over 20 plus years who made this happen. Um it was a combination of the money that Vin mentioned coming from the state with Senator Mayor, um, obviously from the city as well. Um, but more importantly, it was the advocacy from the neighbors, especially Clarence, um, coming in, staying on top of this and making sure that we got it done. And most importantly, I hope more than anything that the kids have a lot of fun out here. So thank you for coming out tonight, and I hope you uh you enjoy. Thanks. All right, countdown. Three, two, one. Well,
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