MANHATTAN — Borough Commissioner Tricia Shimamura told Manhattan Community Board 2 on Wednesday that the Parks Department has temporarily and selectively closed several small pocket parks on Sixth Avenue to prevent their regular use for drug activity and that longer‑term solutions are being explored for Jefferson Market Park and Elizabeth Street Garden.

“Some places being a regular place where people are regularly using, one of the very few tools that we have available to us is this idea of kind of closing them a little infrequently so that people can't reuse it as a reliable place,” Shimamura said, acknowledging the measure is used sparingly and is not meant for playgrounds.

Shimamura described horticultural and visibility improvements along the corridor — repainting a kiosk, removing trip hazards and targeted pruning — and said Washington Square Park staff had helped focus attention on problem blocks. She cautioned that installing custom, cast‑iron style gates at Washington Square Park would require Landmarks Preservation Commission review and significant funding, and that the community board previously expressed opposition to routine gating.

On Jefferson Market Park, Shimamura said Parks is still considering pathways including a GreenThumb model or a formal license agreement with a partner organization. She described strategic‑partnership staff conducting site visits and said the department aims to come back to the board with clearer options in the spring. “It’s a slow‑moving ship,” she said, noting legal review, staffing and coordination with citywide units slow the process.

Shimamura also confirmed that Elizabeth Street Garden has been transferred to Parks jurisdiction; she said parks staff are now conducting safety and permitting reviews to identify immediate repairs and accessibility or safety work that must occur before operational changes proceed.

Members asked whether mapping a garden as parkland requires a state process and raised zoning concerns; Shimamura said she would follow up with more detailed information about the transfer documentation and next steps.

The commissioner asked committee members to continue sharing site‑specific concerns; Parks staff said they will follow up on closure hours, seating requests and potential capital projects for small park repairs.