NEW YORK CITY-An ambitious project in Brooklyn's Prospect Park just got a big boost from a prominent NYC real estate family. The LeFrak family has donated $10 million to Lakeside, the largest project in Prospect Park since its opening in the late 19^th century.

The money will go toward the cornerstone of the project, a 34,000-square-foot facility that will feature ice skating in the winter and roller skating and a water feature for children and families in the warmer months. Slated to open next month, the building will be named the Samuel J. and Ethel LeFrak Center at Lakeside, in honor of the parents of LeFrak Organization CEO Richard LeFrak and his sisters.

The entire 26-acre, $74 million project also will include a restored landscape, a café and vastly improved park access, according to the Prospect Park Alliance and the NYC Dept. of Parks & Recreation.

“The LeFrak family has a history of philanthropy in Brooklyn, and all of New York, and their generous gift to Lakeside—a place where families will enjoy a day outdoors, children will step out on to the ice for the very first time, and visitors can take in the beauty of Prospect Park from a new vantage point—will continue that legacy,” says NYC Parks Commissioner Veronica M. White. 

“The LeFrak family's deep roots in Brooklyn itself make this gift particularly fitting,” notes Prospect Park Alliance president Emily Lloyd. “Prospect Park already is a wonderful place for families to visit, but this contribution is further recognition of how much Lakeside will improve it.”

“Our family is proud to honor, through this gift, the memory of our parents, who would have surely embraced this magnificent Prospect Park redevelopment project that will bring so much joy and happiness to the people of Brooklyn,” adds Denise LeFrak, on behalf of her sisters, Francine and Jacqueline, her brother Richard, and his wife, Karen.