Islip opens first-ever Serenity Gardens in East Islip park
A wooded patch at Brookwood Hall became Islip's first Serenity Gardens, a four-section space for residents with disabilities, veterans and anyone seeking calm outdoors.
An overgrown wooded area at Brookwood Hall in East Islip has been transformed into the Town of Islip’s first Serenity Gardens, a new public space built for quiet, reflection and accessibility. The project turns part of 50 Irish Lane into an amenity aimed at people with Alzheimer’s and dementia, developmental disabilities, autism spectrum conditions, seniors, veterans and residents with vision or hearing impairments, while still remaining open to the general public.
The garden is divided into four sections and was described by the Town of Islip Parks Foundation as a first-of-its-kind “park within a park.” The one-acre design repurposes unused forest vegetation into a landscaped area intended to give visitors a calmer outdoor environment than a typical neighborhood park. Officials have framed the site as both a wellness-focused addition and a more inclusive use of town parkland, expanding what Brookwood Hall Park offers inside Suffolk County’s larger public parks network.
Town records show the Serenity Garden broke ground in July 2023, but the project had been in development since 2019. A VIP preview was held on November 14, 2024, before the public opening on Thursday, June 5, 2026. The long timeline underscores how much work went into converting a neglected section of the property into a formal public destination rather than a quick beautification effort.
The project also marks the first major renovation undertaken by the Parks Foundation of Islip Town, the nonprofit tied to beautifying town-owned and operated parks. Town officials said the roughly $2 million project was funded entirely through donations and sponsors, including the Entenmann’s Foundation. Supervisor Angie Carpenter said the project had been in the works for years, positioning Serenity Gardens as a public investment in accessibility, not just a decorative upgrade.
For East Islip and the broader Town of Islip, the opening adds a specialized park feature to a system already full of traditional fields, playgrounds and waterfront spaces. At Brookwood Hall, the new Serenity Gardens is intended to serve as a quieter option for families, veterans, seniors and people with disabilities, while also giving any visitor a place to pause in a setting designed for calm rather than crowd size or spectacle.
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