Residents who live along Parkside Avenue near Prospect Park South say their side of the park has been neglected for years and that it's only gotten worse.

According to the residents, park benches have been removed and their side of the park is completely neglected. 

They tell News 12 they've signed a petition that they handed over to Councilman Mathieu Eugene over a year ago and those 400 signatures were passed along to Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte but were ignored. 

Years ago, they say 12 additional benches lined Parkside Avenue between Coney Island Avenue and Ocean Avenue, but they are no longer there.

Michael Dillhunt is a veteran who has lived in the area for 23 years. He says he now must take Access-A-Ride to get to the grocery store, with the benches gone.

"Well that’s $5.50 I could save and I’m on disability, that’s a lot of money to me,” says Dillhunt.

Derrick Rolle says the missing benches are just a small example of a neighborhood in overall decline. 

"This is one of the benches here, if you notice there's one plank missing in the back, so whenever this fell out it was never was replaced. 

There’s poor maintenance and that's a concern. Just mild deterioration, alteration of the neighborhood,” says Rolle.

The Parks Department says it is working on two plans to restore the perimeter of Prospect Park.

One is focused on the east side along Ocean Avenue, and the other with Borough President Eric Adams, Councilman Mathieu Eugene, and the Prospect Park Alliance aims to restore the Parkside Avenue perimeter by 2021.