A Changing of the Guard at Prospect Park

has a new leading lady.

Last spring Prospect Park Administrator and Prospect Park Alliance President Tupper Thomas announced that she was retiring after decades in service of Brooklyn's prettiest park.

Earlier today, Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe and Prospect Park Alliance Board Chairman Albert H. Garner announced that Emily Lloyd will succeed the retiring Prospect Park veteran, who has held her positions since 1980 and 1987, respectively.

Lloyd, who has served as both Commissioner of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection and Commissioner of the Department of Sanitation, will assume the dual position on January 31, 2011.

"It's great news for Prospect Park, Brooklyn, and the people of New York City that Emily Lloyd is taking on a new challenge as Prospect Park Administrator and President of the Prospect Park Alliance," said Commissioner Benepe. "Emily is a proven leader with a wealth of experience."

The departing Tupper Thomas is widely regarded as Prospect Park's savior. Throughout her 30 years in service of the park, Tupper transformed it from a decaying, crime-ridden publish establishment to one of the borough's most cherished attractions.

Lloyd, who has also been Executive Vice President at Columbia University and most recently Chief Operating Officer at Trinity Real Estate, has been a Brooklyn resident for over 25 years and is a frequent visitor to the park.

She was one of many prospective candidates interviewed for the position. As she will assume the role of both Prospect Park Administrator and President of the Prospect Park Alliance, her appointment is by agreement of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation and the Prospect Park Alliance. 

 "I am honored, and enormously excited, to be joining the Parks Department and the Prospect Park Alliance as part of the team that cares for such an amazing public green space," said Lloyd, in a statement. "Each time I visit Prospect Park I'm always delighted to see how much people love being out in the Park."

Among Lloyd's challenges will be continuing construction of the massive new Lakeside facility underway at Wollman Rink.

"When Tupper Thomas announced her retirement earlier this year, we all knew her successor would have big shoes to fill," said Borough President Marty Markowitz in a separate statement. "I am confident that [Lloyd] will be up to the challenge."