Tyrell Outlaw is catching up with some kids at his neighborhood park at the corner of Landon and Windsor Terrace in Schenectady.

“I’m faster than both of you,” said Outlaw, looking to race them on scooters.

It’s a nice break for Outlaw from doing yard work here, like pulling weeds. About once a week, he’ll come here to make sure it’s clean and in good shape. Outlaw lives just around the corner.

The park has come a long way. Two years, Outlaw brought his son Jaylen, and it was in rough shape: a neglected park with trash, drug paraphernalia, dog poop and overgrown shrubs.

“Everything that you would not want to see at a park was just here,” Outlaw said. “Drug addicts hanging out here at nighttime, so it just really wasn’t the place you wanted to bring your kids.”

So the next day, Outlaw came back with a broom and began sweeping. Neighborhood children and their parents joined the effort. Outlaw later applied and received a $62,000 grant from the Schenectady Foundation to give the space the makeover it needed.

“I promise you it’s going to look nice after it’s done,” Outlaw tells the kids, after they asked him about the basketball court.

That money went toward new fencing, stairs and a basketball court. After months of work, the project is now heading into its final stage: painting the court, pulling up the basket and planting flowers.

Outlaw says it’s important to set a good example for others, get the kids involved, and have them take pride in their neighborhood.

“Just to be able to do something, not only for my own son, but for all the kids in the neighborhood and really for the whole city, because like I said, when this is done, I think everyone is going to want to come here,” Outlaw said.

He hopes to finish Jaylen’s Park in the coming weeks and give this neighborhood the welcoming space he feels it deserves.