Corona Plaza to actually become a plaza

From the Queens Courier:

Before 2012, Corona Plaza, located on Roosevelt Avenue between National and 104th Street, was a busy area filled with trucks, traffic and no open space. After the Queens Economic Development Corporation (EDC) partnered with the Queens Museum, Councilmember Julissa Ferreras and other local groups, the plaza became an open public space allowing residents and visitors to sit down and relax.

Although the public space was expected to be temporary, in March the Department of Transportation (DOT) met with the community to introduce first plans and designs for keeping and improving Corona Plaza as a public space.

During this meeting the public gave its input as to what they wanted to add to the plaza and picked the best initial design from three options.

Some of the ideas that were included in the renderings were plaza seating, bicycle racks and corrals, a stage for cultural performances, green area, benches, additional trash cans, signage, improved lighting for security, utilizing the space under the No. 7 train for storage, an information/storage kiosk and a drinking fountain.

Well, if it's going to actually look like a park as depicted in this rendering, I'm all for it. But why do other neighborhoods get nothing more than concrete blocks and folding chairs?

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Queensbridge Park's parkhouse to be renovated

From DNA Info:

Queensbridge Park is going green — the waterfront space in Long Island City has been allotted $2.5 million for the complete renovation of its park house, a building that’s been out of use for decades, city officials announced Tuesday.

The Parks Department will hold public scoping meetings to see what park users would like to see in the greenspace, which could include amenities like a modern comfort station, storage facilities for athletic teams and offices for the park’s staff.

City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer secured the funding for the renovation, which he says is part of a larger effort to improve and “reawaken” Queensbridge Park.

“It is extremely important that every single senior and child who lives in Queensbridge know that our City has allocated every single cent we could to make sure that Western Queens has a park that rivals Central Park in Manhattan or any other park in the City of New York,” the councilman said in a statement.

Seniors and children. Seniors and children. Everyone else is chopped liver and don't visit parks, apparently.

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Udalls Cove needs more protection

From Bayside Patch:

A Douglaston civic organization is calling on the city to purchase five parcels of Udalls Cove to protect it from possibly being developed.

The Udalls Cove Preservation Committee sent a letter to Mayor Michael Bloomberg earlier this week, calling on him to allocate funding for the acquisition of five parcels of the cove.

Walter Mugdan, the group’s president said he recently discovered that the parcels’ owner intended to sell the land.

Mugdan said the last time such a threat arose in 2002. Two years later, the mayor agreed to allocate funding to acquire a section of Udalls Cove for preservation purposes and to prevent 18 homes from being constructed at the site.

Bloomberg actually bought land to prevent development somewhere? Why is Douglaston so different from the rest of the city?

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Dangerous trees in many parks

We have phony park advocates petitioning for funding for tweeding programs via public private partnerships instead of demanding adequate funding in the city Parks budget, and we're surprised this is happening?

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Hoidy toidy fountain breaks yet again

From DNA Info:

Long Island City parents got a burst of relief Monday when the children's sprinklers at Gantry Plaza State Park turned on for the first time this summer — but then the spray showers were closed off again the next day.

The waterfront "sprayground" had been closed since last fall, when it was damaged by saltwater that flooded the park during Hurricane Sandy. The problem appeared to be fixed earlier this week when the sprinklers were finally spouting water again and open to frolicking kids.

But on Tuesday, though the spray showers were still flowing, they were blocked off with barricades, to the disappointment of neighborhood parents.

The high-tech spray showers first debuted at the Gantry Park playground last summer, complete with an on-duty lifeguard and a button that allows children to control the sprinklers' water pressure.

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Whitestoners still concerned about traffic near park

From the Queens Courier:

Getting to and from a Whitestone playground is no walk in the park, some residents say.

The lack of a crosswalk or traffic controls at the 3rd Avenue and 147th Street entrance to Francis Lewis Park is dangerous to pedestrians, said Malba Civic Association president Alfredo Centola.

“It’s a beautiful park,” Centola said. “These poor kids, with their parents, whenever they come to the park to play, they have to take their lives in their hands.”

Most residents must cross three-way traffic to enter and leave the park, located at the edge of the East River, since the majority of homes in the area lie across 147th Street.

Irene Rama of Whitestone said sometimes she and her kids are forced to stop in the middle of the street to avoid an oncoming car even after stopping to look in every direction beforehand.

Residents say a piece of property, bordered by jutting construction boards, that is being developed directly next to the park impairs the vision of pedestrians trying to cross.

Centola said he has sent the DOT a letter of complaint every 18 months since 2005.

Queens Borough Commissioner Maura McCarthy mailed the civic leader a response in 2011 saying the department completed an analysis and determined “Multi-Way Stop controls are not recommended at this time.”

“Factors such as vehicular and pedestrian volumes, vehicular speeds, visibility and signal spacing were all taken into consideration in making our determination,” the correspondence reads.

Shortly after the letter, the city installed one pedestrian crossing sign in front of the park, but it only faces one direction of traffic. Centola said the sign is also too high for drivers to see.

“At this point, I’m speechless and dumbfounded,” he said. “The DOT is once again being negligent and refusing to take care of the issues.”

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Hoidy toidy fountain keeps breaking

From LIC Post:

Many Long Island City parents were excited last week when the sprinkler system at Gantry Plaza State Park was finally repaired and their children could finally run under the water keep cool.

But that initial joy that the “Rainbow Park” sprinkler provided was short lived. The sprinkler broke after 2 ½ days of operation.

“The sprinkler was damaged after Superstorm Sandy and it required a big stink for it to even come on last week,” said Kris Schrey, the head of the Long Island City Parents Group. “Now we are battling for it to be repaired yet again.”

The system’s design is the source of the problem. The designers, in a quest to be environmentally conscious, shied away from a regular system where the water would have run off into East River.

Instead they adopted a system that recycles the existing water through a filter (with chlorine), much like a swimming pool. “Unfortunately, this is an expensive, fragile and error prone system,” Schrey said.

The system also requires two employees to operate it. One employee has to monitor the chlorine levels every hour, while the other handles health & safety issues.

Translation: It takes 2 park employees to hose down yuppie spawn in LIC.

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Bowne Park update

From 10am until sundown on Friday after the original Bowne Park post was put up, I received reports that parks workers were there in droves addressing the nasty conditions present. Here is an update:

Hi Crappy –

Well – they’ve mowed the lawn and emptied the trash.

Here are some pix.

Decaying tree branches providing a much-needed tripping hazard – check!

Inaccessible garbage pail out of reach within the fenced-off area, surrounded by garbage chucked over the fence – check!

Unnecessary second bocce court construction project on target for mid-2014 completion – check!

Scummy, dirty broke-down pond – check!

Gee - mowing the lawn did not entirely eliminate the neglected, sorry atmosphere at Bowne Park – go figure!

To Quote Bette Davis (and Elizabeth Taylor) - "What a Dump!"

Regards,

Flooshing Rezident

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Silly electeds prefer tweeding to budgeting

Here we have State Senator/Public Advocate candidate Daniel Squadron promoting the idea that not only are public-private partnerships good, but that we should fund our entire park system off the back of the Central Park Conservancy. Peter Vallone has endorsed the idea in the City Council.

And then there's NYC Public Advocate and mayoral candidate Bill DeBlasio shilling for the same thing over the weekend at the Unisphere.

No morons, we shouldn't rely on money from charities. We should stop the corporate welfare and tweeding programs and use that money to fund park maintenance, as required by law. You guys also realize that forcing a charity to fund other charities is most likely unconstitutional, right?

Here's former Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe, his biggest defender, Holly Leicht of New Yorkers for Parks - a partner group with the NYC Parks Dept, and a landscape architect who reaped the benefits of working for the Central Park Conservancy, defending having charity pay for necessities, vs. Geoffrey Croft of NYC Park Advocates, who wants the city budget to allocate adequate funding.

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Quinn funds private park with discretionary funds

From Sunnyside Post:

Friends of Sunnyside Gardens Park, the fundraising arm of the membership-based park, received $25,000 through Council Speaker Christine Quinn. Those funds were for items such as “installing playground equipment and other recreational equipment.” Since 2010, Friends of Sunnyside Gardens Park has received $142,600 in city funds, most of it through Quinn. Park membership is not always open to all those who can afford the modest fees, such as with a YMCA or other non-profit. Members have to live in a geographical location to join.

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Liu rejects Central Park Conservancy contract as unfair to rest of City

From A Walk in the Park:

June 19, 2013

Honorable Michael R. Bloomberg
Mayor
City Hall
New York, NY 10007

Dear Mayor Bloomberg:

My office has returned the ten-year, $90 million Central Park Conservancy contract submitted by the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation and is currently reviewing an additional $60 million capital contract with the Conservancy.

I write to ask you to reflect on the wide disparities that exist among parks in the five boroughs. For example, St. Nicholas Park, located just a few blocks north of Central Park in Harlem, recently received a score of 77 out of a possible 100 points from New Yorkers for Parks because of trip hazards, litter, and out-of-service drinking fountains.

The Parks Department can and should amend both Conservancy contracts so that they help provide more equity among parks. These modifications should also take into account the exceptionally strong financial condition of the Conservancy.

We recommend that the following changes be made:

· Eliminate or reduce the Conservancy’s revenue-sharing agreement. Currently 50 percent of the estimated approximately $12 million Central Park net concession and special event revenue is distributed to the Conservancy. In contrast, very few if any other City parks have such a beneficial arrangement.

· Reallocate capital funds toward higher-needs parks. If we are serious about equitably distributing scarce resources, we need to reallocate a portion of the City’s capital contributions for Central Park to parks with higher needs that are over-reliant on discretionary funds.

· Increase financial transparency. The Conservancy’s 2011-2012 tax filings show revenues of $47 million. Other public sources indicate that the Conservancy has a workforce of approximately 300 employees, ranging from seasonal grounds technicians paid $18,228 to the President and CEO, who received total compensation of $456,319. Like the Parks Department and every other City agency, the Conservancy should publish spending and payroll data on Checkbook NYC, the City’s financial transparency website. Mandatory federal tax filings do not provide adequate transparency.

· Encourage expanded support of area parks. The Conservancy should work with the Parks Department to identify struggling parks throughout the five boroughs that would benefit from the Conservancy’s operational and development expertise. Such a collaboration could help mitigate some of the widespread concerns that public-private partnerships favor only a handful of elite parks.

According to its most recent tax return, the Conservancy has more than $215 million in assets. This staggering number does not take into account the recently announced $100 million private donation.

The City should ensure that parks across the five boroughs—and not just Central Park—are being funded adequately and equitably. When the City is unable to provide funding for basic maintenance and much-needed capital projects, one must question whether it is appropriate to provide our wealthiest park with $150 million of new resources.

Let’s work together to maintain Central Park and provide equity among all of our parks.

Sincerely,


John C. Liu

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Park maintenance shouldn't rely on discretionary funding

Photo from Times Ledger

From the NY Times:

Of the 51 Council members, at least three — the Democrats Charles Barron of Brooklyn, Peter Koo of Queens and Annabel Palma of the Bronx — gave no money to parks in the past three fiscal years. Another three — the Democrats Gale A. Brewer of Manhattan, and Albert Vann and David G. Greenfield, both of Brooklyn — allocated $8 million to $9 million each over the same period.

The amount of money they have to disburse is determined, in part, by the speaker of the City Council, Christine C. Quinn, who is now running for mayor (and who has been a major supporter of parks). Some members may perceive more pressing demands, like affordable housing or public safety.

Some City Council members chafe at the requests to finance basic park infrastructure. “Why should we be paying for it?” said Mark Weprin, a Queens Democrat, who recently designated money for protective netting at a public golf course. “They come to us with a list of projects, and I always find that offensive. These are the basic needs of an area. It shouldn’t be up to the local councilman to fix up parks.”

Agreed.

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