From a report by NY4P:Queens
• Aqueduct Racetrack – The New York Racing Authority, which operates the Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone, Queens, filed for bankruptcy in November 2006. The DPR is interested in converting the site into park land.
• Arverne Waterfront – In 2004, the City Department of Housing and Preservation began development of property in Arverne in Queens. Part of the plan is to develop 27 acres of park land. The project is in the early design phase and is estimated to cost $42 million to build.
• Elmhurst Gas Tanks – In 2004, Keyspan sold the City a 6.1-acre plot of land in Elmhurst, Queens for $1. Since that time, the City has dedicated $16 million in capital funds to convert that plot into parkland.
• Sunnyside Yards – An Economic Development Corporation paper leaked to the press in May 2006 called for substantial development over a platform on the Sunnyside Yards in Queens. As many as 35,000 housing units would be built on the 43-acre site and parkland would also likely be constructed.
• Cresthaven Site – City Councilmember Tony Avella has called for a 6.5-acre park to be built on the Cresthaven property, formerly owned by Catholic Charities, in Whitestone, Queens. Senior housing was intended to be built on the site, but federal funding designated for the project never materialized. The DPR has not announced any plans for the site.
• Queens West – This 12-acre waterfront park is currently under design by the DPR. It is intended to complement a large middle-class housing complex being built in Long Island City.
• Silvercup West – Land adjacent to the Silvercup Studios in Long Island City is planned for development as a large housing complex. Part of the development plan, overseen by the EDC, is to build a one-acre park.
• Fort Totten – This 11-acre site, formerly owned by the US military, has recently been conveyed to the DPR for use as parkland. The site is currently under construction and will cost roughly $15 million.
• Highland Reservoir – In 2004, the City Department of Environmental Protection turned over the 50-acre Ridgewood Reservoir, located in Highland Park, to the Department of Parks and Recreation. The reservoir had not been in use since 1989. The Parks Department is currently planning to convert the acreage into parkland. Highland Park straddles Brooklyn and Queens. The site will cost $60 million to develop and will be funded with City capital funds.
Notice that Flushing Meadows makes close to what Central Park earns in revenue. Yet, CP looks like gold and FMCP looks like a shit hole. Why? Because immigrants and the working class don't deserve a nice park.
29 comments:
The report is an eye opener! The revenues as a whole for Queens substantially exceed Manhattan's total. Yet Queen's parks are not even comparable in amenities to CP. Let's see what materializes in construction of the Tanks Park. Will the city erect wall on the adjacent LIE to protect against noise and fumes the park will experience? Marge Markey was indignant when I emailed a request to investigate erecting a wall on this section of the LIE years prior. When I did not receive a reply rather than a bounce back I called her office to learn she does not respond to emails. When I called her office about the issue her spokeswoman said it was not her problem to begin with and that my request would benefit too few folks. I re-attempted to resurrect the issue but she did not accurately address the correct section of the LIE - clueless in Elmhurst - Maspeth. Queens is not getting it's fair share of design or funding consideration vs Manhattan - some local Pols such as Markey are inept to be polite. Stamp these boiler-room folks out of office - we need radical types to make big noises to defend ouseleves - such as JPVC and Avella to keep us on the map of issues.
Other than Alley Pond Park (in which nearly a million dollars has been spent in wetland conservation and other environmental concerns alone)Queens parks do not even recive a fraction of what they deserve per capita and income. Flushing Meadow is the second highest grossing park in NYC yet imagine how much it would gross if they recirculated the funds back into the park?!
Alley Pond Park is in eastern Queens, where all the higher ranking government appointees live. Get it?
Since when does choosing the side of neighborhood preservation get you a "radical" label? What a sad sign for Queens.
Prospect Park is beautiful and it is in a working class, immigrant area. Your conclusions don't hold water. You can argue that FMCP should have better upkeep and parkland, but the fact is that it has received millions in city funding in recent years and continues to receive millions.
I would guess that the revenues shown in your post come significantly from the baseball stadiums, museums, golf courses, zoos, etc. that are in or near the parks. FMCP has recently received millions for expansions to the Queens Museum of Art, Queens Zoo, Hall of Science, and Theater in the Park, among other things. It is getting a new ice rink and swimming facility. If you have some conspiracy theory that the city funnels money to parks in wealthy areas at the expense of parks in less wealthy neighborhoods, you need to show better evidence.
Actually, there are affluent neighborhoods bordering Prospect Park - Park Slope, Windsor Terrace and those one the east side of the park are gentrifying. Contrast that with FMCP - Flushing on one side and Corona on the other. Land of the tweeded, and therefore the park's a dump. If there were a real conservancy for FMCP, things may be different.
"FMCP has recently received millions for expansions to the Queens Museum of Art, Queens Zoo, Hall of Science, and Theater in the Park, among other things. It is getting a new ice rink and swimming facility."
I like walking around and watching the activity in the park and sometimes shooting photos. What do these things do for me? I end up taking the train to Prospect because it's in almost pristine condition.
Wow! Millions of dollars for indoor activities in a park where you're supposed to enjoy OUTDOOR activities. Oh well, they know they have no intention of fixing up the park, so they want to hide it from view.
In the last few years the park has seen the renovation and expansion of the zoo, new comfort stations, soccer fields, children's playgrounds, the concession pavilion by the lake, etc. These are all outdoor projects. Do you all just shoot from the hip with your complaining?
Soccer fields were "renovated" using possibly cancerous artificial turf. I suppose we should be thankful for this.
The zoo charges admission and playgrounds are fine if you are 5, but not 85.
How about fixing something up that EVERYONE will experience like the fountains, the walking paths, maintaining the statues and mosaics?
The "new comfort stations" are disgusting(when they are open). Many lack toilet paper.
The NYS Pavilion, the Meadow Lake Boathouse, the Fountain of the Planets are all in ruins, with no restoration plans in sight. To make matters worse, the city is reluctant to let private hands repair them.
If our city can allow Trump to restore Wollman Rink, why not give these abandoned structures to the Donald, too?
Or better yet, Mattone or Pistilli. These guys rake millions from our communities and give almost nothing back.
FMCP has a conservancy. If enough private funds were raised, do you think the city would not let the conservancy oversee the restoration of these things? Prospect Park underwent a good deal of privately funded restoration after its private Alliance, which is a conservancy, was formed.
Where is the conservancy getting the donations? From the illegals along Roosevelt and Main Street?
in the last few years FMCP has also seen the expansion of the "tennis city," taking up another huge chunk of park land.
But hey, the city has put in some new slides and swings, for us, and added a new cockatoo or two to the zoo. So what have we to complain about?
We should be celebrating instead! :)
The parks department doesn't seem to want conservancy involvement anymore. One was suggested at Highland Park and Parks said no.
You don't want the USTA Center? It is an excellent venue and the US Open is one of the most exciting things to happen in Queens every year, let alone the business that it brings.
If private groups can raise private funds for Brooklyn's and Manhattan's flagship parks, but Queens' private groups cannot, why are you complaining about the city government? Probably because you don't think these things through and you just want to complain and throw allegations around at the easiest target.
I can't believe that Flushing Meadows is that big. The place is a dump. What gives? Oh, right. It's in Queens.
Its interesting how the Crapper is suddenly concerned about poor immigrants after publishing racist comments against them on his blog for quite some time now. Interesting.
FMCP is a mixed bag. Its not a "dump" as crapper often refers to it, but its not exactly a paradise either. Its a typical urban park with problems. Problems that could easily be fixed if we had elected officials with brains and some allocations of funds.
In terms of outdoor activities for adults, enjoy some time on the deck overlooking the lake, enjoy all the wonderful trees, layout on the grass and soak up the sun in the Summertime. Indoor activities are endless in this park with some of the best facilities in the City.
"Its interesting how the Crapper is suddenly concerned about poor immigrants after publishing racist comments against them on his blog for quite some time now. Interesting."
I have written about the conditions of immigrants in Queens from the very beginning. In fact, we're approaching our one year anniversary. If some comments on this blog offend you I suggest you stop reading comments. More than 90% of people who visit don't read them.
Writing a $1,000 check is nothing for your average upper east sider or park sloper. No one in Queens can do that, except maybe the people in Jamaica Estates. See, this is the borough of the tweeded. You only get a nice PUBLIC park in this city if you pay for it through the nose! Sounds like communist Russia.
take heart Crappy. You're getting your point across.
Even people who initially disagreed with you, like those above, are beginning to acknowledge the downsides of overdevelopment and political mismanagement thanks to your informative posts.
ps Pre-Congrats on your 1 year anniversary!
Hear it hear it: Without this blog, attention to numerious Queens issue would not be heard or discussed pro & con - Queens Crap makes a difference and provides a voice to everyone.
FMCP is crime ridden and has had rising rate of assaults, murders and robberies. Support of a park by dumping money in projects alone will not solve this issue. The city needs to support the park by making it a safe place and enforce Park requlations and city laws. The Park was poorly designed to begin with and those who know better do not venture towards the center where crimes occur. The areas such as Hall of Science, fountain and zoo are close to outer borders and considered safe. But it is no CP by any means and never will be to me. It is an essentially barren, water logged park that serves as a parking lot for Shea and as rec room and bordello space for poor illegals.
Households incomes in Queens are higher than in Brooklyn, and income levels in Forest Hills are much higher than in Park Slope. The amount of misinformation in your comments is incredible.
Household incomes in Flushing and Corona are not higher than those in Park Slope. The amount of misinformation in your comments is incredible.
I love FMCP. Its not in the best condition thats for sure and yes it probably has to do with the local people that dont have enough political influence. Also the tennis stadium is a joke to FMCP because they take over the entire park for 2 weeks of the year totally displacing the locals who frequent it all year!
My facts are accurate, unlike others here. Flushing has higher incomes than Flatbush, with is also adjacent to Prospect Park. Corona and Flatbush are similar in income levels. Why do you ignore Forest Hills? It is very close to FMCP. You shouldn't cherry-pick only the facts you like. The point that you fail to see is that the other parks benefit from private funding much more than FMCP, and that is not the city government's fault.
Why do you ignore Park Slope, where all the money is? Forest Hills is cut off from FMCP by an at grade highway. And FH is not near the part of the park with the decrepit monuments. Flushing and Corona are. Forest Hillers go to Forest Park. And that's a great park.
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