For his part, the parks commissioner, Adrian Benepe, said that although the city has allocated $50 million to improve Highland Park and incorporate the Ridgewood Reservoir into it, construction and design plans are not final. “The bulldozers aren’t warming up,” he said.Amid the Willows and Chickadees, Bird-Watchers Spot a Red Flag
But Mr. Benepe did say that “some small portion” of the Ridgewood Reservoir area, probably about 30 percent, will be used for recreation. “Any time you build a park, especially in an area that is overgrown, you have to remove some trees,” he said.
Mr. Benepe also emphasized what he described as his “moral obligation” to provide New Yorkers with space for recreation, especially children who suffer from a lack of exercise, and the need to balance the needs of a community.
“People care very deeply about parks,” Mr. Benepe said. “And there are many opinions about what they should look like.”
God/Mother Nature has already provided the space, Adrian, and is counting on you not to mess it up. Highland Park currently has playgrounds, ball fields, tennis courts, etc. in horrible disrepair. Shouldn't your "moral obligation" as parks commissioner be to fix them up and not tear down an air-purifying forest in a city where children have high rates of asthma? And how is 30% of the reservoir considered to be a "small portion"? Jogging paths around each basin would be an inexpensive way to keep the natural setting and provide for exercise. Fix them up, install lighting, and that can constitute your "small percentage for active recreation". And save us a hell of a lot of money, to boot. Explain how children who aren't into exercising are going to be motivated to use ballfields just because you build them. No one can make kids who would rather play video games play baseball instead. Or is forced exercise another hidden part of Bloomberg's 2030 agenda?
14 comments:
Think about it. Every dictator in history has engaged in an exercise program.
...the Benepe Jugend, or BJ for short.
The only "moral obligation" this Stalinist moron has is to resign.
There is something really funny about this whole exercise:
1. Not a penny for a park for the kids of Maspeth at St Saviours.
2. Poorly maintained underused playgrounds in place near the reservoir.
3. A PARKS Commissioner under a GREEN touting mayor who wants to bulldoze precious greenspace and trees to build even more playgrouds.
4. Conclusion: someone has a campaign debt to pay for ce-ment. And we all know who is big in ce-ment don't we?
PS Crappy and others who are friends of Ridgewood: make a list of every damn green organization in this city. Write to them. Lets see just how green they are - or how much another 'green' agenda really dictates their programs.
In this case Parks Chancellor Benepe
is exercising his "right"
to destroy what G-d hath wrought !
He'll have his day in "his (Berlin) bunker" !
...and hopefully they won't preserve his brain in some Soviet cellar afterwards.
hmmmm... i don't want to give away the location but let's say yesterday i was in a Queens park where the local kids had to cut a hole in the fence just to use a fenced in concrete area so they could pitch & hit the baseball (with the tall-ish fence keeping the ball in). other parts of the park were accessible but many of them were unkempt.
this isn't unknown, of course. YEARS before the whole "soccer taco" thing became a popular topic in Red Hook, families would lift kids over a four foot point fence onto the ABANDONED field on Bay St, which they cleaned up, so that people could play on it.
Q: how much NEW YORK CITY money is going to Los Fucking Mets, who, whether you're a fan or not, certainly don't need the help? (Nor the even more evil Yankees, of course.)
All the papers are biased against history (unless of course, you are dealing with the holy quad of East Side, West Side, Greenwich Village or Brooklyn Heights)
They are about 40 years (and an entire real estate section) behind the times (pun intended).
That is why we have blogs!!
"But the reservoir, which is nestled within Highland Park, is also one of eight areas designated for conversion to parkland under Mayor Bloomberg’s plan to have a park within 10 minutes of every New York residence by 2030."
Riddle me this: if the reservoir already sits WITHIN a park, then how can it be part of the 2030 plan to have a park within walking distance of every city resident?
Excellent point, then some of the money earmarked as "10 minutes walking distance" money should instead be put towards acquisition of St. Saviour's.
The radical birders' "my way or the highway" approach to how city parkland should be developed will lead to another defeat against Sir Adrian.
Keep up your uncompromising approach. It has worked so well for you in the past.
perhaps the city will be so generous as to convert parts of Flushing Meadows Park and Forest Hills Park into parks, for residents, too.
Actually, I think the "birders" plan is the smartest one. Use the money to fix up the park that's already there.
I think that some "radical" action needs to be flexed here by local residents (others may join in, please!) - in terms of confronting the nature destroyers. Come on people! They are stripping the little we have left - enough talkin' and postin' and lets get active - when the saws and elite developers move in... we need to step in - if you are down for this - email me - I am sure bloomburga is monitoring this site! If so, my name is Salvatore Giametta, born and raised in Ridgewood
email me at sgiametta18@aol.com
lets participate in real democracy!
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