Saturday, May 24, 2008

Horrendous conditions at Charles Park

Charles Park is in a devastating state of disrepair as a result of what locals believe to be years of neglect by Gateway’s management. Now they want the feds to step up to the plate.

Locals Aim To Save Neglected Park

Taking a break from his daily tennis session on a recent afternoon, park regular Anthony LaSaracina took this reporter on a tour of the recreation area, pointing out along the way damaged fences, broken water fountains, overgrown shrubbery, dead trees, and, most devastating to the tennis enthusiast, the deteriorating and dirty tennis courts.

Gateway’s failure to maintain the park regularly in the last decade and a half has created these “deplorable” conditions, LaSaracina said. “It’s as if (Charles Park) is in a lost world and no one cares about it.”

But a small group of extremely dedicated community members do care. In fact, they are so deeply dedicated to their mission of improving Charles Park — and the rest of the 6,000-acre Jamaica Bay Unit — that they’ve become known as crusaders.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Take note Hunters Point!

Before you start to brag on eveything the city is giving you to entice you to displace the community, are you ready to pay out of your pocket volunteers to maintain it?

Anonymous said...

The city is great a putting things in place, but then lets it fall apart.

I was in Flushing Meadows for the first time in a decade, and was simply disguisted at the unmaintained 3rd world slum park it has become.

If you want to see what Queens is all about, and how the machine took the promise of the future showcased by the Worlds Fair, and destroyed it, walk around for a few hours.

Oh yes, share your comments with Crappie.

Anonymous said...

Charles Park is a federal park totally ignored by the National Park Service. Disgraceful.