Thursday, March 17, 2011

An even broader channel

8 comments:

Erik Baard said...

I don't know enough about the planning and promises in Broad Channel, so please take my comment as a "broad" policy statement:

New York City shouldn't try to be Ohio or Texas. Baseball and football are often impractical (space, chemical treatments of grass, dust, astroturf, etc.). Our harbor is a defining feature of NYC and offers countless opportunities for recreation, exercise, and exploration.

Though I'm a kayaker, I recognize that rowing is often the best option for teens and kids. Youth learn team building by rowing together; one rowboat for eight kids is cheaper and easier to manage than four or eight kayaks; Whitehall rowboats draw upon local heritage; boatbuilding can enhance math instruction and other lesson plans; time in nature yields emotional and psychological benefits that also weave into curricula.

Our waterfront and island communities should seek every benefit of being maritime people instead of mimicking mainstream television idealized/generic images of American childhood.

Queens Crapper said...

I agree w/you on this one. The waterfront should be more for non-team sports. When you play football or baseball, you're concentrating on the game, not enjoying the scenery. Biking, hiking, etc. are more natural for the shoreline.

Anonymous said...

And if a kid in BC wants to play ball? Oh, I know you'd like their parents to pay a toll to get to the nearest other public park for ball playing or trek a few miles north to the mainland to get to the second nearest Parks facility for ball playing.

Queens Crapper said...

If a kid in Broad Channel wants to play ball, there are facilities just south of Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge - in Broad Channel.

Anonymous said...

"And if a kid in BC wants to play ball?"

Not everybody gets to do what they want. There are tradeoffs to living every where. And I also agree with Erik. NYC shouldn't try to be Ohio or Texas - or Paris or Amsterdamn or any place other than NYC.

Anonymous said...

What if they want to play tennis? football? lacrosse? jai alai?

If they want to play badly enough, they will join the local little league or travel to Howard Beach. Or play catch in the backyard like I did.

Anonymous said...

I know this park. My kid played ball there.

It is a freakin' disaster. The place smells from rotting seaweed and dead sea creatures that float in from the bay. Geese crap is all over the field and you can't walk anywhere without encountering a load. The gulls fly all over the field and crap on the kids and the cars in the lot. The gulls also are smart. They drop clams on the cars to break them open and the cars bear the brunt of this feast. Grass doesn't grow on the fields thanks to the salt water and zero maintenance by the Parks Dept. In addition, the field is covered with tracks from ATV's illegally driven by the local juvenile delinquents.

Let it revert back to wetlands.

Anonymous said...

The ballfields by the Wildlife Refuge are not a public park.