Still no crapper at Little Bay Park

From Bayside Patch:

Neighborhood activists have become increasingly frustrated with the NYC Parks Dept., because though $1.3 million dollars was allocated to build to build permanent washrooms in 2005 by then Councilman Tony Avella, D-Bayside, that money has not been put to use.An additional $4.12 million in Congressional funds from Congressman Gary Ackerman, D-Bayside, for the purpose of expanding parking and to reconstruct an overpass near the entrance, was bundled with the bathroom funds, and also goes unused since it was allocated in 2004.Last year, following inquiries by community members, NYC Comptroller John Liu did an audit, revealing that the Parks Dept. sometimes did not renew contracts, or offer them for contractor bidding in a timely fashion, though the Parks Dept. said they were not culpable.The Parks Dept. had said that the replacement of porta potties—which are not always present at the park—with permanent bathrooms, is tied up with the approval of other agencies, like the Dept. of Environmental Protection.The group that wants to install the new dock, which would be used for ecological education for kids, purports to have gotten fairly quick permission from the DEP to go ahead with their project.