Here are some not-so-lovely images.
There are about four garbage pails for the entire park.
They are always overflowing with garbage and are rarely emptied.
I like a beer as much as the next person but this is ridiculous. We need webcams beaming to a website that we can all monitor.
Chairs, shopping carts and baby strollers are regularly thrown into the pond and are left there for weeks at a time. The wooden platform by the seating area has been removed and a crappy metal barricade on wheels has been positioned in front of the missing platform for months now. Would it really cost that much to replace a few pieces of wood???? Yesterday, the temporary (HA!) metal barricade was in the pond – along with the chairs, shopping carts and baby strollers!
The pond itself is filthy and there are new dead turtles every day. It’s a really nice sight for the kids and the animal lovers!
When notified of four abandoned baby ducklings, the Parks. Dept. lied to PETA and said they had been taken care of, but they were, in actuality, ignored and eventually killed by the snapping turtles (12 out of 13 died, 4 had been abandoned by their mother – perhaps she was killed as well).
I guess it would have been too difficult to put on waders and go out with a net. They were trapped in the water – it’s not as though they could fly away! This was the only day they got out of the pond and it was because the pond had overflowed – a common occurrence due to the jerry-built fountains!
Trees bases are filled with garbage (perhaps a drugs stash – note the Marino’s bag – I guess these slobs are local!)
It’s absolutely disgusting!
Yet the Parks Dept. has $700,000 (that’s the number people are throwing around) to WASTE on a bocce court!!! And even that’s a complete disaster!
Two guys show up perhaps once a week and work for perhaps an hour. They must be getting a monthly fee and, as such, are majorly dragging their heels. This should have been a $30,000 two week job! At the very least it should have been finished for the summer.
Why hasn’t it been completed? Why don’t the contractors just put the damned benches in and take their fence home? Because they get paid thousands every month on the fence rental!!! This entire project warrants an investigation. It just reeks of corruption!
We, the local residents, are disgusted by the conditions present at Bowne Park and we are angry! Joe Moretti – your homegrown activism is starting to spread to Flooshing!!!! Thanks for the forum Crappy!" - Flooshing Rezident
50 comments:
Where's the Queens Parks Commissioner???
Halloran was too busy porking his staffers.
With a Guinness in one hand and a Jameson in the other, our blathering councilman had little time for anything else, it seems.
But, he could always be reached by a certain Gambino crime family connected Whitestone restaurateur 24-7!
How's the election rigging business going, Dan?
See you in jail soon.
PAUL GRAZIANO FOR CITY COUNCIL, our only hope for real change!
Mamma mia...in northeast Queens?
True dat! It's beginning to look a lot like ghetto Jamaica!
Can BFHA put the heat on any pols to remedy this...
or are they too busy garden judging?
Is a plot being hatched to deny Bowne Park services...to make a case for putting in a bid for a mini car race track or a minor league soccer stadium?
Bloomberg:
"Wah, wah, wah...NYC has no money for upkeep"
(unless it's Central Park)..
Where was Dan's participatory budgeting? I guess Bowne Park didn't make the cut. I guess it didn't win among the contestants.
Dan's too busy with his defense attorneys.
Bubba awaits you in his cell, former chief atheling.
"I like 'em soft 'n white"!
Beginning to look like Jamaica is right, hell, I thought it was one of my post! But truthfully the parks in Jamaica look nothing like that, Rufus King Park, St. Albans Park,Detective Kieth Williams Park, Captain Tilly Park and Roy Wilkins Park, granted these are much smaller than Browne Park, but still no excuse for this park to look this way. Certainly hope all of this was reported to the Parks Department, media and elected leaders.
As usual Queens gets the short end of the stick thanks to Mayor Bloomberg and to twelve years of Helen Marshall.
Again if you want to see change for Queens, Senator Tony Avella for Queens Borough President is the answer, along with goodbye to Bloomberg. Remember, Katz and Vallone voted to amend the term limits, which then kept Bloomberg for a 3rd term against the people's will.
One of the things crappy needs to do is to start to list how our money is spent - on politically friendly no-talent arts groups, tweeder programs, and that capital budget - good God, the capital budget - from Stonewall Van Bramer putting nearly a million into a library reading room cause he spent time there as a kid to Vallone filling a diving pool with $4 million in concrete.
the pols know you will reelect them so there is no - read 0 - incentive to do anything.
...the jerry-built fountains!
I've complained at length about these fountains. The Parks Department has them shooting about four feet up in the air instead of about fifteen or twenty. When they are on full force the pond scum disappears, the pond is better aerated and a lot of the other crap that floats atop the water fades away meaning the pond is healthier.
Four foot water jets do nothing for the health of the pond.
The parks department from what I've witnessed empty the garbage cans about once a week and I've actually seen them take away cans from the playground side.
Perhaps if the old degenerate men who lurk around the bocce courts and park house smoking and gambling would have their plastic chairs and card tables taken away they wouldn't end up in the pond. They treat the area like it is their personal property.
Also, would someone please tell the foreigners to stop throwing bread and other food stuffs into the pond? Would someone please tell the foreigners that they can't have parties in the park without a permit? Would someone please tell the foreigners to pick up after their dogs?
Where the hell is the Bowne Park Civic Association?
Did they fall into the pond?
Maybe BFHA, the much more active organization, should push for installing CCTV cameras in BP.
Why not get garbage bags yourself round up all the crap in the park then plunk it down in front of the Parks Department or the pol's office with signs saying "do your job that you are being paid for!"
And keep the cameras rolling all the time.
"Where the hell is the Bowne Park Civic Association?"
They are too busy hunting down and suing Finlay-Rickert covenant violators. ; )
$700K for a Bocce ball court?
How many people use that? A few older constituents right? And I mean literally no more than 20. Meanwhile adjacent to that is a relatively Small playground that HUNDREDS of kids use on Weekend. How did that money get steered towards a bocce court? Wouldn't it have been better used to upgrade the playground? Don't we have an obesity problem in NYC? Kids need a place to play! Especially when outdoor spaces at their schools are being used classrooms because we're running out of space in the buildings. Who has the answers?
This might sound too simplistic but here we go...
The BFHA and BPCA should get together every spring and fall and have a park clean-up. Members and neighbors could bring rakes and other gardening implements and spruce up the park.
The officers of these organizations could get the local pols to contribute some garbage bags and refreshments and assure a Parks Department garbage truck be there to remove the refuse.
Perhaps the Queens Parks Department diva Lewandowski would see that we care about the park and give us more services and support.
...But, I'm probably being way too simplistic.
Actually there aren't many kids at Bowne Park anymore - just really little ones with their parents.
Back in the 60's the park was filled with kids every day.
We had a dedicated full-time Parkie who opened up the park house and put out board games and knock-hockey every morning. We were there from 8:00 AM until 7:00 PM with a short lunch break.
Where are the children of Flushing? Are parents so afraid of pederasts that they're no longer allowed out of the house unsupervised?
"Actually there aren't many kids at Bowne Park anymore"
Kids today don't play knock hockey, video games replaced that game years ago. Plus the mini hockey sticks are way too dangerous. There are also computers, iPhones, texting, twitter, etc. Kids would rather fool with technology that throw a pretty bounce pass to a teammate on the basketball court. Even local little leagues are experiencing declines in players.
Parents are afraid to let their kids go alone to the park for fear of something horrible happening to them.
In the '60's many mothers stayed at home but theses days they work and many kids go to day camp.
Times change.
Disgusting. NYC Gov has long made it clear that it doesn't give one god damned fuck about wildlife in this town. Queens doesn't even have a city run shelter.
Time do change - so why do people keep demanding more and more under-utilized playground space?
Children aren't interested in playgrounds anymore! Stop wasting money and space on them!
Spend the money on a dog park! And BTW - everyone picks up after their dogs - at least in the morning. We all know one another and would NEVER stand by idly while someone failed to clean-up after their dog.
Also - the BP Civic Assn. is just about dead - it's just Wanda and a few other old ladies.
They don't do email, there's no published phone #, their website is barely maintained - they're totally out of the loop.
"Spend the money on a dog park! And BTW - everyone picks up after their dogs - at least in the morning."
Just what we need, a bunch of yapping yelping hounds in the park. And yes, the morning dog people are responsible but go there in the afternoon and evening and you'll see dog owners letting their dogs pee near the playground and crap anywhere without picking up.
Some of the dog people actually let their dogs drink from the fountain in the basketball courts. Last week a woman was scolding a doggie person for letting their dog pee right in front of the kids water spray.
leave nyc the barbarians are at the gates
Here's the deal. If you want to see live turtles, try shopping at the Good Fortune Supermarket in the Linden Vue shopping center. They're in the back in the prolific fish department.
PS not an advertisement!!!
I'm in the park daily - have been for many many years. Small children play in the park daily in the playground - and pre-teens utilize the basketball courts. So - I disagree with the poster above. The bocci courts are going to be used by one generation - when they die off - no one is interested. To spend $700,000 on the court is outrageous - the work is going so slowly that the poor bocci players had been displaced.
I would like to see security cameras in the park.
Keep Joe Crowley in power folks - keep all incumbents - please! That way we can keep bitching and bitching and bitching........
THIS IS RIDICULOUS. BOCCE COURT UPGRADE???????????
NEVERMIND THE KID AREA, ANYONE SEEN THE TODDLER AREA???? SMALLER THAN MY COFFEE TABLE!! HAHAHAHAHA. Funny, not really.... SAD. F U Pols and Officials... Officially!
If you want to see Bowne Park improved VOTE FOR GRAZIANO. He'll get the job done!!
You would think with all the people trying to get elected in Flushing that one of them would care enough to get the job done. How about Voskerechien...let her clean it up..it's about the only thing she'd be good for other then cop sucking. Did she get separated?
It is now 6:37 PM on Friday and there is a large Parks Department crew doing maintenance in Bowne Park.
I wonder why??
The power of persuasion...
Avella- Graziano Is Queens last chance before being lost forever.
It is the duty of the people to keep filthy dirty bastards out of office and never let this mess happen again !!!
If Avella loses Queens is f_cked!
Frighting situation considering stupid Queens voters opted for Obama, Schumer and Cuomo II. The stupid never learn (they cant)
Graziano isn't gonna do a thing about this except cater to the same NIMBY senior citizens that begged for bocce from Dan and will be voting for vallone anyway.
What a shithole Flushing has become in just 50 years.
Anonymous said...
The power of persuasion...
==========================================================
The power of the Crapper!!!
Graziano isn't gonna do a thing about this except cater to the same NIMBY senior citizens that begged for bocce from Dan and will be voting for vallone anyway.
Sorry. Not in favor of the bocce court and certainly not in favor of the expansion, particularly when the rest of the park is going to hell in a hand basket. We could have used that $700,000 that they're spending on the bocce court for maintenance and improvements to the rest of the park!
Paul Graziano
Candidate for City Council, 19th District
www.paulgraziano.com
Vote for Paul Graziano and Tony Avella!
BTW - the last time Tony was notified of garbage in the park he wrote a letter about it to the Parks Dept. ON THE SAME DAY! A story about it with pictures (dumped mattress, etc) was also posted by Crappy. The Parks Dept. cleaned it up that afternoon!!!
Tony, Crappy, Joe Moretti and Al Centola are looking out for us.
Paul Graziano will do the same. He does not in any way pander to just one group.
Wait till the Vallones get in - they spend millions for soccer fields that cater to a tiny minority of their community - but its an - ahem - important group of fellers.
Of course there is the 4 million spent for a theater group that just lost its director to greener pastures (and when Queens Theater in the Park is greener pastures you have to start to ask yourself some serious questions.)
No, when the Vallones get in Bowne Park certainly will be changed. Maybe they can get Pistilli or Alma Realty to build somethings around it.
Who's the guy that said there's no kids in the park; just little ones with their parents.....
WHAT'S the difference? Little ones with their parents are still kids are'nt they?
THe point is that $700k should not have been used to appease 10 constituents.
SPaghetti Park in Corona is probably the BUSIEST bocce court in Nyc.... do you know how many courts they have? ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What a disgrace!!
Having the Bocce players in the park is much better than having CCTV cameras. I always feel safe knowing men with balls are in the park when I take a walk around Bowne park late at night. The players keep the park clean and safe.
"The players keep the park clean and safe."
These photos suggest otherwise.
The men with the "balls", as you refer to them, are over 80 years of age.
Anyway, I agree that the park is safer with the bocce players simply because they are "witnesses" to any drug dealing, etc. that could go on. Back the 80s and prior to the court being built - the park was riddled with this crap.
The bocce players are the elders in the nab, and I am thrilled that they have place to go and socialize and relax.
Question: Why did the new court cost $700,000 to build? . . . it could have been done for $20,000 -and why aren't they completing it?
I have a feeling that we are waiting to September for the grand opening celebration because all the politicos are either on vacation or in jail currently.
The park will soon be filthy again unless parks dept puts a full time staff person there 7 days a week, 8 hrs a day-not just in the morning, then put them on a mobile crew or send them to a different park for the afternoon. 8 hrs at bowne.
The park will be safer too.
You're out of your mind if you think the Bocce and card players give a shit about the park! They won't even use ashtrays! They're a bunch of old guineas and Croatians that don't contribute anything to NY.
They chain smoke, fight, curse, litter, gamble and drink right next to the kiddie park. They even slit one another's tires!
Don't confuse these degenerate slobs with the old gentlemen in the Gap commercial!
Those lamp posts could use a good paint job while they are at it.
The bocce players are the only people in the park that actually vote. We'll have the same conditions with Graziano or any other hack.
The bocce players are the only people in the park that actually vote. We'll have the same conditions with Graziano or any other hack.
Hogwash, troll!
The serial-gambling chain-smoking Istrians who play bocce do NOT vote. Most of them are not even registered to vote, and the ones who are aren't Democrats, which is what matters for this primary coming up in September.
Graziano is not a hack. He's not even involved with organized politics like the Democratic Machine.
If you had any understanding of what he's done to help our neighborhood over the last 10+ years - and never asked for anything in return - you'd thank him instead of making uninformed remarks.
I agree with the Bocce court! 2 guys show up maybe once or twice a week for a very brief time. I don't know about $700k. Paul Graziano told me it was about $450k+. Paul and I will work on this as well as any other issues in our district, just as we do now, but will then have more effect on issues when Paul gets in and I we can, continue to, work together on issues.
"They chain smoke, fight, curse, litter, gamble and drink right next to the kiddie park. They even slit one another's tires!"
And one of the booce players was said to be the handler for the Mr. Softee Drug dealer, Domenico Pedalini, who was arrested at the northeast corner of the park a couple of years ago.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/mister-softee-ice-cream-seller-arrested-drug-dealing-article-1.231642
My 7X year old father, who is Istrian, goes to that park regularly.
It is him and his group of friends who are there to remind the various riffraff that f*cked up the rest of the city that this neighborhood is off limits for them.
That part of Flushing / Bayside / Whitestone will continue to be a clean / green / classy part of town. It will not degenerate like other once-nice areas did.
700K for bocce....well....these guys paid and continue to pay plenty of taxes. None have been on welfare / food stamps / and other crap so prevalent in NYC. You criticize money being spent on nice people. Why don't you see how many billions of dollars are being spent on the human rubbish that now fills almost all of the city? And don't get me started about the skoo system.
Sour grapes. This area will never sink like the rest of the city.
BTW, at age 7X my father is still extremely tough. He was not educated in the current skoo system that stresses non-violence. He and his friends 'run the neighborhood'. Don't forget that......
You're totally clueless if you think the Bocce and card players are an asset to this area.
They're uneducated selfish low-life slobs. They've never cleaned up their area - they just chain-smoke, drink, curse and have turned that part of the park into a shithole!
You're blind if you don't see that.
I'm 60 years old - born and raised here and live a few blocks from the park.
I have seen many changes in the park - and one of the most significant was the installation of the bocce court in the 80s. The park was riddled with drug dealers back then, but after the court was built - the older people in the area gathered there, and the drug dealers eventually left knowing that their actions could no longer go unnoticed. Over the years drug dealers come and go, but they can never "own" the park again.
I am truly taken aback by the insults directed at the bocce players - many of whom BTW are women - "chain-smoking, uneducated" - move please whoever you are - this neighborhood was BUILT by the hard-working middle class - the "uneducated" as you would call them - and I will be very happy when the bocce players return in September - the park is too quiet without them!
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