Queens Eagle

 

QNS

The NYC Parks Department recently shared that America’s bird was spotted amid the Pine Grove at Forest Park near Richmond Hill. 

Parks Dept. staff took the opportunity to poke fun at the rare sighting by tweeting “POV: You’re a squirrel in imminent danger” alongside photos of the bird casting a glaring look at the photographer from a branch above.

“Bald eagles can be spotted throughout the city, especially in the winter months,” wrote NYC Parks on X last week. “While they prefer a fish diet, they’ve been known to hunt for small mammals as well.”

 The bald eagle population has made a comeback across the state in recent decades. In 2017, there were over 400 known bald eagle nests across the state, mostly on public land. And while sightings of bald eagles are much more common up north along the Hudson Valley, city sightings of the eagle, with a wingspan that can reach over seven feet, are more possible now

Nazis invade Forest Park

QNS

Queens elected officials are expressing outrage after swastikas were discovered in Forest Park on Sunday afternoon, Jan. 15.

The NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force was notified after a 65-year-old man came across the two swastikas that were spray-painted on tree stumps inside the park in the vicinity of Park Lane South between Myrtle Avenue and Freedom Drive in Richmond Hill, within the confines of the 102nd Precinct.

“Sadly, antisemitism has struck again in Queens, this time at Forest Park. Hatred against Jews is a growing issue and we cannot allow this to keep happening,” Councilwoman Lynn Schulman said. “When a constituent called this to our attention, we immediately notified the NYPD and I am thankful to the 102nd Precinct for their immediate response.”

100

 

 

QNS 

For close to a century, the Forest Park Carousel has been part of the rituals of growing up in Woodhaven, Glendale, Richmond Hill and many of the other nearby neighborhoods in Queens and Brooklyn.

In many families, several generations have fond memories of riding on the carousel as children before passing along the tradition by taking their own children or grandchildren for their first ride. The Forest Park Carousel is not only a fun ride, but also a beautiful and historically significant piece of work.

Nearly all the figures were created by the hands of legendary Master Carver Daniel C. Muller, a crucial factor in the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission’s decision to designate the Forest Park Carousel a New York City Landmark in 2013.

To gain a better understanding of Muller, we need to start with Gustav Dentzel who had learned the craft of carousel-building from his father Michael in Germany and immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1864. Though he initially took up trade as a cabinetmaker, in 1867, he began the G.A. Dentzel Steam and Horsepower Carousel Builder company.

Dentzel’s firm completed an average of four full carousels a year, some of the earliest carousels in the United States.

One of Dentzel’s carvers was also a close friend, John Heinrich Muller. When Mueller died suddenly, Dentzel raised his surviving two teenage sons as his own. The brothers, Daniel and Alfred, joined the Dentzel family business in 1890 and began carving carousel figures.

Although both brothers were talented carvers, it was Daniel C. Muller (born in 1872) who truly shone, honing his craft at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. D. C. Muller’s carvings were notable for being very beautiful and realistic. He was also known for militaristic carvings with horses sporting bugles, swords and canteens.

In 1903, the brothers left Dentzel and started their own company, D.C. Muller Brothers Carousel Manufacturing Company, a much smaller shop than Dentzel ran. The Mullers only managed to build 12 carousels over 14 years with much of the delays attributed to Muller’s attention to detail.

The Mullers closed the shop in 1917 and rejoined their former company, which had been run by William Dentzel since his father Gustav’s passing in 1909. They remained with the Dentzels until William passed away and the company folded in 1928 as the Golden Age of Carousels in America came to a close.

And that brings us to the Forest Park Carousel. In the early days of Forest Park, the golf course was much larger, covering all the land down to what is known today as Park Lane South. All the land that the Forest Park Carousel sits on today, plus all the area surrounding it, was originally part of the golf course.

The residents of Woodhaven complained and in 1923 the Parks Department reduced the size of the golf course and the land that was freed up was set aside as public park space. It was at that time that Forest Park began to more closely resemble the park we know today.

Plans for playgrounds, a concrete bandstand, tennis courts and a carousel were announced. It’s hard to imagine, but residents of Woodhaven were opposed to the placement of a carousel so close to Woodhaven Boulevard, which was a sleepy one-lane road called Woodhaven Avenue at the time.

Construction on a building to contain the carousel finished in December 1922, in the woods, well off from Woodhaven Avenue. And by the spring of 1923, a carousel was spinning in Forest Park.  The original carousel in Forest Park was a Muller creation and was owned and operated by Fred J. L. Hassinger of Glendale.

For over half a century, residents of Woodhaven and surrounding communities flocked to the Forest Park Carousel. Parents and grandparents put their children on the carousel, then sat and enjoyed the pipe organ music and the smell of hot dogs and popcorn.

Freedom drive isn't free

In light of the news of Mayor Eric Adams and the asshole NYC Health Commissioner Vasan insisting on keeping mask protocols going for toddlers, I passed by the "open street" shortcut Freedom Drive in Forest Park and saw these equally ludicrous signs on the obstruction gate at what used to be a convenient short cut for drivers who need to go to the northern and southern parts of this World's Borough of ours.

 

Distancing??? Washing hands??? Face touching??? Masking??? WE'RE FRICKIN OUTSIDE!!!

Interesting how the City Department of Health doesn't have their logo on this.

Forest Park path alternative

 Queens Chronicle

 Parts of the west section of Forest Park began to close over the past week as the Parks Department began construction on a pedestrian and bike path connecting Glendale to the side adjacent to Woodhaven.

The nearly $4 million project will create a path that will slice through the section of park just east of the Forest Park Golf Course on the western half of the park from the intersection of Myrtle Avenue and Forest Park Drive to the Seuffert Bandshell Parking Lot.

The Glendale-facing entrance begins along a segment of Forest Park Drive that now functions as an off-ramp for the Jackie Robinson Parkway. The renovation will replace what is now a dirt path worn in the shoulder of the heavily trafficked street with a sidewalk-width road intended to be shared by cyclists and pedestrians.

The design for the path continues past that point along Forest Park Drive to cut south through the park until it connects back to the wooded area behind the bandshell parking lot. The southern section will build off of an unused concrete expanse in the park blocked off to car traffic with a two-pronged path consisting of a wide pedestrian route on one side and a two-way bike path on the other.

The entrance to that wide, dual-purpose path will contain plantings and a seating area and adult fitness equipment further down. The redesign will also provide security lighting along the section of Forest Park Drive.

Residents began to notice the project getting underway when they saw a gate go up around the Forest Park picnic area by the bandshell section of the park. Last Friday afternoon construction crews were on site demarcating the path and clearing debris from the path.

Though the picnic area could be blocked off for a year — the length of time Parks expects the construction to take — the project will also provide new picnic tables, grills and coal bins in the bandshell-adjacent section when it is finished.

The total price tag for the project is $3.93 million, consisting of $1.89 million of discretionary funds contributed by Councilman Bob Holden (D-Middle Village) and his predecessor, Elizabeth Crowley, $1.2 million from the Borough President’s Office and $841,000 from the mayor.

“I’m glad this project is moving forward. Our parks are very precious throughout the city, especially in this district. That’s why I’ve allocated more than $1.3 million to Forest Park for various projects,” Holden said in a statement.

While street safety advocates celebrated the addition of a bike path to improve connections and accessibility between Forest Park and Glendale, they spoke to the larger concern over how difficult it is to safely access other large portions of the park by bike or foot.

“This project should be a model to create bike-friendly entrances from all surrounding neighborhoods, including Woodhaven and Ozone Park,” said Juan Restrepo from Transportation Alternatives in a statement. “With the nearby Jackie Robinson Parkway and Woodhaven Boulevard, Forest Park remains inaccessible to the people the park should serve. NYC DOT must amplify the new bike path by creating a network of protected bike lanes to the park.”

Juan is quite a little Hitler about the streets of NYC. Such an exemplary spokesman for the Transportation Totalitarians.

Jenifer's parking plan controversy gets some clarity, again

 

Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar walked through Woodhaven with the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Queens Commissioner Nicole Garcia last week to discuss adding parking spots to the area, sparking a heated debate about the proposal. 

Rajkumar said that a lack of parking has been a long-standing issue in Woodhaven, claiming some of her constituents even sleep in their cars waiting for a spot.

The proposed initiative would add angled parking on 98th Street between Woodhaven Boulevard and Park Lane South, turn the median striping on the Woodhaven Boulevard Service Road into parking spots and slim down the bus lane on Woodhaven Boulevard to add more spots. Rajkumar also proposed turning a private vacant lot outside of the Forest Park Co-Operative on 98th Street into a parking space.

There has been contention over the proposed parking on 98th Street near the co-op, which is right next to Forest Park. 

The confusion erupted after Rajkumar released a statement saying she would advocate to “convert” the “vacant park space” on the “corner of 98th Street and Park Lane South” into a parking lot. However, the assemblywoman has walked back on that statement, saying she never intended to take away any green space for parking.

That proposal to convert a “vacant park space” is for a gravel lot across the street from Forest Park on 98th Street.

Before the assemblywoman clarified her mistake, people took to Twitter angrily responding to her plan.

“Leave 98th Street and Park Lane South alone,” a Twitter user wrote. “I’m a Woodhaven resident, and I will never support converting public space to parking.”

All of the confusion stemming from the original statement even resulted in a protest outside of Rajkumar’s Woodhaven office on Sunday, Sept. 5. 

Rajkumar’s chief of staff clarified that statement and said none of her proposals include taking over any green spaces. 

“To be abundantly clear, Rajkumar never at any time proposed a parking lot inside Forest Park,” said Rajkumar’s chief of staff Vjola Isufaj. “Facts matter. That kind of outrageous sensationalism based on wrong facts and lies may be fun on Twitter, but it’s not truthful and isn’t helping anyone in our district.”

 

 

 

 

Queens Chronicle

Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar needs to learn to admit when she’s wrong and just move on. Instead, she’s led us and her constituents down a rabbit hole of confusion this week, one so weird and in denial of reality that seeing Alice in Wonderland joining a tea party at the Forest Park Co-op in Woodhaven would not be the strangest thing.

As with so much in Queens, the root of the problem is parking. Rajkumar, to her credit, wants to get more for residents of the co-op. She’s proposed, for one thing, some diagonal parking on 98th Street where it runs through the complex just north of Park Lane South. If there’s room, that’d be great. But she also proposed, bizarrely, creating parking in “the vacant park space at the corner of 98th and Park Lane South.”

The “vacant park space” at that corner is a part of Forest Park designated as Forever Wild by the city Parks Department. It must remain so, for the benefit of all (think drainage in a storm!). It’s also on a hill, next to an old railroad. Turning any of it into parking would be an engineering nightmare, if not impossible.

When this was pointed out to Rajkumar — and when a mix of environmentalists and her political opponents protested — her office went silent. Then, as the Chronicle pressed the issue, things got weird. A staffer claimed Rajkumar had never proposed parking at that corner. But she did, in writing, on the internet, in public. Eventually the assemblywoman sent us an email her office previously had sent the Department of Transportation claiming that she “never at any time supported such a plan.” Really? She proposed it.

Then the office shifted to claiming that she really had been talking about a “vacant plot of gravel,” with the assemblywoman herself explaining that it was not at 98th and Park Lane South but on 98th off Park Lane South. She’s apparently talking about an asphalt (not gravel) seating area in the co-op complex. It doesn’t look like it would fit many cars, but if that’s what the residents there want, OK; it’s not precious parkland. (But,but trees...-JQ)

Meanwhile, Rajkumar denies any mistakes at all, telling us that “all of the releases and plans that I have sent out were perfectly correct.” Nope. Why claim something so obviously false? Just admit the error. Otherwise it’s tea time with Alice at the co-ops.

Cute analogy, but all those charlatans still showed up and held a fake protest in front of the abandoned Rockaway Rail Line train station. And despite the "forever wild" designation, it's been a transit graveyard for 60 years. It's also not parkland. Plus Rajkumar's chief of staff sent a post clarifying the parking proposal. These actorvists chose to be confused.

You know Alice could have decided not to follow the bunny. But then there wouldn't be a story...

DSA protests Rajkumar's non-existent plan to destroy Forest Park

Queens friends, this is TOMORROW! Join AD38 comrades outside her office at noon tomorrow to protest Rajkumar’s plan to use “vacant park space” (????) for a parking lot in Forest Park. pic.twitter.com/Z3ccCM8SV2

— katelin says homes aren't commodities (she/they) (@loud_socialist) September 4, 2021

Oh my! What's this about? The assembly member wants to bulldoze part of Forest Park for a parking lot?! Really?

Hmmm. Sounds a bit suspect. I mean it would require a ULURP, change to the City Map, environmental review, etc, etc, none of which an assembly member would have any control over. And that photo is of a gate that is not inside Forest Park. This is a bit of a mess. So where did the SJWs get the idea that trees would be chopped in Forest Park?

I will be meeting Monday morning with Queens DOT Commissioner Nicole Garcia on the lack of parking in Woodhaven. I have developed a plan to open more parking spaces. I look forward to a productive meeting with the Commissioner.👇 pic.twitter.com/CJuII1wsNB

— Jenifer Rajkumar (@JeniferRajkumar) August 28, 2021

In Jen's original press release, she says she wants to "convert to parking the vacant park space at 98th Street and Park Lane South." So rather than asking for clarification on what space she was referring to, the woke went straight to cancel mode, started a nasty Twitter campaign and organized a protest. The assembly woman's office responded thusly:

Now there's nothing more delicious than a politician being caught in their own lies, but it doesn't appear that is the case here, just a matter of miscommunication/misinterpretation, something that could have been cleared up with a quick phone call. Because, indeed, there is a gravel lot or "unused park space" in this location:

If the Co-Op wants to convert its unused "park" space to parking, who the hell cares? DSA does because 1) Cars are "evil." 2) This isn't about protecting Forest Park. They stupidly ran a poet against Mike Miller and Jen won instead. Now they want her out and by any means necessary. Hence the fake "save the park" protest on Labor Day weekend. They're mostly white people from outside the district and they are organizing a hate campaign against a woman of color who beat out a white man. Not a good look!

These urbanish "comrades" should be glad that those trees might end up as wood for all those curb shanties that make it harder to park those evil cars they hate so much-JQ LLC

We rallied to protect the park from being converted into a parking lot. 📷: @aaronnarraph pic.twitter.com/E99d0S1ICC

— Maud Newton (@maudnewton) September 5, 2021

Headline: "White people with nothing better to do on Labor Day weekend protest make believe paving of Forest Park at a location that isn't Forest Park" (It's the Rockaway rail line.)

NYC Parks Department is using Forest Park as a septic waste dump

 CBS New York


There’s a nauseating mess in a popular Queens park. 

 Trucks have been spotted pouring a whole lot of waste but the more shocking discovery is who’s behind it all. 

Chunky, murky sludge gushing at full speed directly into one of the most beloved parks in Queens. 

“Smells like a sewer,” one resident said. It’s creating a soggy, muddy cesspool of bugs, trash, and who knows what else on a strip of land in Forest Park near Union Turnpike and Myrtle Avenue.

 No word from Mitchell Silver about this, not only would he not allow this in Central Park or Prospect Park, but exactly what parks this waste is coming from (maybe this shit is coming from Flushing Meadows with the U.S. Open going on)?  And to our idiot mayor, doesn't Forest Park factor in your version of the Green New Deal?

Update:
QNS

  The location is the same section of Forest Park where the agency plans to create a new entrance where parkgoers from nearby Glendale can enter from Myrtle Avenue to other sections that will also soon be revamped.

“This is not hazardous waste. These trucks were used to clear soil and sediment from our clogged catch basins and spray shower drains to prevent puddling. Fresh water from the holding tanks is used to flush the sediment,” spokeswoman Meghan Lalor said. “Any large debris will be addressed this evening and then we will follow up by raking the sediment with machinery to address anything remaining.”
 
The dumping occurred near the northeast corner of the park where people are able to enter from Myrtle Avenue. The Parks Department has been looking to revamp the area which mostly serves as a route for motorists get on the Jackie Robinson Parkway.
 
But the scene was alarming for multiple people in videos captured as the smell was bad, according to those in the video, and garbage such as water bottles and wrappers could be seen.
 
“The smell of the discharge was abhorrent. There were gallons and gallons of muck, mud, debris and heavens know what else,” said Frank Schorn, who captured the videos. “The liquid flowed into a sewer entrance some dozens of yards away. The sewer grate is nearly completely blocked with debris from prior discharges of waste.”

The truck has Jersey plates. The city hired a private carting company to dump that shit.

City worker ripped off party planning money for years at the Oak Ridge House

 

 NY Daily News

A city parks worker allegedly filched $30,000 in payments from people reserving space in a historic Queens mansion for weddings and other celebrations during a four-year spree, authorities said.

Nicole Gamory, 44, of Brooklyn, diverted security deposits and four-figure payments to her personal account from clients booking events at the Oak Ridge House, a stunning 1905 Dutch Colonial building in Forest Park.

“Gamory was entrusted with payments from clients looking to reserve a singular experience for joyous milestones, including birthday celebrations and wedding receptions,” said Margaret Garnett, commissioner of the city Department of Investigation. “Instead, (she) crashed their parties by allegedly pocketing the funds.”

The crooked clerk was suspended from her $59,000-a-year job. She was charged with a string of larceny and fraud charges.

Starting in 2014, Gamory allegedly collected checks and money orders from clients for planned events.

Revelers bring the noise at Willets Point and Forest Park parking lots

 

Queens Chronicle

 
Ed Sniadecki tried earplugs. He even bought a white noise machine.
Nothing has given him and his wife relief from the extremely loud music at night, though.

“It’s a pounding bass,” the Whitestone resident told the Chronicle last Thursday. “It resonates throughout the entire neighborhood.”

He and others say the problem ramps up in spring and summer. And according to Sniadecki, “It’s no longer a weekend thing.”

Affected residents say the main culprit is the music-blasting cars with big sound systems parked late at night in Willets Point and the World’s Fair Marina parking lot. And police responding to noise complaints have proved them right.

“Bump, bump, bump, bump,” said Dan Lamarca of Whitestone, imitating the bass sound from the cars. When he first heard it, back in 2013, he thought kids were banging on the door to his house.
It is relentless. Even at Easter dinner last month, the obnoxious noise blared in the background at Lamarca’s house.

“We’re considering selling our house and moving out,” he said.
Lamarca isn’t the only one, according to We Love Whitestone Civic Association President Alfredo Centola.

“People are literally moving out of their neighborhood because they can’t take the music anymore,” the civic leader said.

In June 2016, a South Richmond Hill man was arrested for blasting music late at night in Willets Point from a van. The vehicle — which had more than 50 speakers — was confiscated.

Queens Chronicle


Councilman Bob Holden (D-Middle Village) said he can hear people blaring music from the Forest Park Bandshell from his house.

To clarify, Holden lives in Middle Village north, two blocks away from the Long Island Expressway. In fact, when he first heard the music on a night about a month ago, he thought it was coming from Juniper Valley Park.

“It’s one thing to play music but it’s another thing to get stadium speakers and blast it where you can hear it for miles,” he told the Chronicle on Monday.

Holden posted on Facebook on April 23 that the 102nd Precinct was in the bandshell parking lot and would remain throughout the night.

One commenter posted, “This is our way of staying out of trouble .. we are in a open park not disturbing anyone in a parking lot .. yes i agree we leave a mess but add trash cans and it will be cleaner!! We aren’t there fighting killing shooting we just there playing music staying out of trouble!!...”

Holden told the Chronicle he didn’t agree with the post.

“Weren’t disturbing anyone? That’s ridiculous,” he said. “You’re disturbing people for miles away. That’s how bad it was. If they weren’t disturbing anyone, this wouldn’t be an issue. And the fact that these are grown men who said we’re staying out of trouble, what does that mean? Let us break the law and let us disturb the peace because we’re staying out of trouble. These guys have to grow up.”
Holden added, “These guys are not angels like they say on their Facebook posts. ‘Oh, we just want to hang out and have fun.’ Yeah, you want to have fun at other people’s expense and make a racket.”
He is working with the 102nd and 104th precincts to solve the problem.

“You can get a parking ticket within two minutes of your meter expiring, but the people who are actually creating a nuisance to the neighborhoods aren’t getting fined,” Holden said in a statement. “The NYPD needs to crack down on these complaints or else the disturbances will never stop.”

NYPD call boxes now in Forest Park

From DNA Info:

Joggers and cyclists frequenting Forest Park can now call for emergency help with the press of a button, thanks to several solar-powered call boxes recently installed throughout the green space.

The NYPD has already placed eight such boxes in the park, with nine more slated to be installed there by June 29, the department said.

The 500-acre green space is popular among local families and sports aficionados, but it has seen its share of violence in recent years, including a string of sexual assaults, several robberies, numerous car break-ins and a murder.

Following the series of sexual attacks, the 102nd Precinct assigned permanent patrols to monitor the park, and last summer, 14 cameras were placed in seven locations around the park, after Assemblyman Mike Miller and State Sen. Joseph Addabbo allocated $250,000 for that purpose in 2013.

Councilman Eric Ulrich, whose constituents frequent the green space, allocated $140,000 for the call boxes, hoping that they "will help to keep Forest Park visitors safe,” he said.

Assemblyman Miller also footed a portion of the bill, according to Ulrich's office.

The locations of the new call boxes, which include Metropolitan Avenue and Forest Park Drive as well as Woodhaven Boulevard and Forest Park Drive, were determined by the NYPD, officials said.

Valentine's skunk seems oddly appropriate

From NBC:

Pepe the Love Skunk will spend this Valentine's Day in a safe, secluded part of Forest Park in Queens after he made a surprise appearance at a greenhouse, according to NYC Parks Rangers.

The skunk, affectionately named for the famous cartoon character, was captured in the Forest Park Greenhouse in Queens on Tuesday.

Parks wildlife experts said that the skunk is in good health and has been humanely relocated elsewhere in the park.

Cameras finally installed in Forest Park

From DNA Info:

After numerous delays owing to red tape in Albany, NYPD security cameras have finally been installed around Forest Park, nearly three years after the last assault in a string of sexual attacks that terrified parkgoers.

In total, 14 cameras were placed in seven locations around the 500-acre park last week, including at the entrances to the park, near main trails used by bicyclists and joggers, and close to playgrounds, officials said.

The equipment was installed after Assemblyman Mike Miller and State Sen. Joseph Addabbo allocated $250,000 for the cameras to be placed in the park back in 2013.

Officials said they hope the cameras will serve as a deterrent to crime and that they will also help identify suspects in the future.

Trib visits NYPD Mounted Unit

From the Queens Tribune:

The NYPD Mounted Unit, or police officers who ride on horses, could be called the NYPD’s secret weapon. As is the case with the canine unit, the animals enhance the officer’s ability to do their job. They help them see further down the block. (The officers call themselves “the ten-foot-cops.”) They prevent them from getting snuck up on. They allow them to get a job done faster.

But ‘weapon’ wouldn’t really be the right word. Because the peaceful giants that the officers ride inspire the opposite reaction from a “weapon.” Mostly, the faces of children and adults alike light up with wonder and excitement when they see the mounted unit clomping down their street. And that ability is more potent and beneficial than the horses’ keen senses and size could ever be. So call them the department’s secret “strategy.”

Citywide, there are about 50 officers that are part of the mounted unit. Eight of those officers belong to Troop F, based in Cunningham Park. Depending on where they’re needed, these officers will patrol Forest Park, Steinway Street in Astoria and Citifield, as well as in the Bronx, Manhattan and Coney Island.

Still no cameras at Forest Park

From the Queens Chronicle:

Two years after Assemblyman Mike Miller (D-Woodhaven) secured $250,000 for surveillance cameras in Forest Park, the state Division of Budget earlier this month approved the funds, according to a spokesman at the agency.

Now, Miller said in a phone interview on Tuesday, the money must be released to the NYPD, which will purchase and install the cameras. The assemblyman hopes that process can begin before the new year.

The surveillance cameras were a major topic of discussion at last Saturday’s Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association meeting, where several residents said they would help with deterring crime in the park.

“Just like how we’re not going to let people force things down our throats, we’re not going to let people sit on things that we really need in our community,” WRBA President Martin Colberg said. “We’re at a point where there is no reason where this should still be sitting there.”

There have been some incidents in Forest Park recently that residents claim could’ve been deterred, or more easily solved by police, if cameras were present.

About two weeks ago, a body was found in the park near Woodhaven Boulevard and Myrtle Avenue. In June, a homeless man was accused of murdering a jogger around the same area.

There have also been a series of car break-ins near the park in the past few years.

What happened to Forest Park's lake?

I came across this photo labelled "Forest Park Lake, Queens, 1936" and figured this must have been a mistake, because there's no place in Forest Park that looks like this. A sailboat pond with a walkway around it? No way.

So I started sleuthing via old maps. This 1951 aerial shot of the park does seem to show a body of water with a sidewalk around it just east of Woodhaven Blvd. So what happened to it?

Buildings. Lots of buildings.

Bad stuff happening in Queens parks lately

From A Walk in the Park:

Four males were slashed with razors inside Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, NYC Park Advocates has learned.

Four men were sitting on a bench inside the park at 11 p.m. on November 4th, when a group of male Hispanics on bikes approached and began cursing.

Two assailants got off the bikes and pulled razors. One slashed a 41-year-old victim in his hand who was on a cell phone causing him to drop the phone.

The attackers picked it up and when the victim's friends protested, the two attackers slashed his three friends as well.

The victims were all male 41 (phone stolen) 28, 28, and 26.

The incident occurred in the park near northeast corner of 49th Avenue and 111th Street within the confines of the 110 Pct.

Police apprehended the suspects on bikes nearby a few hours later at 2:30 a.m. on November 5th.

From A Walk in the Park:

A walk in the park turned into a nightmare for an Asian husband and wife this week when they were mugged in Kissena Corridor Park.

The couple, male, 34, and female, 31 were in the park near 45 Avenue & Colden St. at 8:50pm when they were approached from behind by two assailants in black wearing masks.

One punched the female in the back of the head causing her to fall on the ground. While she was on the floor one held the husband and twisted his arm behind his back and removed $ 50 from the victim's pants pockets.

The perps fled southbound on Colden St. according to police.

From the Daily News:

A Queens man was found dead in a park, cops said Saturday.

The man was found in Forest Park on Myrtle Ave. near Woodhaven Blvd in Kew Gardens on Friday night around 10 p.m., cops said. He was unconscious and unresponsive.

A city Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death.

Stopped in their tracks

Facebook

"Hi Crappie, Last night I went to see the Queens Symphony play a concert in Forest Park. In the beginning, Melinda Katz got up on stage to sing a couple tunes - after all it was her father who started the Queens Symphony and she has been singing with them for many years. First though, she had to introduce the audience to her two sons, Hunter and Carter, and Curtis Sliwa, their father, who of course was wearing his red beret and jacket. I give her an A for getting up there and singing although some of the notes were cringe worthy. The conductor complimented her and said, "We could have the best singing Borough President in the city and she's not bad looking either."

During the concert, a group of about 12 bikers on ATV's and dirt bikes came roaring out of the woods in a cloud of dust and the conductor made a comment about the noise as they tore up the main road. On the way to the bathroom, I mentioned the incident to a Parks worker with a badge and he was unaware of what happened so I went over to a 102 PCT Police car in the parking lot just so they would have a heads up. Sure enough, the bikers came roaring back a half hour later with two Police vehicles on their tail and they got them right on the road by the concert. So on top of a great concert on a beautiful night we got to see a light show courtesy of the NYPD." - Rich

Forest Park cameras a victim of red tape

From the Queens Tribune:

In 2013, Assemblyman Mike Miller (D-Woodhaven) announced that money was allocated to place NYPD security cameras in the park in response to crimes occurring that year, including an attempted rape.

The $250,000 project, which was done in conjunction with State Sen. Joe Addabbo (D-Middle Village), aims to serve as a deterrent to crime in the park and help the local police precinct catch criminals if something does happen, Miller has said in the past.

While it was announced nearly two years ago, the plan has not yet become a reality, but appears to be happening soon.

Angel Vazquez, chief of staff for Miller’s office, said the cameras have to clear one more bureaucratic hurdle before they are placed in the park.

According to Vazquez, The Assembly’s Ways and Means Committee, as well as the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, approved the cameras and now it must get the green light from Gov. Cuomo’s State Division of Budget.

The reason for the delay, Vazquez said, was over a small conflict in deciding who would pick where the cameras are installed. Because the money was allocated to be placed in a specific area, Vazquez said Miller’s office wanted control the NYPD, to make sure the cameras were placed in Forest Park instead of another part of the city. The NYPD did not respond to a request for comment as of press time.

Forest Park potholes painted

From WPIX:

Neighbors in Queens are drawing attention to some recent work along Forest Part Drive. Portions were resurfaced and some potholes were filled. Others appear to have been painted over.