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.

Local lakes getting some love

From the NY Times:

It is the largest lake in New York City, a historic salt marsh that was flooded when Flushing Meadows-Corona Park was fashioned from a former ash dump to host the 1939 World’s Fair.

But while years of effort and millions of dollars have gone toward cleaning up the city’s major waterways, like the Hudson and Bronx Rivers, city officials and parks advocates have paid less attention to Meadow Lake and the four dozen other lakes and ponds scattered across the parkland.

And it shows: At Meadow Lake, excessive algae can turn the water a sickly yellowish-green and the shore is lined with phragmites, an invasive reed. Its waters are compromised by runoff from the nearby Grand Central Parkway and Van Wyck Expressway, spent coals from barbecues in the park and even goose droppings.

Now, in a possible model for other city lakes and ponds, the parks department is trying to restore the 70-acre lake to health, or at least mitigate some of the excess nutrients like phosphorous and nitrogen that cause algae blooms and other problems.

Along the eastern bank, a recently completed project expanded the shoreline with native plants that naturally filter runoff, and a bioswale — a long channeled trench — was dug and landscaped to capture runoff before it reaches the lake.

A similar project is under construction on the opposite shore, where on a recent afternoon, mallard ducks swam in a new wetland area, planted with sedges and rushes, whose main purpose is to intercept stormwater runoff from a large parking lot and the Grand Central Parkway beyond.

Another lake in trouble is in Bowne Park, in Flushing, Queens. While it is not listed as having blue-green algae, the lake has become smothered by other kinds of algae in recent summers, and residents have complained.

This past summer, City Councilman Paul Vallone, whose district includes the 12-acre park, allocated $1.45 million toward improving the water quality in the lake, where two fountains provide some aeration. The Queens borough president, Melissa Katz, dedicated another $1 million toward the project.

Flushing Meadows-Corona Park is literally a dump

From WPIX:

The lake is a busy area at Flushing Meadows Corona Park. A family was sick of seeing the trash piling up in the water. They contacted PIX11 Reporter Greg Mocker who put on waders to remove some trash.

Hey, if we adequately staffed the park with workers, we wouldn't need reporters to clean it up. But that would mean the City Council would have to allocate adequate funding for it, and it's much more fun to make deals with developers to sell off pieces of the park in return for a "park fund" that will no doubt get looted (again).

Dead woman found in Kissena Lake

From Eyewitness News:

An investigation is underway after a woman's body was found Saturday morning in a lake in Flushing, Queens.

At about 7:45 a.m., police responded to the vicinity of 164th Street and Booth Memorial Avenue.

Upon arrival, officers found a 63-year old woman unconscious and unresponsive in Kissena Lake.

EMS responded and pronounced the woman dead at the scene.

So far, police do not suspect any criminality.