Van Cortlandt Park

The Daily Plant : Thursday, April 5, 2012

Parks & Courts Of Dreams Foundation Team Up At Van Cortlandt

On April 2, Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe joined Courts of Dreams Foundation co-founders Natasha and Marc Cornstein, Congressman Elliot Engel, State Senator Jeff Klein, State Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz, students from M.S. 344 and P.S. /M.S. 95, and members of Bronx Community Board 8, the Friends of Van Cortlandt Park, and the Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy to break ground on $162,000 in renovations at Van Cortlandt Park’s Classic Playground Basketball courts. During the ceremony, attendees were treated to choral performances from both P.S. 344 and P.S. /M.S. 95.

“Thanks to funding from the Courts of Dreams Foundation and Mayor Bloomberg, Classic Playground will maintain its traditional feel, but the basketball courts will soon be brand new,” said Commissioner Benepe. “Two reconstructed courts, with ample seating for spectators, will give kids in this community even more opportunities to play outside and stay fit this summer. This is the third facility that Courts of Dreams has helped us to renovate, allowing us to bring health and happiness to another neighborhood.”

“We are so appreciative of Commissioner Benepe's leadership and our partnership with the Parks Department,” said Natasha Cornstein, co-founder and chair of the Courts of Dreams Foundation. “We are thrilled to have construction underway and can't wait to see the beautifully restored courts filled with laughter and children's voices.”

The $162,000 project is funded in equal amounts by Mayor Bloomberg and the Courts of Dreams Foundation, and will reconstruct the park’s two existing basketball courts, including the installation new asphalt pavement, backboards, court lines, benches, and the cleaning of the site’s storm drains.

The Courts of Dreams Foundation is an organization whose mission is to restore and maintain outdoor basketball courts for children in NYC neighborhoods and around the world, fostering healthy, safe, communities while promoting the values of basketball, such as team work, mutual respect and leadership.

FROM AI TO SZE
Parks Public Art Projects Garner Top Honors
From International Association of Art Critics

The International Association of Art Critics (US Section) has awarded Parks public art projects the two top honors for “Best Project In A Public Space” in 2011. The recipients were Ai Wei Wei’s Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads, Pulitzer Fountain, Grand Army Plaza (May 2-July 15, 2011), organized by Larry Warsh/AW Asia and Sarah Sze’s Still Life with Landscape: Model for a Habitat, the High Line (June 2011-June 2012), curated by Lauren Ross. An awards ceremony was held at the Asia Society on Monday, April 2, 2012.

QUOTATION FOR THE DAY

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

Albert Einstein
(1879 – 1955)