Barretto Park

The Daily Plant : Tuesday, July 12, 2005

MAYOR BLOOMBERG JOINS PARKS & RECREATION TO BREAK GROUND AT BARRETTO POINT PARK

photograph by Malcolm Pinckney

On Sunday, July 10, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg joined Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe, Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Emily Lloyd, Congressman Jose Serrano, Assembly Member Carmen Arroyo, City Council Member Maria del Carmen Arroyo, and Community Board 2 Chair Roberto Garcia to break ground at Barretto Point Park in the South Bronx. This five-acre waterfront park will give the Bronx one of New York City’s most beautiful spots for waterfront access.

Although the land is currently undeveloped, the sunny weather and the open view across the East River gave those in attendance a glimpse of how beautiful a place this will become. And the wait won’t be long, as work on the $6.9 million park will be wrapped up in the fall of 2006.

"Barretto Point Park will be another great park for the Bronx and a beautiful addition to the City’s rapidly changing waterfront," said Mayor Bloomberg. "As we have also shown in Fort Totten in Queens, Greenpoint and Williamsburg in Brooklyn and Staten Island’s Homeport, this administration is committed to revitalizing and improving our waterfront."

Commissioner Benepe added, "We are thrilled to announce the creation of a new park in the South Bronx. Thanks to vision and generous funding by Mayor Bloomberg, waterfront parks throughout New York City are experiencing a renaissance. In the Bronx, we have focused on improving waterfront access and expanding our greenway system."

The highlight of Barretto Point Park’s design is an undulating promenade that will be lined with benches and trees, and will circle a large central lawn. A stone and grass amphitheater and stage overlooking the East River and skyline vistas will provide a scenic spot for concerts, plays, and other performances. A beach volleyball court will lie between the central lawn and the natural sand beach, providing recreation particularly appropriate to the park’s waterfront setting. A concrete channel along the shoreline promenade will carry water from a decorative spray shower through a series of twists and turns before spilling into the river. Athletic courts, play equipment, a comfort station, a boathouse, a custom designed ornamental steel fence, and perimeter plantings will make up the park’s border.

Recycled plastic lumber used in the benches, picnic tables, cribbing, and barrier rails will make Barretto Point Park especially friendly to the environment. Boulders, fieldstone, and stone veneer will be used throughout the park to draw upon the rocky Bronx shoreline and the exposed ledge common throughout the borough.

Barretto Point Park is named after Francis J. Barretto, former State Assembly Member for Westchester County. He and his wife, Julia Coster, owned an estate in the area during the 1800’s. Prior to 1950, the site housed a sand and gravel operation and an asphalt plant. In 2001, Parks & Recreation acquired the property from the Department of Environmental Protection. At that time, it was designated a brownfield site as a result of years of industrial use. Parks and DEP worked to decontaminate the area and subjected it to a series of environmental tests to ensure the property is clean.

"Barretto Point Park is another example of how DEP can partner with Parks to create new and exciting environments to improve neighborhoods at the same time as we improve our facilities," said DEP Commissioner Lloyd.

-written by Michael Biblowit

"One filled with joy preaches without preaching."

Mother Teresa of Calcutta
(1910-1997)