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The Daily Plant : Friday, August 30, 2002
A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME WOULD NOT BE ROSEWOOD PLAYGROUND
You’ve got to love the new playgrounds. Awash with primary colors, old school Potsy games painted on the concrete, and some sort of educational or cultural aspect, these playgrounds should make every New Yorker proud. They are a far cry from the playgrounds of the past with dull colors and empty expanses of asphalt. Rosewood Playground in Bronx Park is a prime example of how far Parks design has come in last two decades. Just walking through the gate with its rose silhouettes adorning the metal frame, a feeling of youth, a carefree feeling, and a desire to run and jump and play Double-Dutch overtakes you.
On Tuesday, August 27, 2002, Commissioner Benepe joined Borough Commissioner Lewandowski, David Fraiser Chief of Staff to Council Member Larry Seabrook, Lt. Richard Evans from the 47th Precinct, and Christine Forman the Parks Chair to Community Board 12, to cut the ribbon culminating a year long $477,000 restoration project. This neighborhood green space was beautifully redesigned by the design firm of Faye, Spoffard, and Thorndike of New York, Inc. Working closely with Parks Project Managers Larissa Wayne-Paulmeno and Andrew Penzi, the construction of this playground went smoothly and finished on time.
In its reconstruction, Rosewood Playground was given a Beauty and The Beast theme. Character silhouettes representing moments from the classic children’s tale adorn the playgrounds fences reminding everyone that beauty is more than skin deep. Additional improvements to Rosewood include new concrete curbs, asphalt pavements, new fencing, new benches, new plantings, a reconstructed flagpole, and improved water services including drinking fountains and spray showers. The construction was capped off with new play equipment and safety surfacing.
On hand, and enchanting the crowd with their amazing voices, were kids from the Zimmerman Summer Program. Niasha Wilson’s rendition of the National Anthem left the crowd breathless, and just when they caught it again Chantal Taylor Grey took it away with "America the Beautiful." To round out the day’s entertainment, Shaquena Pugh gave a stirring performance of R&B classic by Mariah Carey "Can’t Take That Away From Me."
As the day wound down, and the crowd began to disperse, one look back showed you just how great this new playground was going to be for the neighborhood. With kids on slides, kids climbing on play equipment, kids playing Potsy and Double-Dutch you could just feel the New York summer in the air.
Written by Jeffrey Sandgrund
THIRTEEN YEARS AGO IN THE PLANT
(Friday, September 8, 2002)
MAYOR KOCH DEDICATES RAVENSWOOD PLAYGROUND
September 5 was an upbeat day in Ravenswood Playground in more ways that one. Dozens of five-year-olds frolicked and climbed on new timber play equipment, the Phil Coasta Something Special Swing Band filled the air with jazz, and Mayor Edward I. Koch joined Queens community leaders to celebrate the playground’s $1.3 million restoration.
Speaking to neighborhood residents, and a group of 50 children from the Joseph DiMarco Childcare Center, the Mayor said that Ravenswood Playground has been made specifically for the kids in the area. The children then stood up and the Mayor had them pledge to protect the park, keep it clean, and report anyone who put graffiti on it, The three-acre playground is located in the middle of Ravenswood Houses, at 21st Street between 34th and 35th Avenues in Astoria.
QUOTATION FOR THE DAY
"I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life
which are the real ones after all."
Laura Ingalls Wilder
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