Central Park

Hamilton Fish Recreation Center hosted the second annual Five Boro Swim Championships on Saturday, August 25. The borough of Brooklyn was crowned ruler of the still, blue water. Swimmers ages 6 to 18 received individual awards. The meet marked the highpoint of Parks’ outdoor swim season. And summer 2001 included just the kind of weather that makes 275 hundred athletic New York kids want to dive into the water and stay there. Thanks to Director of Citywide Aquatics John (Neptunis) Hutchins and all of Parks’ aquatics specialists for making this summer a fun one not only for competitive swimmers, but the for the 6,000 New Yorkers who learned to swim for free.

Just four days after the championships, on August 29, Commissioner Henry J. (StarQuest) Stern marked the conclusion of the night owl and early bird lap swim season with a pool party in John Jay Park. He presented awards to the summer’s most dedicated swimmers. Each morning and night they suited up, donned their caps, and, with a small wave, dove in and lapped up the goodness of summer. 8,864 miles later, autumn falls, and the summer’s 4,336 lap swimmers head indoors. But before we turn our attention to autumn sports, a word about what a great summer it was for waterbabies. On the summer’s hottest day, 40,000 New Yorkers enjoyed Parks’ swimming pools. Even on cloudy days, Manhattan pools, for example, saw as many as 5,000 swimmers.

Please participate in Parks’ next blood drives on Wednesday, September 12 and Thursday, September 13 from 8:30 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. Volunteers are also needed to help with sign-in, food service, and record-keeping. For giving blood, you will receive three hours of comp time. For more information, please contact your blood drive coordinator: Tarice (Mystique) Harris 830:7814 (Arsenal West), Sydney Goldstein 360-2778 (Arsenal North), Hedi (Headlight) Piel 360-3442 (The Arsenal), Veronica (Faerydust) Llanos 408-0221 (Manhattan Borough), or Jennifer Milone 310-6626 (Central Park Conservancy).

(Monday, September 12, 1988)

Parks will bring together an electrifying combination of 10 dance companies to five outdoor parks in Manhattan on September 14, 15, 16, 19, and 20 from 5 to 7 p.m. This free International Dance Festival will be performed by companies with styles ranging from Chinese folk dancing to salsa and modern ballet.

"This festival is part of a Parks Department effort to bring free entertainment and cultural events to neighborhoods all over the city," said Jennifer Vermont-Davis, organizer of the festival and director of Parks’ New York Kids on Stage theater program. "The groups will display many different styles and backgrounds and we hope New Yorkers will enjoy the versatility of each company."

"I know it’s only rock ‘n’ roll but I like it."

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards