Central Park

At the Bronx Zoo on Friday, November 2, Parks announced the formation of the Bronx River Alliance, an incorporated team of advocates, who will manage the $90 million restoration of the Bronx River, a project with ecological, economic, and social implications for the Bronx’s riverfront communities.

City, State, and Federal agencies are united in a threefold vision to clean the Bronx River, improve access to the water, and create a continuous bikeway from the Westchester County border to the Long Island Sound. Parks has already begun to design parkland up and down the length of the river. In the last four years, more than 40 acres of land have been acquired. In the last two years, through efforts to engage volunteers, Parks leveraged new sponsors for an Adopt-the-River Program, and managed an enormous clean up effort in which the National Guard helped remove 22 cars and extract 10,000 tires from the river. This year, with funding from Con Edison, positions were created for a Bronx River Conservation Specialist and a Bronx River Administrator to care for this vastly improved resource.

Commissioner Henry J. (StarQuest) Stern, John Calveli, Vice President of External Affairs for the Wildlife Conservation Society; Randy Price, Vice President of Environmental Health & Safety for Con Edison; Paul (Garrison) Kinkel, Vice President of Bronx and Westchester for Con Edison; Gail (Glenbrook) McMillan, Director of Bronx Public Affairs for Con Edison; Alexie (Organizer) Torres-Fleming, Chair of the Bronx River Alliance; Bill (Zorro) Castro, Bronx Borough Commissioner; and Jenny (Aqua Terra) Hoffner, Director of Waterways and Trailways were among those who toasted the new Alliance at Friday’s cocktail party.

Playgrounds are like kids. They get dirty. They have accidents. The trees and plants inside them grow impressively large. They require regular care and constant attention and sometimes they grow in spurts. The Bronx’s Castle Hill just experienced a $1.1 million growth spurt in which it acquired new recreational and safety features.

Council Member Lucy (Queen Rose) Cruz funded the addition of colorful new play equipment and a spray shower for the summertime. On the basketball courts, new backstops, hoops, and color seal coating were installed. The handball courts were re-paved and the wall resurfaced. We built fencing for safety and a drinking fountain for cooling off, and just for fun—since that’s what playgrounds are for—animal art. Throughout the park, Parks planted diverse vegetation that will bring kids closer to nature.

At a ribbon cutting ceremony on Monday, October 29, Commissioner Henry J. (StarQuest) Stern, Bill (Zorro) Castro, Bronx Borough Commissioner; Enrique Vega, Chair of Community Board 9; Paul Hartman, Captain of the 43^rd Precinct; Jeffrey Roth, Principal of JHS 127; Marianne Alling, Director of Special Education for School District #1; and Harry Brown, a member of the Parkchester Board of Directors addressed a crowd of children.

(Wednesday, November 16, 1988)

Assistant Commissioner for Recreation Pelham Fritz died of cancer Saturday at the Cavalry Hospital in the Bronx. A native of Trinidad, Fritz lived in the Riverton section of Harlem and was a leader in developing community-based sports and social service programs after coming to New York in 1928. He used recreation to teach the value of education to youngsters growing up on the playgrounds in Harlem and around the city.

"The qualities and capacities that are important in running—such factors as will power, the ability to apply effort during extreme fatigue and the acceptance of pain—have a radiating power that subtly influences
one’s life."