Central Park

The Daily Plant : Thursday, November 15, 2001

DAFFODIL PLANTING ASSUMES INTERNATIONAL PROPORTIONS

Photo by Nate (Sitka) Harris

Dana (Violet) Litvack, Director of Operations for Partnerships for Parks and Eileen (Funny Girl) Remor, Volunteer Events Manager for Partnerships for Parks met Slovakian Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda on Saturday, November 3 to plant daffodils in a Manhattan park. Dzurinda, who flew to New York to run the marathon, was accompanied by a group of Slovak dignitaries and citizens. While here, they took part in the citywide campaign to plant one million daffodil bulbs as a memorial to the victims of the September 11 attacks.

The group went to work in Churchill Square Park on Bleecker Street and 6^th Avenue, a park with a clear view of the Empire State Building. Lynden B. (Wildflower) Miller gave the Prime Minister and his associates planting instructions, which Litvack translated into Czech, a language that is close to Slovak. Soon after, the group was joined by approximately ten fire fighters, who participated in the planting.

Thanks to everyone who organized the event, especially Eileen Remor; Dana Litvack; Nate (Sitka) Harris; Outreach Coordinator for Manhattan; and Bill (Bell Tower) Tai, Park Manager. And thanks to Remor’s cousins, Peter, Anton, and Marion Stastny, famous Slovak hockey players whose names were instantly familiar to Prime Minister Dzurinda and helped break the ice.

Commissioner Henry J. (StarQuest) Stern; Dan (Snow Leopard) Wharton, Director of the Central Park Zoo; and Bruce Foster, Animal Collections Manager revealed a new exhibit for New York animal lovers on Thursday, November 8. Damon the Caiman, last seen being scooped out of the Harlem Meer by skilled "alligator wrestlers," has settled into temporary residence at Central Park’s Tisch Children’s Zoo. On Thursday, Parks and the Zoo revealed the new exhibit and debuted a Damon the Caiman musical performance, composed by the zoo’s theater troupe. For those who have not tuned in to this story since it first broke in June, Damon the Caiman has been identified as a female crocodile. She is expected to remain in New York until a proper home is found in South America.

Read an earlier Plant article on Damon the Caiman.

At the Central Park Conservancy, even canines enjoy the privileges of membership. In April, Karen LeFrak and her dog, Jewel, founded the Central Barkers. Today, the group counts 220 animals as members. Barkers act as stewards of the park, leading by example and showing other beasts how to treat Central Park with respect. They are advocates for dog’s rights and donors to the Conservancy. Implicit in the program is the fact that dogs and dog owners are among the most dedicated users of Central Park.

(Tuesday, November 22, 1988)

Youngsters between the ages of 9 and 18 competed in the Pepsi Hot-Shot Area Playoffs last weekend at the Dunleavy-Milbank Community Center on 118^th Street between Fifth and Lenox Avenues in Manhattan. The annual competition is conducted by the Recreation Division.

First-place finishers were: Charlene Canty and Lamont Conclisse in the 9- to 12-year-old division: Jennie Canty, Anthony, Washington, and Enrique Cordero for the 13- to 15-year-olds; and Tawanda Glover and Joseph Rogers in the 16- to 18-year-old category.

"Leaves of the trees fall;

Walking on and on."

Hosai (1885-1926)

Know Before You Go

Harlem Meer Center (formerly Lasker Rink)

Harlem Meer Center