Central Park

The Daily Plant : Thursday, May 30, 2002

THE BEACHES ARE OPEN AND SUMMER IS HERE

Saturday, May 25, marked the opening day of the 2002 beach season. Thousands of New Yorkers enjoyed a beautiful Memorial Day weekend at one of New York City’s seven public beaches. On Thursday, May 23, Mayor Bloomberg, along with Commissioner Benepe, swore in this year’s lifeguards who will protect swimmers for the summer. The next day, children from P.S. 90 celebrated the beach opening with Commissioner Benepe, Brooklyn Borough Commissioner Julius Spiegel, Council Member Joseph Addabbo, Council Member Domenic Recchia and Assembly Member Adele Cohen. Across the city, in the Bronx, the new nature center at Orchard Beach was officially opened to the public on Wednesday, May 22. The beach season promises to be a safe and enjoyable one. Beach revelers should remember to only swim when a lifeguard is on duty. New York City’s 14 miles of sand will be open for fun until September 2 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily when lifeguards are on duty.

Getting local communities involved in the improvement and maintenance of their local public open space is essential in keeping those spaces healthy, while contributing to the vitality of the neighborhood. Park stewardship has always been the underlying theme to Forest Park’s volunteer and school programs; people working together for a common goal, connected by a common purpose creates a sense of unity and responsibility for the world they inhabit.

This year, Forest Park has received two grants which will support our efforts in continuing the stewardship theme. Josephine Scalia, Environmental Services Coordinator, procured the funds for both programs. "Our staff has seen that volunteers can make a big difference in helping with park improvements. Getting groups to return to the park, concentrating their efforts on one particular area, and providing a fun and educational experience promotes commitment and instills a sense of park stewardship. It is their park… and that’s the most important goal we hope to achieve," said Scalia.

The New York City Environmental Fund gave The Forest Park Trust Inc. a grant for $20,000 for its Natural Resource Stewards Program, whose goal is to get the community involved in the protection, improvement and restoration of the park’s natural areas. Forest Park’s stewards’ manager, Luke Hostetler, has been working with the Ranger Conservation Corps and Conservation in Action Program and has been conducting monthly woodland restoration workshops. The stewards have worked on the renovation of the Blue Hiking Trail, the maintenance of the meadow, correcting erosion problems, and deterring the spread of invasive exotic plants that plague our natural areas. This summer, thanks to a $35,000 grant from the Commonwealth Fund, Forest Park will be launching the Landscape Stewards Program, which will involve nine groups committed to monthly projects to enhance three key formal gardens within the park. Alfred Holden, Forest Park’s horticulture crew chief, will manage this program. Volunteers will weed, water, deadhead, prepare beds, plant and repair lawns.

(Thursday, June 8, 1989)

New Yorkers will soon form a line around the Great Lawn and pray for clear skies on the opening night of the 27^th consecutive year of the New York Shakespeare Festival’s free summer series in Central Park. The series begins at the Delacorte Theater on June 23 with "Twelfth Night," directed by Harold Guskin. "Titus Andronicus," directed by Michael Maggio, will open on August 4.

Joseph Papp, the Brooklyn-born founder and producer of the Shakespeare Festival, first offered his free Shakespeare evenings in 1954 at the Emmanuel Church on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, with a weekly budget of $20.

"There are no uninteresting things, only uninterested people."

Gilbert K. Chesterton

(1874-1936)

Know Before You Go

Harlem Meer Center (formerly Lasker Rink)

Harlem Meer Center