Central Park

The Daily Plant : Wednesday, July 21, 2004

PARK DREAMS: GOING FOR THE GOLD

For some, parks are a place to escape the trials of the day and succumb to the peaceful beauty of nature. Parks are a place of relaxation, a refuge from fast-paced city life. For others, they are a place where dreams are envisioned and where they are kept alive. Green spaces of hope, desire, and victory, parks engender dreams that begin with the crossing of a finish line or the hitting of a homerun.

Olympic athletes Diane Dixon, Abie Grossfield, Dominick Minicucci, Jack Simes III, and Nelson Vails joined Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe, Sports Commissioner Kenneth Podziba, NYC2012’s Director of Sports Wendy Hilliard, and campers from Oasis in Central Park Day Camp on Thursday, July 15, at the Harlem Meer to announce the Park Dreams program. The initiative honors Olympians and other remarkable athletes who honed their talents in New York City parks.

"Park Dreams is designed to permanently honor Olympians and to show local children that they, too, can reach great heights," said Commissioner Benepe. Park Dreams features signs of each athlete, along with a photo and quotation. The signs will be posted in the parks with which each athlete has a personal association.

For Olympian Nelson Vails, being honored in Central Park is a reminder of the training ground that prepared him to win the Silver Medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. On his bike, Vails would race taxicabs along Fifth Avenue and 102^nd Street and cycle through Central Park after sundown. He reminded the 60 campers present to always live their dreams.

"If I can do it, then you can do it," said Vails. "Never give up on your dreams, no matter how difficult it may be to achieve them."

Throughout the coming months, other Olympic and professional athletes will be honored with plaques at parks and playgrounds in all five boroughs. Distinguished participating athletes include New York Knicks guard and 2004 Olympian Stephon Marbury, Mets reliever John Franco, Yankee coach Willie Randolph, Olympians Bob Beamon, Al Oerter, and Gail Marquis, and WNBA star and gold medallist Chamique Holdsclaw.

The City of New York is a candidate to host the 2012 Summer Olympics. "If we are chosen to host the 2012 Olympics, millions of dollars will be invested in New York City parks," said Wendy Hillard. "It will be a great legacy and further help improve parks and its venues."

For the campers and thousands of children for whom New York City’s parks are backyards, playing professional basketball or winning a gold medal in the 2012 Olympics is nothing short of a park dream.

Written by Melissa Kuhn

"Imagination and fiction make up more than three-quarters of our real life."

Simone Weil
(1909-1943)

Know Before You Go

Harlem Meer Center (formerly Lasker Rink)

Harlem Meer Center