Central Park

The Daily Plant : Wednesday, November 3, 2004

BEST OF PARKS, PART IV

Recreation Centers are the bedrock of Parks & Recreation’s citywide sports and recreational programs, serving tens of thousands of youth and seniors each year. For the second time in three years, Lost Battalion Hall in Queens was recognized with the Recreation Center Award at the Best of Parks Ceremony, held on October 20 at Central Park’s Delacorte Theater. Center Director Joann Ciorciari’s team includes Lynn M. Dellosantos, Jennie Allocca, Betty Morlio, Donna A. Martin, Eric Friedman and Nikki Davis.

Children are the number one priority at Parks & Recreation. This year’s Best Youth Program Award went to St. Mary Recreation Center’s New Beginnings Program, in the Bronx. New Beginnings is a unique partnership with the Department of Education that aims to engage and educate students who have been disruptive in their regular high schools. The New Beginnings Center serves as an alternative educational and enrichment program with the goal of curtailing negative behavior and enhancing students’ prospects for graduation from high school and becoming productive members of society.

Key New Beginnings staff includes Center Manager Geoff A. Huston, Recreation Director Jennifer Jarrell, Administrative Staff Analyst Sharon Dobie Lewis, Department of Education Assistant Principal Ezequiel Garcia and Teacher Ollie Thacker.

Public/private partnerships are a critical and growing part of Parks & Recreation’s success. The Best Partnership Award recognized St. James Recreation Center’s Afterschool program, which partners with Fordham University. Over 60 youth daily, ages 6 to 13, participate in St. James’ Afterschool program. At the end of their regular school days, children participate in a number of different cultural programs, including poetry writing, drawing and sculpting. St. James members hold regular poetry slams and publish a book of original poetry every year.

Key participants in the St. James/Fordham partnership include Center Manager Kim McNeal, Seasonal Recreation Supervisors Arlene Belton and Gerome Ferreira, Consultant and Fordham Partnership Project Coordinator Rafael Pagan, Founder and supporter of the Fordham Partnership Project Col. John Dooley and Fordham Partnership Project’s Dr. Patricia Bromwell.

Everyone loves big special events like the Marathon and SummerStage. This year, Best of Parks recognized an innovative new addition to Parks & Recreation’s calendar: Winterfest in Central Park.

Winter Festival in Central Park, now entering its fifth year, offers a bonanza of fun, if cold, activities on the East Meadow, including cross-country skiing, snow shoeing, and snow-tubing. In the last two years, over 20,000 New Yorkers have reveled in the sometimes man-made snow and enjoyed children’s activities, ice slides, hot chocolate, and free ice-skating. This year’s program will be even more exciting with a torch parade, an attempt to break into the Guinness Book of Records for ice sculpture, and snowboarding lessons. Through hard work and creativity, a new annual mega-event has been established by the Citywide Special Events team, which includes Citywide Special Events Coordinator Michael Furman, Ronee Mattingly, Kimberly Coon, David S. Kovall, Gary Rozman, April Rodriguez and Karl Lawrence.

Since 2002, preventable accidents at Parks & Recreation are down 29 percent, but more still needs to be done. All staff must buckle up, stay off park use areas without a guide, and keep two hands on the road every time they drive, not just sometimes. This winter, all Parks & Recreation employees will take a State defensive driving program.

Two Best of Parks awards focused on vehicle safety. The first was the Dispatch Garage Award. Dispatch garages coordinate waste removal and special events, help tow vehicles, and are the go-to people for challenging projects throughout the boroughs. This year’s award recognized the Bronx borough dispatch, which has led the reduction of accident rates. Preventable accidents have declined 52 percent in the Bronx from 2002 to 2004. Bronx management has implemented stricter reviews for all accidents, including mandatory accident meetings, a practice we are spreading to all boroughs. Dispatch staff have also developed their own safe driving program to complement citywide initiatives. At all levels, and led by the dispatch garage, a renewed focus on safety has made a difference. Bronx dispatch staff who were honored on October 20 included Bennett Giannini, Angel Laureano, William Martin, Joseph Boscia, Stefan Popa and Sharon C. Bowman.

The largest award of the day went to equipment and vehicle operators. The Good Operator or GO Award recognizes the safest and most responsible daily vehicle operators. None of these operators have been in preventable accidents or incidents in the last year. For most, they have been in few if any accidents in their careers. Serving the public means keeping parks users safe and these operators are helping to do that. We ask that they continue to take care on the roads and spread the message. Honorees included:

Bronx: Keith Bryant, Michael Bunce, Gregory Domenech, John Eichholtz, Pedro Gonzalez, Joseph Hawkes, Edwin Kerins, Manny Lopez, David McGhee, Kevin McRae, John Morrione, Wency Nadal, Adrian Navarro, Christopher O'Brien, Norberto Ortiz Jr., Stefan Popa, Ariel Ramirez, David Ray, Cory Serisky, Thomas Siegmund and Fred Vairo.

Brooklyn: Ronald Doerler, Thomas Hun, Lisa McBayne, Keith Nicholsen, Timothy Noel, Philbert Parson, Robert Sangroni Jr., James Schneider, John Smith, Franklin Theophile, David Winston, April Lemons, James McManamon, Henry Reyes, Cheatique Stevens, James Turner, John Trung, Vei Gardener, Lawrence Chiarella, Albert Edwards and Benito Soto.

Capital Projects: Alwyn Heyward, Vijittri Marbumrung and Susanna Vendetti.

Manhattan: William Ambrosecchia, Marechal Brown, Timothy Brown, Maximo Cagua, Antoinio Colon, Scott Farrington, Po Wah Fong, George Grateron, Maria Lamberty, Tyrone McSweeney, Robert Monaghan, Ryszard Ossowski, Nestor Quinones, Rafael Quinones, Malvin Williams, Lloyd Witter, Cosmo Zingaropoli and Ivan Zuniga.

Queens: Geraldo Acevedo, Cesar Barriero, Richard Caccavale, Luigi Cappella, Daniel Forestier, Glenn Geannone, Charles Guertin, Bonnie Hurd, George Leap, John Maher, Albert Martino, Pedro Oliva, Christopher Pallotta, Barry Stuldivant and Frank Tulino.

Urban Park Service: Kim Wilkins, Gary Rozman, Michael Glennan, Anthony Archino, Bonnie McGuire, Candace Cox, Tanya Prince, Bill Alexander, Aja Ellington, Benne McCants, Earl Fisher, Samuel Hendricks, Joseph Oro, Henry Perez and Gabriel Vazquez.

Staten Island: George Balletto, Thomas Bonsangue, Brenda Boone, Ismael Campos, Peter Cangro, Arthur Caprario Sr., Peter Colucci, Floyd Douglas, Jennie Douglas, Ronald Galizia, Lorraine Herbst, Barry Joyce, Michael McManus, Joseph Vales and Ralph Zucal.

Management & Operations: Erick Harris, Michael Michajlo, Deopersaud Pokhai, James Needham, Pablo Oliver, Maria Rivera and Muhammed Nadeem.

Tech Services: Brian Darby, Vance Eddie, Ramon Yanlius, Adisa A. Mangin, Jackie Lattimore and Keith Livingston.

Know Before You Go

Harlem Meer Center (formerly Lasker Rink)

Harlem Meer Center