Central Park

The Daily Plant : Wednesday, February 28, 2001

TRAFFIC STOPS FOR ST. MARKS AVENUE SUPERBLOCK PARK

Photo by Jen (Juggler) Slaw

Like most city streets, the center strip of St. Marks Avenue in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn belongs to the Department of Transportation. In 1968 the street was closed to traffic and a park built where cars once sped. The original park, commissioned by the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation and the Bedford-Stuyvesant Development & Service Corporation and designed by I. M. Pei and Partners and Paul M. Friedberg and Associates was a model of Modernist design. But in the last 30 years it's fallen into poor condition. In response to community request, Parks will assume jurisdiction of the site the day reconstruction begins. Friday, February 23, 2001, the design for the reconstruction was named Project of the Week.

The authors of the project are: Linda (Buddleia) Lawton, Project Manager; Randee (Chaconia) Stewart, Co-Project Manager; Peter (Paw) Wolpensinger, Supervisor for Structural Engineering; Yelena Lyubarskaya, Environmental Engineer; Gary Aime, Engineer; Susan Coker, Specifications Writer; Jim (Andronicus) Titus, Project Manager; Trish (Outside) Clark, Project Manager; and Susan Ellis, Specifications Writer.

Under the approved plan, everything in the existing park will be razed-except for three large Honey Locusts. The new design will adapt Pei and Friedberg's innovations to modern safety and accessibility standards and community requests conveyed to the designers through the president and secretary of the block association.

The original park is sunk below street level and enclosed in five-foot retaining walls. In the new design, the spirit of enclosure is retained and the height adjusted to three feet to comply with updated standards. Steps, ramps, and bollards to block cars will be constructed within the footprint of the original park. Two rows of cherry trees will mark each end of the park, and a 10-foot wide concrete sidewalk will be added to define the residential property lines.

Throughout the park, decorative pavers evoke the characters of West African and West Indian mythology. Randee Stewart first introduced her co-workers to Ananse, the mischievous spider of folk tales. Based on the inspiration of Randee's storytelling, Ananse is now featured in a rosette from which water springs. Ananse's companions-eight other characters borrowed from West African and West Indian mythology-are depicted in pavers in abstract design. Linda Lawton hopes to tell visitors about the origin of the characters in informational signs.

A tripartite scheme devotes the eastern third of the park to water play facilities. The center is a seating plaza, and the western section of the park features a steel play. A community bulletin board and a planting bed where children may learn to garden were included at the request of the block association. Annette Robinson, Council Member and Howard (Brooklyn) Golden, Brooklyn Borough President will fund the $1,000,000 reconstruction.

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO IN THE PLANT
(Wednesday, March 9, 1988)

AMERICAN ELMS PLANTED ALONGSIDE CENTRAL PARK

Two American Elms were given a permanent home on the perimeter of Central Park yesterday when Central Park Administrator Elizabeth Barlow Rogers and former President of the Women's Committee, Jean Clark, and Commissioner Stern helped Parks workers plant the trees by ceremonially tossing shovel loads of dirt.

The trees were places along Fifth Avenue at 86th Street. American Elms are currently being planted on the perimeter of the historic 843-acre Central Park. The park and its perimeter contain approximately 1,800 American Elms, an endangered species of trees.

QUOTATION FOR THE 3DAY

"Luck is not chance-
It's Toil-
Fortune's expensive smile
Is earned."

Emily Dickinson (1930-1886)

Know Before You Go

Harlem Meer Center (formerly Lasker Rink)

Harlem Meer Center