Central Park

The Daily Plant : Tuesday, May 8, 2001

PARK PATRONS CARE: 3,500 PARTICIPATE IN A CITYWIDE CLEAN UP

3,500 people volunteered their time in 36 parks in all 5 boroughs on Saturday, May 5, 2001. They were volunteers with New York Cares, a nonprofit that places New Yorkers in extended and one-day volunteer positions. The park clean up is their major spring event.

Some of the participants waded knee-deep into Baisely Pond to clear debris. Others rolled up their sleeves, got down on their knees, and planted, painted, and cleaned in Marcus Garvey Park. Through volunteering, they learned about Partnerships for Parks, which coordinated Parks' involvement. They also learned about the history and daily life of the parks they worked in.

Some participants learned, for example, that citizen involvement has been critical to the life of Marcus Garvey Park since 1835 when New Yorkers protested a plan to raze its hilly surrounds, and successfully preserved the park. In time, facilities were added to the park: a fire watchtower-the only one left in the country-in 1857, a recreation center in the 1930s, an amphitheater and a swimming pool. In 1997, with support from the Wallace-Readers Digest Funds, Parks and Partnerships for Parks named the 20-acre park a Catalyst site. There, a combination of public and private support catalyzed the transformation of Marcus Garvey into a beautiful and safe place for children and families.

Marcus Garvey Park is on its way to becoming a model for other neighborhoods. In the last three years, new positions were created for a park manager and a gardener. Their physical impact on the park has been impressive; the lawn is lush, the flowerbeds at the entrances are blooming. Parks is renovating the pavements and fencing, and adding a computer resource center to Pelham Fritz Recreation Center. A community coordinator works with some of the park's best supporters-neighborhood groups like Mount Morris Park Community Improvement Association, Rheedlen Centers for Children and Families, and North General Hospital-to create a park that reflects the interests of its neighbors.

Every day this spring and summer New Yorkers will find programs at Marcus Garvey Park. In years past, the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, the City Parks Foundation Concerts in the Parks series, local musicians, and Broadway artists have attracted crowds of up to 3,000.

The participation of volunteers is a crucial part of what is transforming parks across the city. Now, more than ever, citizens are claiming neighborhood parks and destination parks as their own: theirs to use, theirs to enjoy, theirs to take responsibility for. The New York Cares Spring Clean up is one example of how Partnerships for Parks invites volunteers into the parks.

RECONSTRUCTION BEGINS AT ST. VARTANS PARK

St. Vartans Park in Manhattan provides a meeting place and backyard for neighborhood kids and students at P.S. 116 and St. Vartan's school. Six months from now, this 2.8-acre park will boast more benches and a much needed drinking fountain. There will be tot swings for small children and tire swings for bigger ones. Parks will add new pavement and fencing, and a London planetree will be planted where the old one stood. Council Member Eva (Buffy) Moskowitz contributed the $520,000 needed to complete the reconstruction according to Bernadette Grullon's design.

At a groundbreaking on Friday, May 4, Rocher, a neighborhood restaurant, served sweet Armenian treats that recalled the saint for whom the playground and the neighboring church are named. Vartan was an Armenian who lived during the fourth century. He is remembered for his martyrdom at the Battle of Avarayr in 451. When the renovations are complete, visitors will be able to read about his life and the life of the park in an historical sign posted in it.

Henry J. (StarQuest) Stern; Council Member Eva Moskowitz; Adrian (A-Train) Benepe, Manhattan Borough Commissioner; and Roxy (The Rock) Cherishian, President of the Friends of St. Vartan Park dug their shovels into the earth and ceremonially broke ground to signal the start of reconstruction.

LECTURE THIS FRIDAY

This Friday, May 11 at 12:30 p.m., Michelle Adams of the Grand Central Partnership will deliver a Lunchtime Lecture in the Arsenal Conference room. Interested Parkies are invited to attend. You'll enjoy a free lunch and a thoughtful presentation about BIDS and urban revitalization. To attend, please RSVP to Sarah (Ground Zero) Kay at (212) 360-1371 or by e mail.

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO IN THE PLANT
(Tuesday, May 10, 1988)

TROPICANA TURNS ON THE JUICE FOR THE ARTS:
SPONSORS CENTRAL PARK SUMMERSTAGE SEASON

Tropicana Inc, has donated $200,000 to the Central Park Conservancy to underwrite the third season of SummerStage the free public performance series held at the Naumberg Bandshell located in the park at 72nd Street, Commissioner Stern and Central Park Administrator Elizabeth Barlow Rogers announced.

"Tropicana is very proud of the fact that New Yorkers have made us their number one orange juice," said Robert L. Weisman, Senior Vice-President of Marketing at Tropicana. "One of the ways we can express our appreciation is by supporting a high-quality public arts program like SummerStage."

QUOTATION FOR THE DAY

"Time is the only critic without ambition."

John Steinbeck (1902-1968)

Know Before You Go

Harlem Meer Center (formerly Lasker Rink)

Harlem Meer Center