Conference House Park

The Daily Plant : Monday, January 14, 2002

5 NEW ELECTRIC VEHICLES JOIN THE PARKS' FLEET IN QUEENS

No radiator, no gas filter, no muffler, not even spark plugs - so how do these futuristic Parks’ vehicles get the job done? It’s electric. Richard (Ricardo) Murphy, Queens Borough Commissioner, Keith (Kermit) Kerman, Chief of Operations, and Daniel (Frolic) Froehlich, Deputy Chief of Operations have teamed up with the New York Power Authority (NYPA) and the City’s Department of Transportation (DOT) to bring five new electric vehicles to the Parks’ fleet. These battery-powered vehicles are safer for the environment, quieter and easier to maintain than traditional gasoline and diesel powered cars and trucks.

The latest energy-saving transportation additions in Queens include: one Taylor Dunn utility truck, a Ford Ranger pick-up, a John Deere E-Gator and two Global Electric Motorcars, commonly known as GEMs. Both the John Deere E-Gator and the GEMs are specially designed for low-speed driving, making them ideal for navigating park terrain. Currently, dozens of these futuristic vehicles are also being used to shuttle rescue workers at Ground Zero. All five of Parks’ new electric vehicles will be used for parkland maintenance. NYPA will also soon deliver two electric RAV-4 utility vehicles to further spark our fleet program.

Parks continues to be an innovator in both parkland and energy conservation. The fleet has over 20 electric vehicles and 28 new hybrid gas-electric vehicles operating citywide. In addition, Parks Enforcement Patrol officers utilize over a dozen electric Th!nk bikes. These bikes have electric motors, giving PEP an extra boost as they patrol the park. Parks takes protecting our environment seriously, even our vehicles help keep the air clean.

Prepared by Jocelyn (J-Line) Aframe

Parks now has two daily newsletters: the Parks Gazette offers an overview of what goes on at Parks on a day-to-day basis. Compiled and written by the e-Government department, the Gazette can be found on the Parks web site at www.nyc.gov/parks. If you would like to receive the Gazette by e-mail, simply fill out a newsgroup registration form at:

http://nycparks.completeinet.net/sub_newsroom/newsgroup/list.html.

(Wednesday, January 18, 1989)

In 1988, the Planning division prepared city parks for the challenges of the 21^st century with long-term planning for the agency and by acting as a liaison with city agencies, non-profit organizations, and private developers on 100 projects citywide.

On Staten Island, Planning worked with Capital Projects on preliminary design investigations for several park development projects, including Blue Heron, Lemon Creek, Von Briesen, and Conference House Park. The resulting schematic plans will go into design in Fiscal Year 1990, with construction to follow in the early 1990s.

I think that cars today are almost the exact equivalent of the great Gothic, cathedrals: I mean the supreme creation of an era, conceived with passion by unknown artists, and consumed in image fi not in usage by a whole population which appropriates them as a purely magical object.

Ronald Barthes
1915-1980