Franz Sigel Park

The Daily Plant : Friday, December 1, 2000

ANIMAL SAFARI IN THE CONCRETE JUNGLE

Photo by Amanda (Greenpoint) Tedeschi

Rarely does Commissioner Henry J. (StarQuest) Stern speak on behalf of rhinoceroses-dogs, pigeons, and beetles are more his forte. But as Chief Executive Officer of the American Association for the Advancement and Appreciation of Animals in Art and Architecture, he makes room in his schedule for species of all continents. On Thursday, November 30 he played safari guide at the unveiling of Stephen Vince's temporary exhibition in Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, (at 47th St. between 2nd and 1st Ave.) "Endangered Species Animal Safari." With Boomer by his side and young children in tiger masks, the commissioner introduced Mr. Vince's fourteen steel animal silhouettes designed with the twin goals of artistic expression and political action. "It is people who are responsible for the disappearance of precious species, and it takes the initiative and imagination of people to reverse the damage," said the Commissioner. The exhibit airs an international concern in an apt location-across the street from the United Nations-and underscores our shared responsibility for all species. The work will remain on view in the Katherine Hepburn Garden until the tulips reassert themselves in May.

URBAN PARK RANGERS PUT YANKEE STADIUM IN ITS PLACE

Historic Yankee Stadium, a flower among Parks recreational facilities, is no shrinking violet. It is one of our best-visited facilities, and receives lavish press attention when the Yankees prevail-as they so often do. But the stadium is rarely discussed in terms of its relationship to neighboring Parks properties, Macombs Dam, Mullaly, and Franz Sigel Parks. Last Saturday, November 25, Urban Park Rangers charted previously uncharted territory when they wove local social and natural history into the script of a tour through Yankee Stadium. The tour, which attracted 40 New Yorkers, refreshed the roster of UPR regulars and added to the list perhaps not birdwatchers, but individuals interested in making connections between recreation and city history.

The tour moved from Memorial Park to the Yankee dugout. It passed through the Yankee clubhouse, onto the locker room and into the press box. Visitors got an insider's view of stadium spaces and a Parkie's overview of how the stadium fits into parks in the Bronx. A blockbuster event like a tour of Yankee Stadium balances the nature tours that are UPR staples. The Yankee Stadium tour invited newcomers to discover the range of what the Urban Park Rangers offer.

Urban Park Rangers, Rakeem Taylor and Yvonne Monge, and Americorps volunteer, Michael Nevarez, led the tour with an official Yankee Stadium tourguide. This fusion of popular attraction with Parks history was Urban Park Ranger Corporal Ernesto Acosta's brainstorm. Since 1979, the Urban Park Rangers have used urban parklands as interactive, outdoor classrooms for interested New Yorkers.

EDITOR'S NOTE

The Plant apologizes for failing to mention Claire Dudley, the architect and grant writer behind Parks' new Playground For All Children in Pelham Bay Park. She is recognized as an expert in the area and has created a wonderful haven-the first of its kind in the Bronx-for children of all physical abilities.

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO IN THE PLANT
(Friday, December 4, 1987)

PARKS' PLAYGROUND FOR ALL CHILDREN EDUCATES ABLE-BODIED KIDS ABOUT DISABLED

The Playground For All Children (PAC) in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens is one of the few playgrounds on the East coast which is fully accessible to disabled as well as able-bodied children. On December 1, PAC began its Sensitization Program for over 50 schools and community groups throughout the city. The program educates able-bodied children ages three to fourteen about the disabled through a variety of props including dolls, puppets and even animals.

QUOTATION FOR THE DAY
"To hold opinion with Pythagoras That souls of animals infuse themselves Into the trunks of men."

William Shakespeare (1564-1616)