Madison Square Park

The Daily Plant : Tuesday, August 15, 2000

CLEAN CANAL IN SPRINGFIELD PARK

Photo by Richard (Ricardo) Murphy

In September 1998, the Parks Council and Columbia University released a joint study that included inspections of 10 large parks. In the section for Springfield Park in Queens, the report noted that the park's canal "has not been properly maintained and has reached the point of detracting from the park." Over the last two years, Richard (Ricardo) Murphy and his crew have worked hard to reverse these findings. As the above photo attests, the canal is now not only clean but also a beautiful attraction in the park

PARKS KIDS RUN TO VICTORY AT HERSHEY'S TRACK AND FIELD YOUTH PROGRAM

Recreation employees Andy "Nike Swoosh" Williams, Emily "Little Rhody" Brennan, and Abdullah O. "Flight" Wright chaperoned a group of fast-running New York City children to the North American Finals of Hershey's Track and Field Youth Program in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The excursion, which lasted from Thursday, August 10 to Sunday, August 13, was a successful one. Tamieka Pate of the Bronx won the girls' long jump in the 9-10 year-old age group, and Janean Morris of Brooklyn won the girls' 800m run in the 11-12 year-old group. Other top finishers included Rolanda Bell, Shanyce Walker, Joy Maxwell-Henry, Danay Spencer, Whitney Slade, Nakisha Bogle, Talani Bertram, Timothly Lovett, Julian Crosswell, Trevor Lawrence, and Taquan Daniels.

MANHATTAN RESIDENT SEES CLEARLY THANKS TO QUICK-SIGHTED PARKS EMPLOYEE

Phyllis Mishkin of Manhattan recently wrote to Manhattan Borough Commissioner Adrian (A-Train) Benepe praising Parks employee Bruce Debose for his caring and honesty. When Mrs. Mishkin attended a concert celebrating Dave Brubeck's 80th birthday in Madison Square Park, she accidentally dropped her eyeglasses when switching to sunglasses to shield her eyes from the summer sun. She says she thought her call to the Union Square district office the next day would be "an exercise in futility," but within minutes the office called her back to report that one of the workers had found her glasses and was bringing them in. Mrs. Mishkin writes that the unlikely instance of having her glasses returned after a crowded concert in an open public space confirms her notion that New York is a "wonderful town," especially because of "those of you...who work so hard to make it so."

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO IN THE PLANT
(Tuesday, August 18, 2000)

FORMER PARKS NATURALIST PUBLISHES BOOK

Steven Garber, a former biologist with the Natural Resources Group (NRG), has written a book entitled The Urban Naturalist. The book offers a comprehensive guide to the plant and animal kingdoms and their relationship to urban life. Publisher's Weekly calls it "a wonderful and casual book that should delight the amateur scientist." In a forward to the book, Commissioner Stern writes, "Garber shows us that cities are teeming with plant and animals life and that new species continue to settle in our rich urban communities. If we can learn to understand, protect, and preserve what we already have, the benefits will fall to us. This book is an essential guide to the sources of those benefits."

QUOTATION FOR THE DAY

One impulse from a vernal wood May teach you more of man, Of moral evil and of good, Than all the sages can.

William Wordsworth (1770-1850)