Prospect Park

The Daily Plant : Monday, April 2, 2001

A PARK IS BORN

On Wednesday, March 28, 2001, Commissioner Henry J. (StarQuest) Stern welcomed the press to Hudson River Park, the Emerald Empire's newest outpost. Operations crews baptized its 6.5 acres with an intensive clean up, initiating Hudson River Park into the family of New York City's 1,700 parks.

It's fourteen years since Commissioner Stern launched Parks' first 5x5, a five-day blitz in which five crews with five distinct specialties focus their know-how and manpower on a site in need. Not only does the blitz method dramatically improve the condition of a site, it's a chance for Parkies to team up on an ambitious project and see results quickly. Crews with specialties in forestry, guardrail installation, graffiti removal, weeding, and debris collection arrived to participate. In the five days from March 28 to Tuesday, April 3, able Parkies will extract the 60 to 80 tires and 100 cubic yards of household and construction debris that have been illegally dumped in the site.

Commissioner Stern invited reporters to return five days later "to see the 'after' image that corresponds to this messy 'before,'" and again this summer when ground is broken on a capital construction project. Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields has generously committed $900,000 to the first phase of construction. When complete, Harlem River Park will extend the 6.5 acres from 131st to 145th street. It will offer Harlem residents coveted access to the water along a winding, landscaped esplanade.

The new land offers Parkies and New Yorkers the rare opportunity to witness the transformation of a park in action, and we will see in turn, how local communities are positively effected by the presence of a park. Commissioner Stern projected that Harlem River Park will become "a magnet for neighborhood activity." On the occasion of its birth, he wished the park a long, lush life.

Earl Simmons, Director of the Borough President's Northern Manhattan Office, Kim Mulkahy, Deputy Director of Arterial Maintenance for the Department of Transportation, Adrian (A-Train) Benepe, Manhattan Borough Commissioner, and Joshua (Sirius) Laird, Chief of Planning were present to launch the 5x5. Joshua Laird, Jane (Seeker) Cleaver, Chief of Parklands; Ellen (MacKaye) Macknow, Planner; John (Crenshaw) Mellon, Project Manager for Parklands; and Alex (Mapper) Tutiven, GIS Mapper were instrumental in the acquisition of Harlem River Park.

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO IN THE PLANT
(Monday, March 28, 1988)

PROSPECT PARK BOATHOUSE VISITOR CENTER
LAUNCHES NEW, EXPANDED SPRING PROGRAMS

A sure sign of spring (and summer) is the opening of the Boathouse Visitor Center in Prospect Park on Saturday, April 2. The turn-of-the-century facility houses an art gallery where the VIEWFINDERS, a photo exhibition of Prospect Park, will be on display. The center also offers a wide array of programs on an ongoing basis, including Urban Park Ranger workshops, and supplies information on events throughout the park.

QUOTATION FOR THE DAY

"April prepares her green traffic light and the world thinks Go."

Christopher Morley (1890-1957)