Recreational Area

Parks and the Riverside Park Fund have named K. C. (Jones) Sahl Acting Riverside Park Administrator. Sahl will return to Manhattan on November 9, 2001.

Sahl began at Parks after serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya. In November of 1995 the California native accepted a position as an Analyst for Operations and Management Planning. He was the first Parkie to analyze the WEP program. He also acted as Commissioner Moss’ liaison with lifeguards. One year later, he moved to Manhattan as the first Manager of Washington Square Park. In that role, Sahl sought private funding from New York University and other local organizations with a vested interest in Washington Square Park. He was able to raise more than $250,000 in private money for Gardeners, CPWs, and PEP Officers in his first year on the job. Sahl was made Employee of the Month in July of 1996.

Sahl’s responsibilities grew in November 1997 when he became Park Manager for Districts 1 and 2 in Manhattan. He worked with other borough staff to devise a special maintenance plan for the newly renovated City Hall Park. Under his supervision, Districts 1 and 2 maintained the highest ratings in the City.

Sahl moved to Brooklyn as Deputy Chief of Operations in November 2000. There he has worked to improve the operations of the borough’s technical trade shops and created an operations manual. He regards his new appointment in Riverside Park as a "fantastic challenge", and notes that early in his career, "Charles McKinney helped me develop my skills as a manager." Sahl plans to spend his first weeks on the job becoming better acquainted with the park, how it used and by whom. Once he understands this, he will work with residents and community organizations to realize their priorities for restoration and programming as well as daily maintenance and operations.

Commissioner Benepe expressed his satisfaction with the appointment saying, "There were a number of superlative candidates from within Parks and from the private sector. K.C. was the top candidate. His broad range of experience at Parks in many different positions, his prior experience in the Peace Corps, and his energy and his passion for public service will make him an outstanding administrator of this important park. I look forward to working with him and with the Riverside Park Fund and all the friends and neighbors of Riverside Park to continue the renaissance begun so capably by the first administrator, Charles McKinney."

(Tuesday, November 1, 1988)

James R. Ryan has been appointed Bronx Parks Commissioner, Mayor Edward I. Koch and Commissioner Stern announced today. Ryan had been the Acting Bronx Parks Commissioner since July 1987.

"Jim Ryan is a career civil servant who has served the Parks Department with distinction since he joined city government in 1963," said Commissioner Stern. "He has been doing an excellent job as Bronx Parks Commissioner for over a year now, and it is to his credit that Parks has experienced a resurgence of good working relationships with Bronx community boards, neighborhood groups and elected officials."

"What is a society without a heroic dimension?"

Jean Beaudrillard (1948-1982)