Recreational Area

The Daily Plant : Thursday, August 15, 2002

CITYWIDE TOURNAMENT HAS NATIONWIDE APPEAL

Birds and kites were not the only things flying through air on Coney Island Beach on Sunday, August 11. The final day of this year’s Citywide Beach Volleyball tournament featured some of North America’s best players setting, bumping, and spiking their way to a share of $3,000 in prizes.

For the 8^th straight year, Beach Volleyball invaded the five boroughs bringing competitors from as far as the Dominican Republic, Canada, Los Angeles, and Florida to complete with the best players from New York and the rest of the Northeast. Made possible through the work of the Parks Department and the East End Volleyball Association, this year’s tournament was composed of 148 teams throughout 5 divisions.

Men’s open matches concluded after over 6 hours of hard fought action on the beach. Winning the men’s championship, and the $1,000 prize, was a team from Los Angeles, comprised of Morgan Chapman and Amaury Velasco. Their two match defeat of Elvis Rodriguez and Jose Infante capped off a day that was full of close matches and hard fought victories. The amateur winning team, Sean Symanski and Stephen Kiefer, will be able to stay in shape for next year’s tournament with a victory prize of a year long membership to Bally’s Fitness Club.

Nanette Banzon and Jane Linn deftly handled all of their competitors on the road to a 15-11 defeat of Rewa Chan and Beth Kennedy in the women’s open finals. With that victory, Banzon and Linn, representing New York City, won their fifth Citywide Beach Volleyball Tournament and took home the $1,000 purse. The women’s amateur division was won by Brooklyn’s own Masha Mosenzhnik and Olga Roudovski, 15-10.

In what are perhaps the most fast past and exciting games of this tournament, the amateur quads division was won by the team of Hassan, Hadj, Vettenranta, and Guzman. Working up to a frenzy, this great quad team won their final match 15-8 over the Binchu, Hernandez, Titus, and Sosa squad.

With the success of this year’s tournament behind them, many of the local beach volleyball players look to next year almost immediately. With giveaways and music provided by WKTU, water from Le-Nature’s Water, Prizes from Bally Total Fitness, promotions from Viacom Outdoor, and the support of Cingular Wireless, even in the hot weather this years tournament was one of the coolest ever.

The volunteers in Riverside Park that dedicate their free time to making Riverside a better and cleaner park will soon have a place to call home. A Volunteer House is being built in Riverside Park at 107^th Street. The $1.3 million project broke ground on Thursday, August 1, and will be completed in spring 2003.

The project involves restoring a 100-year-old building that will provide space for meetings, storage, and plant propagation. A second floor will be added that will be accessible by a new staircase and an upper bridge path. A stone retaining wall will be stabilized and pavement will be replaced. The project is privatrly funded and the building will be named in honor of Peter Jay Sharp (1930-1992).

Sharp, a lifelong New Yorkers, was dedicated to philanthropy and the arts and in 1984 he established the Peter Jay Sharp Foundation, the main funder of the volunteer house project. Sharp served on many boards during his lifetime, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, City Center, and the International Center for the Disabled.

The Riverside Park Fund’s Grassroots Volunteer Program will be housed in this new building. Working in partnership with Parks, 2,700 individuals donated over 31,000 hours last year, The Riverside Park Fund is a not-for-profit umbrella support organization that works to preserve and improve New York’s classic waterfront green space.

Commissioner Adrian Benepe attended the event in support of the project, as did Executive Director of the Riverside Park Fund Jim Dowell, and Vice Chair of the Riverside Park Fund Pat Sapinsley. Robert J. Epstein, from the Fund’s Board of Directors gave a few words along with Council Member Gail A. Brewer. Commissioner Benepe said at the ground breaking ceremong "Riverside Park is one of New York’s premier parks. The efforts of volunteers here, and throughout the city’s park, make an enormous impact. This new volunteer house will allow better work to be done for Riverside Park."

"I love power. But it is as an artist that I love it. I love it as a musician loves his violin, to draw out its sounds and chords and harmonies."

(August 15, 1769–1821)