Tappen Park

The Daily Plant : Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Commencing Renovations At Tappen And Tompkinsville Parks

Photo by Malcolm Pinckney

A doubleheader of groundbreakings came to the borough of parks, Staten Island, on October 4. Commissioner Benepe kicked off the renovations at Tappen and Tompkinsville Parks with Council Member Michael McMahon, Deputy Borough President Ed Burke, members of Community Board #1 and representatives from the Community Parks Fund and the Staten Island Downtown Council. Both groundbreakings represent Parks & Recreation’s urban revitalization efforts in the borough.

First, ground was broken on almost $1.7 million in renovations to Tappen Park. The project is generously funded by the City Council and Mayor Bloomberg and will replace the existing pipe rail fence with a new decorative steel perimeter fence and gates, install new benches, trash receptacles, drinking fountains, bicycle racks and an ornamental water fountain. In addition, the park will be relandscaped.

Later that day, we celebrated the start of renovations costing nearly $1.3 million at Tompkinsville Park. The City Council and Mayor Bloomberg also provided the funds for this project. The park will feature a new decorative steel perimeter fence and gates, a steel pergola, new benches, trash receptacles, an accessible drinking fountain, new plantings and a reconstruction of the lawn. The project will also install a street clock, at the community’s special request.

“And Now A Word From Our Sponsors”
Citywide Monument Conservation Program Supported by Private Largesse

A report on the summer activities of the Citywide Monuments Conservation Program in the August 7 issue of the Daily Plant neglected to acknowledge the program sponsors who supported this work.

At the head of the class is the History Channel, the largest current donor, which provides general program support and supports one of the two program conservators. The Samuel H. Kress Foundation has been a consistent partner, providing annual support since 1998 for summer field interns, and more recently Donna Karan has supported the field apprentices also.

This year the National Architectural Trust provided additional funding earmarked for exterior conservation of the Riverdale Memorial Bell Tower, the Crotona Park Pool decorative medallions, and the Soldiers Monument survey and pilot project conservation in Calvary Cemetery, Queens. The Columbus Citizens Foundation awarded funds toward conservation of the Columbus sculpture in D’Auria Murphy Park, in the Bronx.

The Riverside Park Fund has consistently supported annual care of the monuments and statuary along Riverside Drive, and the Municipal Art Society has provided matching program funds for those sites citywide previously conserved through its Adopt-A-Monument Program. The American Battle Monuments Commission funds the ongoing care of the East Coast Memorial in Battery Park.

Additional endowments for all new and older monuments have enabled the Monuments Program to provide annual care at numerous sculptures, preserving their structural integrity and a consistent aesthetic appearance.

For information on how to contribute to the program or sponsor a particular monument, please visit the parks website, www.nyc.gov/parks

To all of our program donors we thank you for supporting the cultural legacy of New York City’s parks.

QUOTATION FOR THE DAY

“Seize opportunity by the beard, for it is bald behind.”

Bulgarian Proverb