Man attacks Bryant Park patron with machete

Machete-Wielding Man Gashes Tourist in Bryant Park: Sources [NBC New York]

Pepsi And Verizon Invade Bryant Park - Bryant Park Corp. Refuses to Disclose How Much Its Receiving

Park Purpose? Verizon Power House pavilion. Like magic Bryant Park's iconic fountain has been made to temporarily disappear, hidden behind a large wall and flat-screen displays. More than 25,000 square feet of the historic park has been allowed to be transformed into convention center-like exhibit spaces for two multi-billion dollar corporations - Verizon (above) and Pepsi (below).  (Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) Click on images to enlarge



A reproduction of the iconic Pepsi-Cola sign in Long Island City along the East River can be seen on the left in the Taste of PepsiCo event. 

The Bryant Park Corp., the not-for-profit company that privately manages the park, has refused to desclose how much it was recieving for renting out the public park land despite repeated requests.
  

Manhattan

By Geoffrey Croft

Welcome to PepsiCo and Verizon Park.

Major parts of historic Bryant Park have been taken over by Pepsi and Verizon for two separate marketing events, ostensibly in an effort to cash in on Sunday's Super Bowl game being held in New Jersey.  

More than 25,000 square feet of the historic park has been allowed to be transformed into convention center-like exhibit spaces for two multi-billion dollar corporations that cleary do not have a park purpose.  

Verizon, the country's largest U.S. wireless telecommunications business generated operating revenues of $120.6 billion in 2013 according to the company.   PepsiCo, the global soft drink and snack food giant had net revenues of more than $65 billion.  

Hidden behind a make-shift stage is the bronze and marble statue of William Cullen Bryant, the park's namesake, dimly lit in blue stage lighting.  

Bryant Park Corporation,  the not-for-profit company that privately manages the park for the city,  has long been criticized for exploiting the park for the sheer number and size of the commercial events it allows in renting out the public park each year. 

By law concession revenue from city parks must go to the City General Fund however under an unusual agreement the well-heeled group run by its president Daniel Biederman

 has been allowed to get away with keeping 100 % of the revenue whereby diverting money at the expense of other city services including public parks. Even Central Park does not have that  lucrative a deal.

Despite being able to divert more than a hundred million dollars over the years Mr. Biederman has repeatedly claimed the park is run without "any public money."

Repeated messages left for Mr. Biederman and  Joe Carella, a spokesman for Bryant Park Corp asking how much the group was receiving for renting out the park for these two events were not returned.  

On Wednesday, scant crowds staggered into the two separate exhibit spaces on the first day. 

Attendees to the Pepsico space were first subjected to full-body magnetometer security metal detectors searches.   Once inside guests were ascended upon by greeters wearing form fitting outfits who passed out a "Taste of PepsiCo passport" entitling them to receive free half bite-sized samples from eight stations.

Specialty menu items incorporating PepsiCo's 22 brands of products including Lays, Tropicana, Quaker Oats and Gatorade were created for the three-day event.  Cupcakes sprinkled with Doritos were hard to forget. 


Attendees to A Taste of Pepsico are first subjected to full-body magnetometer security metal detectors searches before being allowed to enter the event.  

The indoor space occupies 10,000 square feet including an 80 foot wide by 40 foot high custom-designed facility resembling a bio-dome.  Performers worked on several make-shift stages.  

Waiters walked around offering various Pepsi beverages in tiny plastic shot glass-sized cups.

Barely visible is the famous bronze and marble statue of William Cullen Bryant, the park's namesake,  which is hidden behind a stage. Small sections of the larger than life-size memorial - Herbert Adams sculptor and Thomas Hastings architect - were dimly lit in blue stage lighting. 

According to a Pepsico press release its three day event is meant to be a "Thank You Gift" to New York and New Jersey.  

Outdoor park space on both sides of the exhibit serve as security check points and guest entrances occupy even more of the park.

Over at the Verizon Power House pavilion, located on the northwest side of the park, park features fared no better. The park's iconic foundation was made to completely disappear, hidden behind a huge wall display with flat-screen TV's.

Attendees are applauded by a half dozen enthusiastic greeters as they enter the red carpeted 15,000 square foot pavilion.

The telecommunication giant billed the exhibit as "15,000 square feet of personal, interactive technology for football fans in New York City's Bryant Park. A Super Bowl Tech Journey for Football Fans. 

Once inside greeters half-heartedly attempted to direct guests to various stations including a touch wall,  a giant LED screen visualizing Verizon’s 4G LTE network and  a 270-degree projection mapping room.   

They also touted the NFL Mobile app.   

A second story skybox was built to showcase the company's soon to be launched  LTE  Multicast  service.   In order for guests to be allowed up they first had to hear a pitch by an attendee holding a tablet who blocked the stairs. 

As visitors exited they were offered phone power charging,  free bright red and black gloves and hot chocolate. 

Verizon Power House  replaced the Google's  Winter Wonderlab,  a  retail  popup  shop that hawked tablets and laptops streaming-video service that has there for a few days over the holidays. That store was across from the Stella Artois beer Chalice Factory.

Bryant Park Corp. officials are increasingly coming under fire for also signing 

non-disclosure agreements for the events being held on what is supposed to be public parkland, whereby avoiding even the slightest semblance of a public-review process. 

Information giant Google required them to keep quiet about its plans for the Wonderlab promo event.

The  Bryant Park Corp. officials also signed  non-disclosure agreements for a  T-Mobile marketing event featuring concerts by Shakira and Swizz Beatz which reportedly drew 7000 people. 

The same board raising concerns about these incidents however, Community Board 5, is also the same board who overwhelmingly approved more alcohol and less children and community space in Union Square Park by supporting the unwanted bar and restaurant in the pavilion. 

VIP Entry for PEPCITY.

Sign Of The Times.

Verizon's LTE Multicast Skybox.  

Verizon's exhibit space seen from the LTE Multicast Skybox on the second floor. 

Verizon Power House.

Verizon Power House pavillion -  41st street & Sixth Avenue.


Exterior near the rink.

Outdoor Signage.

PEPCITY.

Cupcakes sprinkled with Doritos were hard to forget at PEPCITY. 

Appetizing? Bacon strips held up by paper clips at the David Burke Kitchen station.  They made Mountain Dew Bacon Tacos with Sabra Guacamole,  Pepsi also owns Sabra.


Attendees at two of the free food sample stations.

Read More:

What Time Does The Stupid Bowl End?

gothamist - January 30, 2014 - By John Del Signore  

Two People Shot At Bryant Park Skating Rink - Police Arrest 16-Year-Old

One of two victims shot on Saturday night at the ice skating rink at Bryant Park is carried into an ambulance.  The victims were Javier Contreras, 20, and Adonis Mera, 14. Police have arrested 16-Year-old Corey Dunton, and charged him with attempted murder and other charges. (Photo: Alec Tabak For New York Daily News)

Manahttan

Police charged a Bronx teenager with attempted murder and other charges Sunday in the Bryant Park ice rink shooting after he issued a stunning Facebook confession and suicide threat for the Saturday night melee that wounded two carefree skaters, according to the New York Daily News. 

 Cops nabbed suspect Corey Dunton, 16, after an hour-long standoff at his apartment building while the alleged gangbanger was posting to his Facebook page from a mobile device.

FACEBOOK

Police arrested Corey Dunton 16, on Sunday for the Saturday night shooting of Javier Contreras and Adonis Mera at Bryant Park.

“Feds trien [sic] kick down my door its over were do i go from hereeeee … [I don’t know] wat to do i f----ed up, ” he posted about 9 a.m. on Sunday., 

Minutes later, he added: “These n----s gunna have to take me out take my life … I aint goin to jail i reather take my life!!”, A day before the senseless shooting, the teen suspect had gone to social media to boast about stirring trouble at the Midtown tourist attraction.

A victim lies on the ice after being shot at the Bryant Park rink.

Sources said cops nabbed Dunton, who has several prior arrests, after they were tipped off by a witness and found his shameless Facebook page — which features pictures of him, arms extended, pretending to hold a gun.

The cowardly creep didn’t show his face for nearly an hour after cops came banging on his door — because he was too busy updating his status.

Police charged Dunton on Sunday night with attempted murder, assault, criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment. Sources said he was arrested six times as a juvenile; all of the cases are now sealed. 

The frenzied Facebook posting came hours after Dunton apparently got into a beef just outside the rink with Javier Contreras over the 20-year-old’s pricey Marmot Mammoth parka, commonly known as the “Biggie.”   

Read More:

Robbery Attempt Preceded Ice Rink Shooting, Police Say  

New York Times - November 10, 2013 - By J. David Goodman and Liz Robbins

Cops charge 16-year-old in Bryant Park shooting that he allegedly bragged about on Facebook
New York Daily News - November 10, 2013 - By Mark Morales, Edgar Sandoval, Simone Weichselbaum and Corinne Lestch 

Bryant Park ‘shooter’ all but confessed online 

New York Post  - November 10, 2013 - By Larry Celona, Jamie Schram and Bruce Golding

Blood on the Bryant Park ice; Innocent teen shot
New York Post -  November 10, 2013  -  By Larry Celona, Elizabeth Ferguson and Matt McNulty

Man Injured By Falling Branch In Bryant Park - Park Closed

Updated

This tree branch (on wall) fell from a tree in Bryant Park striking an unidentified male park goer who was seated at a table (on side against pail). The victim was removed to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition. (Sam Costanza /for New York Daily News)

Manhattan

Geoffrey Croft

A man suffered lacerations to his head in Bryant Park when a branch fell on him this evening while sitting in the park. Sixty- year old Queens resident David Cooper was transported to Bellevue Hospital where he received a dozen stitches. The incident occurred at approx. 6:20pm.

The park was closed this evening so officials could test for the structural integrity of the trees.

A witness in Bryant Park told WCBS that tree limbs had been falling all afternoon.

Bryant Park Resporation Corp's Dan Biederman said the trees are 78-years-old and have recenly been pruned "a lot and there's very little dead wood up there left, but it happeneds."

Read/View More:

10-foot tree branch smacks into 60-year-old man in Bryant Park: witness

New York Daily News- May 29, 2012 - By Michael J. Feeney

Tree limb nails stroller

New York Post - May 30, 2012 - By Helen Freund

Falling Bryant Park Branch Gives 60-Year-Old A Dozen Stitches

gothamist - May 30, 2012 - By Garth Johnston

Downpours & Punishing Heat Leave Their Mark On Tri-State Area

WCBS - May 29, 2012 - By Derricke Dennis

May Day Celebration In Union Square Park

May 1, 2012. Thousands of people gathered in Union Square Park on Tuesday in honor of May Day. Parks were used for a number of protests today including Bryant, Sara D. Roosevelt, Madison Square and Washington Square. (Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) click on images to enlarge.

A stage was erected at the Southern end of the Park.

Throngs of people representing a myriad of issues amassed in the park.

Signs of the Times

NYU's controversial massive expansion was represented.

The North End. Participants from the Professional Staff Congress /CUNY assemble near the pavilion before marching downtown.

Access Denied. The Pavilion. A preview of things to Come? The park's historic backdrop for rallies was cordoned off for the event. The Union Square Partnership and the City are attempting to install a restaurant at the location.

Marchers begin to head downtown from the North/Western part of the park.

A number of participants departed from the park's north end.

Read/View More:

Tom Morello, Das Racist, Dan Deacon Occupy Union Square, Wall Street March Follows

gothamist - May 1, 2012 - By John Del Signore

Occupy Wall Street May Day Protests

New York Daily News - May 1, 2012

Arrests and Clashes Downtown as May Day Protests Spread

New York Times - May 1, 2012 - By Colin Moynihan, Ivan Pereira and Andy Newman

Dozens of Occupy Wall Street Demonstrators Arrested

DNAinfo - May 1, 2012

Like Safe Parks? Don't Count On City To Help Out

Like safe parks? Don't count on city to help out

BY GEOFFREY CROFT, Monday, May 23, 2011

The Parks Department's Park Enforcement Patrol (PEP), whose responsibility is to ensure "the safe use of parks," is severely understaffed. Over the last six weeks alone, there have been five shootings, including four deaths, on park land. It is no secret that having a uniformed officer present acts as a deterrent. Unfortunately, in today's political climate only a few chosen parks in wealthy neighborhoods are being afforded this "privilege."

In 2010, crime in parks grew 24%, yet the mayor's budget includes just $11.3 million in city funds for 151 PEP positions. The number of full-time officers has declined dramatically from a high of 450 in the mid-1990s. This is alarming, considering they are responsible for securing more than 29,000 acres (14% of the city's land). It is important to note that crime is tracked in only 30 of the city's 1,700 parks and playgrounds.

At full strength, only seven full-time dedicated PEP officers are available to patrol more than 6,700 acres of parkland in Queens, five for 6,970 acres in the Bronx, seven for Brooklyn's 4,336 acres, and five for Staten Island's 7,400 acres. These numbers drop further when you factor in vacations, sick days and days off.

And that's the good news. During the summer these numbers decline dramatically as the majority of PEP personnel are deployed to beaches and pools.

Over the next few weeks, Queens will lose three officers, the Bronx two and Brooklyn five. This leaves the vast majority of city parks completely unprotected. Some days there are no officers available for patrol. These numbers are shocking considering the tens of millions of people who use our parks annually.

By sharp contrast, an increasing number of public parks - almost exclusively in Manhattan - have a dedicated security presence, some 24/7. More than 50% of PEP officers are now permanently assigned to "contract parks" - parks run by select private nonprofits, or other government agencies that buy what are supposed to be a basic city service. A few shell out more than $2 million annually. Contractually, these parks are required to have a minimum number of officers deployed.

For example, Battery Park City has more than 40 officers for 35 acres, Hudson River Park has more than 30 officers for 150 acres. Madison Square Park has three, plus seasonals for 6 acres: Bryant Park spends $900,000 annually for 22 private security personnel, including 12 patrol officers for its 6 acres. The Bloomberg administration has assigned 11 full-time officers to the High Line's 2.8 acres.

Central Park also has multiple PEP officers assigned, in addition to having its own police precinct with more than 125 officers.

These numbers highlight the enormous disparity between publicly funded parks and those that receive substantial private funds. The city's increasing reliance on these schemes has resulted in a vastly unequal distribution of service. Experience over the last 20 years has proven that private subsidies to individual parks have created an enormous gap between the haves and the have-nots, while ignoring the real problem - that our parks are not funded as an essential city service.

Compounding the problem, the city has repeatedly tried to mislead the public on the deployment numbers.

It was revealed at a recent City Council hearing that the number of PEP officers hired from city funds fell far short of the amount adopted in the budget. A senior Parks official said this was to due to a hiring freeze. That is not accurate. There have been four PEP academy classes over the last year. However, the officers hired have been diverted to contract parks.

Investing in PEP also makes financial sense because it costs considerably less than deploying NYPD officers to park patrol, and PEP frees the police for more pressing issues. There are also 8,000 fewer NYPD officers available for patrol than a decade ago.

All communities deserve safe, well-maintained parks, not just those that can afford to pay extra. This is a basic quality-of-life issue. We need our elected officials to allocate the necessary funds and to make sure they are distributed equally.

Geoffrey Croft is president of NYC Park Advocates.

Read More:

Like safe parks? Don't count on city to help out

New York Daily News - May 23, 2011 - By Geoffrey Croft

Lack Of Transparency Over In Van Cortlandt Park Ice Rink Charged

Location for the proposed ice skating rink in Van Cortlandt Park near Broadway and West 242nd Street. The chosen company would be required to sign a 15-year contract for the rink, which will operate between October and March. The company will also be responsible for coming with ideas for food service, lockers and rates. This proposal is a joint project between the Parks Department and the Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy. (Rendering Courtesy of Community Board 8)

Bronx

The Bloomberg administration's policy of excluding the community in planning and consultation has claimed still more victims. Transparency in yet another Parks Department concession is being questioned, this time in the Bronx. Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a plan to convert some parkland in Van Cortlandt Park into a ice skating rink. The Mayor made these plans public during his State of the City address on Jan. 19 from Staten Island. However this was the first time Bronx residents including Community Board 8 members heard of the plans.

The administration didn't see fit to present anything to Community Board 8’s Parks & Recreations Committee until Feb. 23, more than a month after Bloomberg's announcement. Former CB 8 Chair, attorney Tony Cassino — who lost to Oliver Koppell in the 2009 City Council race — chairs the recently formed Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy board said the conservancy started meeting with the City to discuss a rink for Van Cortlandt Park a year ago. A year ago.

Apparently the politically connected Cassino - Mayor Bloomberg appointed him to the City’s Charter Revision Commission last March - did not deem it appropriate to share his rink plans with his former colleagues on the Community board. He was tossed off the board after serving more than a decade - after his failed City Council bid.

To help with the project,

Mr. Cassino has teamed up with Dan Biederman, the founder of the Bryant Park Corporation. The

Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy is looking to Bryant Park as a model.

Mr. Biederman reportedly joined the Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy board two years ago after City Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe saw him at a cross country race in the park and thought he might be able to bring some of his expertise to the Bronx. Mr. Biederman is firmly of the belief that his model of park management including commercialization, and I assume also the diverting of city funds exclusively to the three public park properties the city allows him to run - can and should be replicated in other parks.

Mr. Cassino has said he would like to see a holiday market at the rink like the one at Bryant Park. No word yet on whether the funds generated from the rink will be diverted to

Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy.

Since the announcement a few drabs of information have come to light. The proposed rink would be located on tennis courts and on two very popular handball courts which are well-used year-round. The displacement of free park features obviously needs to be looked at and addressed. A number of other questions still also need to be addressed. An RFP will be released shortly. The city is looking for

a 15-year concession agreement for a rink, which will operate between October and March.

The Bronx is the only borough that does not have a public rink. That is shameful. Even when a potentially beneficial idea is put forward, this administration still manages to find a way to alienate the community. - Geoffrey Croft

Ice transparent, rink not

Riverdale Express - EDITORIAL COMMENT - March 17, 2011

You’d have to be a real sour puss to oppose an ice-skating for Van Cortlandt Park.

Who wouldn’t want to see Bronx children’s colorful scarves waving in the wind as they round corners and return to parents keeping their cocoa warm? Who wouldn’t want nearby businesses to benefit from a borough-wide venue in their vicinity?

It would have been easy to characterize anyone who objected to the idea of a winter wonderland in Vannie as the world’s biggest Grinch — hater of all things fun and a general misanthrope — if only those who conceived of the rink had been more transparent.

Tony Cassino — a loser to Oliver Koppell in the 2009 City Council race — who chairs the board of the Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy, said the conservancy started meeting with the City to discuss a rink for Van Cortlandt Park a year ago.

They came up with a plan — announced by the mayor during his January State of the City address — for a rink, which a concessionaire will pay for, to be completed by November 2011.

During its months of operation, it will usurp space on some of the park’s defunct tennis courts, but also on a few very popular handball courts, which are well-used year-round.

After that, the details get a little foggy. How it will be built, operated and maintained, whether parking will be provided, how much skating will cost, are all questions for which Community Board 8 is waiting to have answered. But the project, unlike the rink in Bryant Park it is modeled after, does not require board approval.

That is why the Board learned of the Conservancy’s plans the way most of us did — when the mayor announced it during his speech early this year. Even members of the Friends of Van Cortlandt Park, which has been working to raise funds to support Vannie for decades, were left in the dark.

Public/private partnerships are nothing new to the City’s parks — Bryant Park and Central Park conservancies are examples that come to mind — and they are also not new to Vannie (the golf course is run by concessionaires and so are the stables). But the way this project has been approached has given some the notion that it is more about serving the needs of the conservancy than would-be Hans Brinkers.

And it is arguable whether the project, commendable in a bubble, constitutes the best use of the conservancy’s fund raising. Rumor has it that the Parade Ground, which sits beside the soon-to-be-rink, lack funding for ongoing maintenance even after a multi-million dollar renovation.

When the remaining fences come down around the section of the park that is home to baseball, soccer and cricket areas this spring, will there be money in the City’s coffers to keep it going?

The City may not be footing the bill for the rink, but the community will have to live with it and should be given a greater say in how it is handled. Mr. Cassino says that having a skating rink is one way to get people interested in investing in the park through the conservancy, which will allow it to fund other projects — presumably ones that won’t cost park goers a dime.

If that’s his goal, good. If it’s a way of inspiring people to invest in his next bid for office, gross.

He claims his motives are pure. But it doesn’t really matter. Either way, neither goal will be met if community members who live near the rink can’t afford it, don’t like it, blame it for traffic congestion or parking problems, or feel that it is taking away parts of the park that are important to them.

The Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy is already taking credit for what may or may not be a very nice addition to the neighborhood. It’s members should also be aware that they will get the blame if the concessionaire chosen by the Parks Department lets us down without ever asking us what we want.

Read More:

Ice transparent, rink not

Riverdale Express - EDITORIAL COMMENT - March 17, 2011

Operator will set agenda for new rink at Vannie

Riverdale Express - March 3, 2011 - By Carla Candia

Conservancy plans rink for Vannie

Riverdale Express - January 26, 2011 - By Adam Wisnieski