Beloved Parks Worker From Queens Takes Her Life

"She will rest in the shade between a beautiful cherry tree and a maple tree, so she will always be close to different kinds of birds."


Jennifer Kao, 41, Senior Project Manager with the Planning and Parklands Division committed suicide last Wednesday when she tragically jumped off the George Washington Bridge. She was described by a former colleague as a gentle soul.

Queens

By Geoffrey Croft 

A beloved parks worker from Forest Hills died last Wednesday after taking her own life.

Jennifer Kao, 41, project manager in the Parklands Division worked at the agency since October 15,  2002. 

"It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Jennifer Kao, Senior Project Manager with the Planning and Parklands Division,"   the Parks Department said in a broadcast email sent to employees yesterday.

"Our thoughts are with her family and friends during this difficult time,"

Former Assistant Parks Commissioner Jack T. Linn decribed her as not a typical aggressive or ambitious New Yorker.

"She was a quiet, competent presence at the Arsenal for years,"  said Mr. Linn.  

"She was a gentle soul. It's all overwhelming," he said.

She was laid to rest this morning at the Maple Grove Cemetery in Kew Gardens, NY Queens.  

"She will rest in the shade between a beautiful cherry tree and a maple tree, so she will always be close to different kinds of birds,"  the agency said in a message.

Jennifer’s family relayed that Jennifer loved flowers and they may be sent to the funeral home.  But in lieu of flowers, donations can be made to environmental groups, bird/avian welfare groups, and organizations that provide international development and relief.

According to a published report Ms. Kao jumped from the crossing, north of the New York tower on the George Washington Bridge around 11:20 a.m.  on Wednesday.

The NYPD Harbor Unit pulled her body from the Hudson River about 15 minutes later. 

Over the years Jennifer worked on dozens of parks projects including the Shore Parkway Greenway, the Silvercup Studios project, and Elmhurst Gas Tank site in Queens. 

Joshua Laird, former Assistant Commissioner of Planning hired Jennifer into the agency in 2002, he described the loss as a "terrible tragedy," and said he was still in shock. 

"It's so sad. She was a smart, sweet and unassuming person. It's hard to fathom," he said. 

In 2006 Laird nominated Jennifer for Management’s Employee of the Month award for her "steadfastness and dedication," as a Community Coordinator for the Planning Division.

Mr. Laird,  now at the National Park Service said her work at the agency was "essential" and cited many projects she had a hand in such as Hudson River Park,  Brooklyn Bridge Park and Hunter's Point South among others that she had an important role in helping to see them through fruition. 

"She was essential in helping to move along these complicated projects through the environmental review and land use process," Laird said.

Former staffers informed him of the tragedy earlier this week. 

Laird  said he has fond memories of her organizing birthday celebrations and outings for fellow employees.

"A lot of people are feeling the hurt in the agency. It's hard to lose a person like this," he said.

"It's way, way too young."

Read More:

Police identify woman who jumped from George Washington Bridge
NJ Advance Media  - May 08, 2015 - By Noah Cohen

No Documented Street Artist Complaints - Parks Department

".....pushed during questioning, (Assistant Parks Commissioner Jack T.) Linn admitted that he did not know of any documented complaints against artist vendors by members of the public. This is in direct contradiction to the city’s published revised rules, which state that such complaints were the impetus for drafting the new rules."

"It smells like a license, it walks like a license, it talks like a license," said plaintiffs' attorney Jon Schuyler Brooks last week as he described the Parks Department's new medallion scheme. A temporary restraining order was issued last month against the city. The order prohibits the Mayor and the other defendants from using the new regulations to limit number of the visual artists and the locations from which they vend. Justice Milton A. Tingling, Jr. (above) is hearing the case. The hearing continues at 60 Centre Street- Room 321. (Drawing by Peter Walsh - September 15, 2010)

Manhattan

By Peter Walsh

New York City Parks Department Assistant Commissioner Jack Linn gave unexpected testimony today in Justice Milton A. Tingling, Jr.’s courtroom while under a vigorous cross-examination by artist plaintiffs’ attorney Jon Schuyler Brooks. That testimony is potentially favorable for the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the revised park rules limiting artists’ ability to display and sell art in four New York City Parks, according to the Central Park Portrait Exchange.

Linn first testified on a large series of photos that he contended showed evidence of artists causing congestion in the parks and reducing the aesthetic experience of being in park space. He noted that Central Park is considered an artwork in its own right and that there are many permanent and temporary artworks and sculptures in the parks. He appeared to claim that artists working in the parks reduced the ability of the public to enjoy these large-scale artworks sited in the parks.

During voir dire for entering the photos as evidence and during cross-examination, Linn admitted that he had directed park staff to shoot particular photos but had only brought a small portion of those photos to court. Judge Tingling asked the city to give the artists’ attorneys access to the other photos. Linn suggested that what he had done was no different than what artists had done with testimony and videos during Monday’s hearing, but Brooks countered that Linn was attempting to claim his photos represented a general situation in the parks while the artists were presenting particular facts of specific moments. At one point Linn suggested that video shown in court on Monday (such as the video taken on Wien Walk by artist Peter Walsh) was staged. That comment was stuck from the record.

Read More:

Assistant Commish Linn Grilled on the Stand In Artists' Hearing

CENTRAL PARK PORTRAIT EXCHANGE - September 15, 2010 - By Peter Walsh

Artists Peter Walsh and Joel Kaye Testify, Hearing to Continue Wednesday

CENTRAL PARK PORTRAIT EXCHANGE - September 13, 2010 - By Peter Walsh

State Issues Temporary Restraining Order Against Parks Dept. Over New Artist Vending Rules

A Walk In The Park - August 27, 2010

Bloomberg Campaign Operative Hired as Deputy Parks Commissioner

Larry Scott Blackmon, a 35-year-old political operative whose recent employment included two consecutive stints in Bloomberg's re-election campaigns,  has landed a choice job in the green empire. Bloomberg appointed him to serve as a Deputy Parks Commissioner making $169,560 a year according to the NY Post —thirty three thousand dollars less than Parks Commissioner Benepe. The DPR announced internally last week that he will be supervising long-time Assistant Parks Commissioner Jack T. Linn and working on community outreach.  Mr. Linn,  who has decades of experience in the agency will be making thirty grand less than Mr. Blackmon.  It pays to be connected.

A Walk in the Park could find no relevant career experience in the world of public parks for Mr. Blackmon, who reportedly specializes in African-American outreach.  However he was mentioned in the NY Times earlier this year for his antics during the Bloomberg campaign which left one Harlem State Assemblymember  "a bit startled," according to the paper.

Mr. Blackmon was dispatched to Albany to sway Keith L. T. Wright into supporting Bloomberg.  

According to the account, Assemblyman Keith L. T. Wright, a Harlem lawmaker,  long ago pledged to support a fellow African-American,  William C. Thompson Jr.,  in the mayoral election. But that did not stop two aides to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg from traveling 150 miles from Manhattan to Albany to seek Mr. Wright’s endorsement for the mayor a few weeks ago.

“They must have really wanted it,” Mr. Wright said, a bit startled by the effort. “They double-teamed me.”

Mr. Blackmon also shows up in a 2008 Village Voice piece which commented on his job over at the Department of Small Business Services.

Mike campaigners' tailor-made jobs

Tight fiscal times haven't stopped Mayor Bloomberg from finding openings in city government for his campaign troops, The NY Post has learned.

Some of the ex-campaign workers will be returning to jobs they left in City Hall and at city agencies.

But others will be landing in entirely new positions created just for them.

"There will be an increase in the total numbers of slots in the mayor's office," said the insider.

Bloomberg had earlier pledged to cut his own office payroll, which now has 450 people.

The new hires come just weeks before the mayor releases his plan for closing a $4.1 billion deficit -- with layoffs possible.

The campaigners landing on the city payroll include:

Larry Blackmon, who quit as chief of staff at the Department of Small Business Services to become a $144,000-a-year campaign coordinator in the African-American community.

He's now becoming a $169,560 deputy parks commissioner.

Read more: 

Mike campaigners' tailor-made jobs

NY Post  - January 10, 2009 -  By David Seifman

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/mike_campaigners_tailor_made_jobs_3MArYcZC17dnfmbSNMjABL

UPDATE:

Amid Budget Worries, Mayor Finds Jobs for Campaign Staff

New York Times - January 26, 2010 - By Michael Barbaro