Man Charged in Fatal Union Square Park Assault Had Long History of Racial Conflict

Martin Redrick, 40, appeared briefly in State Supreme Court in Manhattan on Tuesday with his hands cuffed. He was charged in the savage attack of Jeffrey Babbitt, 62 in Union Square Park on September 4th.   (Photo: John Marshall Mantel for The New York Times) 

Manhattan/Brooklyn

Throughout his adult life, Martin Redrick bounced from one conflict to the next, frequently showing the potential for violence. He abused drugs, threw bottles and punches at the police and others, struggled with mental illness and was frequently agitated by white people. (Mr. Redrick is black.)

“Martin did not like authority and as we were growing up, the only people with authority were white people,” said a brother, Joseph Redrick, 47. “A lot of times that problem with authority was transferred to white people.”

Last Wednesday afternoon, that trait manifested itself again, according to the police. After finishing a chess game in Union Square Park, Mr. Redrick grew angry at white commuters bumping into him as they left the busy subway station and declared he was going to punch one, according to the New York Times. 

Sheepshead Bay resident Jeffrey Babbitt, 62, died after being assaulted in Union Square Park on September 4th.  

That person was Jeffrey Babbitt, a comic-book enthusiast from Brooklyn whom friends described as mild-mannered and who was leaving the station. Mr. Redrick, 40, punched Mr. Babbitt, 62, in the face, sending him to the ground and causing an injury that led to his death on Monday, the authorities said.

The assault charges against Mr. Redrick had not yet been upgraded to a more serious charge on Tuesday, but new details emerged about his troubled background, one that may have foreshadowed violence, but never apparently rose to the level that might have required lengthy imprisonment or hospitalization.

Mr. Redrick — who appears to have given the police the false name of Lashawn Marten — grew up with five brothers and a sister in Newburgh, N.Y., about 60 miles north of New York City.

Scarlett Thomas, who was married to Joseph Redrick until 2009, said she and Joseph adopted Martin Redrick’s son when the father was in and out of jail. And though Martin Redrick sometimes displayed anger toward white people, both Joseph Redrick and Ms. Thomas , who is white, said he was always kind to Ms. Thomas’s daughter from a previous marriage. “He called her ‘My precious little Snow White,’ ” she said.

But there had long been worries within the family about Mr. Redrick’s behavior, which had worsened with drug use, she said.

“In the ’90s, he smoked something called wet — marijuana soaked in formaldehyde,” she said in a telephone interview from Dallas, where she now lives. “Everybody who knew him knew he was unpredictable and was going to snap one day.”

Jeffery Babbitt, 62, lies on the pavement in the Southern end of Union Square Park on September 4th after being allegedly struck in the face by Martin Redrick in an unprovoked attack. Mr. Babbitt, a retired transit worker hit his head on the ground and was later declared brain dead at Bellevue Hospital.  (Photo: Joey Boots via gothamist)

In 1997, Mr. Redrick pleaded guilty to assault in Newburgh and was sentenced to six months in jail and five years’ probation, according to court records. He violated the terms of his probation and was resentenced to 16 months in prison.

After he was released from prison in 2000, officers in Newburgh had at least 20 encounters with him, said Lt. Dan Cameron of the Police Department there. Mr. Redrick lived on the streets and was repeatedly arrested or given summonses for trespassing and open-container violations.

But some of the charges were more serious, Lieutenant Cameron said. Mr. Redrick was arrested twice in 2002 for hurling bottles near police officers. In one case, Mr. Redrick punched an officer in the face. The next year he was charged with harassment after a woman leaving a Newburgh library said she took something he said about “getting stabbed in the back” as a threat.

After being charged with shoplifting in 2004, he spent time in the Middletown Psychiatric Center, according to Orange County correction officials. Ms. Thomas said Mr. Redrick had received a diagnosis of schizophrenia in 2007 and later cut off contact with his family. She said that early this year she learned he was living in New York City and spoke with him on the phone.

“He didn’t realize he had been missing for three years,” she said. “He thought he had just talked to us last week.”

He was arrested on Nov. 23, 2010, in Manhattan and charged with possession of marijuana. He pleaded guilty the next day and was sentenced to time served, according to court records.

He was most recently arrested on Aug. 13, for trying to strike a woman in Harlem and then spitting in her face, the police said. He was recently living in supported housing, a type of residence where people with mental illness can receive special services but are typically free to come and go.

Mr. Redrick, who is being held at Rikers Island in $1 million bail, was taken to State Supreme Court in Manhattan for a brief appearance on Tuesday. He wore a tan shirt, with plaid patches across his broad shoulders.

He was clearly agitated, and immediately began insisting that his new court-appointed lawyer, Michael J. Croce, hand him a business card. After repeatedly trying to interrupt as Mr. Croce spoke to the judge, Mr. Redrick grew louder and more insistent.

“Excuse me, I don’t want you to represent me if you don’t give me your business card right now,” Mr. Redrick said.

Chess players at Union Square Park were still shaken by the attack. Several described Mr. Redrick as a loner with some strange habits, but one who attracted little attention in a park where the offbeat is commonplace. Frederick Spruill, 69, said he first noticed Mr. Redrick playing chess this summer and thought he appeared to have “some kind of mental challenge.”

“He was very quiet,” Mr. Spruill said. “He would become stuck on something. If he saw something, he’d stay on it.”

Michael Benson, 54, said Mr. Redrick occasionally hinted at a violent past. “I ever tell you the time I knocked this guy out?” Mr. Benson recalled Mr. Redrick telling him.

On Wednesday, the two played several games and Mr. Redrick lost all of them, but did not seem angry about the losses, Mr. Benson said. Mr. Redrick stood up, walked over to the steps next to the busy subway entrance, and smoked a cigarette. Mr. Benson said he heard Mr. Redrick yell that he was tired of white commuters bumping into him and not saying “excuse me.”

“The next white person who runs into me, I’m going to knock them out,” Mr. Redrick said, according to Mr. Benson.

“And that’s what he did,” Mr. Benson said.

Julie Turkewitz contributed reporting.

Read More:

Man Charged in Fatal Park Assault Had Long History of Racial Conflict

New York Times - September 10, 2013 - By Russ Buettner and J. David Goodman 

Friends Mourn Jeffrey Babbitt, Victim In Fatal Union Square Park Hate Crime Attack 

A Walk In The Park  - September 9, 2013  

Man Attacked In Union Square Park Hate Crime Dies

A Walk In The Park - September 9, 2013 

Man Attacked In Union Square Park

A Walk In The Park - September 5, 2013 

Friends Mourn Jeffrey Babbitt, Victim In Fatal Union Square Park Hate Crime Attack

Sheepshead Bay resident Jeffrey Babbitt, 62, died after being assaulted in Union Square Park on September 4th.  Martin Redrick, 40, has been charged in the heinous attack.  Redrick has been arrested numerous times. 

Manhattan/Brooklyn

For more than a decade, Jeffrey Babbitt traveled two or three times a week from his home in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, to a comic book store called Forbidden Planet just below Union Square in Manhattan. There, he bought the latest copies of “X-Men” or “Doctor Who,” or sometimes just chatted up the employees, who over the years had become good friends, according to the New York Times. 

For Mr. Babbitt, 62, who friends said was a retired train conductor, the store offered an escape into fantasy and a bit of a respite from home, where he cared for his 94-year-old mother, Lucille Babbitt.

“He was just a really, really, really sweet guy,” said Jeff Ayers, a manager at the store who has known Mr. Babbit for years. “One of our staff just had a baby and he was dying to see pictures.”

Mr. Babbitt was walking through Union Square near Forbidden Planet last Wednesday when he was punched in the face seemingly at random by an assailant who, the police said, declared his intention to “punch the first white man I see.”

After he was hit, Mr. Babbitt fell to the ground, striking his head on the pavement, the police said. The attacker, whom the police identified as Lashawn Marten, then struck two men who came to Mr. Babbitt’s aid, they said.

Mr. Babbitt was taken to Bellevue Hospital Center, where, the police said, he was eventually declared brain dead and died on Monday morning.

In a neighborhood that had long ago moved past its rough-and-tumble days, the seemingly random act of violence at 3 p.m. in a bustling park came as a shock. The police said that Mr. Marten, 40, had a long history of arrests, some for assault and drug offenses in New York City and in Newburgh, N.Y.

He was arrested shortly after the attack and charged with three counts of assault. With Mr. Babbitt’s death, those charges will most likely be upgraded by a grand jury that is to hear the case on Tuesday, according to the police.

Mr. Marten, who is black, has also gone by the alias Martin Redrick and listed a different birth date, the police said. He was living in supported housing for formerly homeless people and those with psychiatric disabilities provided by the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services, said Shelley Ruchti, the group’s chief communications officer. She declined to describe the reason for his living there.

On Monday evening, many residents at Mr. Babbitt’s modest brick apartment building on Ocean Avenue in Sheepshead Bay had something nice to say about him, and could only shake their heads at the senselessness of his death.

“He was as good as good can be,” said Audrey Feifer, 75. “This should never have happened, no matter what color this person is.”

Ms. Feifer said Mr. Babbitt, who she said moved to the neighborhood from Florida about 20 years ago, used to insist on giving her rides to bus stops or to buy doughnuts.

Inside the apartment that Mr. Babbitt shared with his mother, Ms. Feifer said, he kept model steam locomotives, stacks of magazines about trains, and many comic books. He often wore shirts showing pictures of fairies and once drove Ms. Feifer out of state to join him at a Fairy-Con gathering, a festival for people who celebrate fairies.

A sister, his only sibling, helped Mr. Babbitt care for their mother, but she died from cancer about two years ago, Ms. Feifer said, and Mr. Babbitt took over all the caretaking responsibilities.

He did not seem to mind, neighbors said.

“He’d say, ‘Hi, Mom!’ so loud everybody could hear it,” said Igor Sapozhnikov, 56. “He loved his mother, and his mother loved him very well.”

Mr. Babbitt’s mother was at his bedside at least part of the time he was in the hospital, said Mr. Ayers, who visited him there. Many neighbors wonder who will care for her now.

Mr. Babbitt’s death came as the police said they were looking for a suspect in another bizarre and possibly racially motivated attack on the M60 bus in Harlem on Friday, Aug. 30.

In that unrelated attack, a man hurled a racial epithet at a 31-year-old Queens man, calling him a “cracker,” before knocking him to the ground and punching him. The victim, whose name was not released, sustained a broken nose and a fractured eye socket. The suspect, described by the police as a black man in his late 30s, fled on foot and had not been located.

At Forbidden Planet, employees were left bereft by Mr. Babbitt’s death, said Mr. Ayers, who broke into tears several times during a short interview.

Mr. Ayers had spoken to Mr. Babbitt the day before the attack when he came to the store looking to pick up a copy of a comic art book called “The Art of Grimm Fairy Tales” that he had ordered. The order had not yet arrived, and Mr. Babbitt was slightly annoyed, Mr. Ayers said.

“He’s been hounding me for weeks and weeks for this book,” he said.

Mr. Ayers said employees were also concerned about Mr. Babbitt’s mother. He said they planned to set up a fund to help continue her care.

“We’re a community here,” he said. “These are people whose lives we’re tied to.”

Jack Begg and J. David Goodman contributed reporting.

Read More:

Friends Mourn Man Fatally Assaulted in Possible Random Hate Crime

New York Times  -  September 9, 2013 - By Michael Schwirtz and Nate Schweber 

Man Attacked In Union Square Park Hate Crime Dies

A Walk In The Park - September 9, 2013 

Man Attacked In Union Square Park

A Walk In The Park - September 5, 2013 

Mount Hope Garden Filth - Parks' Capital Division "Dragging Their Feet"

 Mount Hope Garden - Bronx. From This.....                                         (Photo: NYC Parks)

Filth.   Wecome To The Jungle.  Mount Hope Garden –  Creston Ave. between E. Burnside and E. 179th St., Bronx.  The park has been closed for five years according  to Council Member Fernando Cabrera after the Parks Department's Capital Division failed to do due diligence on a prior renovation. Months after the park's re-opening sink holes developed in sections and it had to be closed.  Despite funding, the park has shamelessly sat idle since.   Besides actually fixing the now long-shuttered park, the Parks Department also refuses to clean it  which has created a health condition in the community.  The large pool of standing water in the center of the park was referred to as a mosquito farm at a press conference on Thursday.   (Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates)

"We have kids in this area. The children are asking why can't I go to the park, why can't it get fixed.  The reason why it's not getting fixed is because the Parks Department is dragging their feet," said Council Member Fernando Cabrera. 

Despite several requests the Parks Department refused to answer questions. 

Bronx

By Geoffrey Croft

The smell of urine waifs from Mount Hope Gardens, a small, decrepit vest-pocket garbage-strewn park on Creston Ave off of E. Burnside and E. 179th St. in the Mount Hope section of the Bronx. 

Five-foot  high weeds grow through the playground's safety surfacing. Local residents dump cat food in the park, in part, they say to keep the rats away. 

The former playground and garden has been closed for five years according to Council Member Fernando Cabrera who has been desperately trying to get the Parks Department do its job after allocating a million dollars to fix it. 

Standing in front of the filth around the corner from his City Council District 14 office,  a frustrated Cabrera held a press conference to denounce the Parks Department's handling of capital projects in his and other council districts.         

Cabrera cited the Mount Hope Gardens park project as prime example of the incompetence and lack of accountability. 

"Five years ago it was built and then just a few months later it was shut down because the Parks Department didn't do their job right. They didn't do the borings, they didn't investigate what was underneath," said the council member.

"If this was in Manhattan I guarantee you it wouldn't be in this condition for five years.  Here in the Bronx we deserve better.  Here in the Bronx we expect  better.  This is not a lack of funding, and this is systemic all throughout the city. This not just about my council district,  I'm speaking on behalf of all the council members, some that have waited seven years for their parks to be renovated." 

"We have kids in this area. The children are asking why can't I go to the park, why can't it get fixed.  The reason why it's not getting fixed is because the Parks Department is dragging their feet," he said.

He said he was told by the Parks Department that once the park was renovated they would keep it  locked.

"What kind of a message is that,"  the Council Member  exclaimed.   "We do not have enough green space in the area. It's just cement. " 

A 6-year-old boy stands outside the locked gate while looking at poster board with photos depicting the broken promises made to the council member and to the community.  "I used to bring my grandchild here," said an Abuelita walking by the locked gate.  It's sad the city does not take care of it. But you also have to make sure the park is safe."

Cabrera said his office has allocated close to six million dollars for various Parks Department Capital projects but has seen little progress and instead only excuses. The council member said he held the press conference to talk about the disappointment in dealing with the Parks Department, the commissioner and with the administration.   

“I put millions of dollars for the beautification of parks, but unfortunately things are not moving at all, " he said. 

"The main issue is that while projects remain halted, the cost of the projects continues to increase as time passes by.  Thus, causing the original money allocated to be insufficient. The department needs to give public accountability regarding work timelines and funds management.  Also, more attention needs to be paid to the outer boroughs and stop denying communities access to safe recreational areas in optimal conditions,”  said Council Member Fernando Cabrera.

"Young people are playing in substandard parks,"  he said.

The play equipment and benches on the other side of the park are also surrounded by filth and weeds.

The now  $2M for park repairs / cameras allocated for Mount Hope Gardens debacle isn't the only project the frustrated council member said the agency has been dragging its feet on:

• Grand Avenue Playground - $2.69M to reconstruct garden, fencing, benches and playground.

• St. James Park - $600K for cameras, basketball court repaving and soccer field.

• Regatta Park - $1.6M  

His office also allocated funds to install a camera at Devanney Triangle across the street from Mount Hope Park along E. Burnside Avenue and the Grand Concourse. 

"Right here at this triangle we put $ 35,000 towards a camera and I'm given the excuse that there is no place to put the camera," said the Council Member while looking at Parks' owned triangle yards away.    

 "And I'm looking at a pole right now where you can a camera right there. All I'm getting is excuses after excuses, and excuses."

The council member also noted that he thought one of the fundamental problems is that the agency does not have enough designers and architects.

"We'll have meetings with them and they'll say. "'look, we're sorry we don't have enough architects we don't have enough designers."' 

The Parks Department Capital division has long been criticized from both outside and inside the agency for it lack of professionalism and poor management.  The Bloomberg administration has insisted on hiring unlicensed managers instead of qualified personnel to run the division that has been responsible for spending billions of of dollars during this administration.   The lack of accountability has resulted in countless delays on park projects and tens of millions of dollars in wasteful spending. 

The Parks Department's long established policy of taking thirty percent - 10% Planning, 10% Contingency, 10% Overhead, away from the actual construction of the project was also questioned.   There has been some discussion over the years from council members whether or not it was fair that these fees should be included or deducted from council Discretionary funding because the funding is already low.

“I have heard complaints for many years that the Parks Department’s Capital Division is not doing their job.  Unfortunately, this administration is more interested in groundbreakings than actually seeing these projects through completion,"  said Geoffrey Croft, President of New York City Park Advocate joining  Council Member Fernando Cabrera and members of the community. 

"It is shameful that these projects have been delayed. There is no excuse for them, except that this administration keeps hiring managers instead of qualified people to run their capital division. The Parks Department is the number one agency for cost overruns because they don’t do its diligence on these projects; instead they are in such of a rush to get shovels in the ground. Moreover, 30% of the money allocated for projects gets taken away from the actual construction project itself right of the top. This is our taxed dollars being wasted. These issues are unacceptable and need to be addressed.” 

The Mount Hope Garden is another failed collaboration developed through the City Spaces program of the Trust for Public Land and the City which relies on "community partners" to help take care of these public parks, a nice concept but reality is often another story. The Mount Hope Garden property was assigned to Parks on September 17, 1996.

Despite several requests the Park Department refused to answer questions. 

The large pool of standing water (rear) in the center of the park is called a mosquito farm.


Poster board with photos depicting the broken promises made to the council member and the community hangs on the loacked gate of Mount Hope Garden. 

Read More:

Parks Department has the green,  but is slow to fix Bronx greenspaces: Councilman 

New York Daily News - September 5, 2013 - By Jennifer H. Cunningham 

Press Conference on NYC Parks Department

Press Conference on NYC Parks Department - Part 2

No Relief In Sight For Abandoned Claremont Community Park

A Walk In The Park - May 3, 2012 - By Geoffrey Croft 

Man Attacked In Union Square Park Hate Crime Dies

Martin Redrick appears in Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday.  (Redrick had originally given police the name Lashawn Marten) Redrick was charged with assault in an unprovoked attack of Sheepshead Bay resident Jeffery Babbitt, 62, in the Southern end of Union Square Park on September 4th.  Mr. Babitt was allegedly struck in the face by Redrick after saying that he would hit the next white person who walked by.  Charges against him will likely be upgraded.  (Photo: Jefferson Siegel/New York Daily News)

Manhattan  

A white man who was punched in the face in Union Square by a black man who was spewing anti-white sentiment died early Monday at Bellevue Hospital, a police source said, according to the New York Daily News.  

Jeffrey Babbitt, 62, fell into a coma after he was randomly attacked Wednesday afternoon by a man who was yelling, “I’m going to punch the first white man I see!”


Sheepshead Bay resident Jeffery Babbitt, 62, lies on the pavement in the Southern end of Union Square Park on September 4th after being allegedly struck in the face by Martin Redrick in an provoked attack. Mr. Babbitt, a retired transit worker hit his head on the ground and was later declared brain dead at Bellevue Hospital.  (Photo: Joey Boots via gothamist)


Lashawn Marten, 31, was arrested on charges of misdemeanor assault in the attack. The unprovoked punch knocked Babbitt backward, and he hit his head on the ground.

Babbitt lived in Brooklyn and was caregiver to his mother, who has Alzheimer’s disease, neighbors said.  After Marten assaulted Babbitt, he attacked two men who tried to help the stricken man, and then challenged two responding cops, officials said.

Marten is being held on $1 million bail. Charges against him will likely be upgraded.


Authorities say 62-year-old Jeffrey Babbitt (l.) has died less than a week after he was assaulted by a man who threatened to 'punch the first white man' he saw. 


Read More:

Man punched in the face in Union Square hate attack dies at Bellevue Hospital  

New York Daily News - September 9, 2013 - By Rocco Parascandola and Tina Moore 

Suspect appears in court in fatal Union Square beating

WABC - September 10, 2013

Man Attacked In Union Square Park

A Walk In The Park - September 5, 2013 

Police Tie Forest Park Rape Suspect To Five Additional Sexual Assaults - Release New Sketch

Police have released a new sketch of the suspect wanted in the Forest Park rape and have tied him to five more sexual assaults around the area.  A $22,000 reward has been offered for information in the case. On August 26th a 69-year-old woman in Forest Park was tasered and raped while jogging.  In March a 23-year-old woman was tasered and then sexually assaulted in the park.

Queens

Police have connected the suspect wanted in a Forest Park rape last month to five more sexual assaults in the same area, according to the Queens Courier. 

The NYPD, which released a new sketch of the suspect Thursday, said the man allegedly attacked six different females, ranging from ages 13 to 69, between March 2011 and this August.

The latest assault occurred around 4:30 p.m. on August 26, according to police, when the victim, a 69-year-old woman, while jogging through the park, was approached by the suspect, who tasered and pushed her to the ground before raping her.

He is also accused of attempting to rape a 54-year-old jogger on March 25, 2011 in the park, and a 13-year-old on September 7 of the same year near Park Lane and Myrtle Avenue. Both incidents occurred in the morning.

The suspect allegedly then groped a 34-year-old woman at the corner of Woodhaven Boulevard and Park Lane South around 1 p.m. on August 15, 2012.

Later that year, on November 28, he also assaulted another woman. The 40-year-old victim, who was jogging with her dog, was approached by the suspect who touched her with his exposed genitalia.

On March 23 of this year, the suspect allegedly struck a 23-year-old woman with a stun gun and then tried to rape her in Forest Park.

A person was arrested for that sexual assault, but police later said they had the wrong man.

The suspect is described as white, 30 to 40 years old, 5 feet 9 inches to 5 feet 10 inches tall, with light brown hair and clean shaven. He was wearing a black t-shirt and black sweat pants during the August 26 incident.

A $22,000 reward has been offered for information in the case.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto Crime Stoppers website or can text their tips to CRIMES (274637), then enter TIP577. All calls are strictly confidential.

Read More: 

Forest Park rape suspect tied to five additional sexual assaults

Queens Courier -  September 5 2013 - By Cristabelle Tumola

69-Year-Old,  Tasered & Raped In Forest Park

A Walk In The Park - August 30, 2013 

Police Release Sketch Of Forest Park Taser Attacker - Joggers On High Alert

A Walk In The Park - March 31, 2013 

Female Jogger Tasered, Sexually Attacked, & Robbed In Forest Park
A Walk In The Park -  March 30, 2013 - By Geoffrey Croft

Gov. Cuomo Approves USTA's $500 million Expansion Into Flushing Meadows-Corona Park

On Thursday Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed State Alienation legislation that will allow New York City to hand over two-thirds of an acre in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park to the U.S. Tennis Association.   Instead of building on its existing foot print, the legislation allows the USTA to destroy hundreds of trees and further encroach in the already crowded park.  

The USTA plans to build a 15,000-seat stadium and an 8,000-seat stadium, as well as two parking garages. The  proposed project would remove more than 400 trees.  The proposed expansion project adds 0.94 acres of public parkland - not .68 acres - to the National Tennis Center (NTC) site under a long-term lease, including the 0.68-acre Project Area that would be leased pursuant to the application, plus 0.26-acres of park land that was authorized for disposition to the USTA on August 2, 1993. 

As part of its $500 million expansion plan, the USTA will tear down two stadiums inside the 46-acre site it leases from the city and build  two new ones, a parking structure for VIP's. The plan, (above) includes a retractable roof on the Arthur Ashe Stadium. 

They expect an additional 80,000 people which not only increases traffic in the surrounding community which is already a nightmare during the U.S Open but also impacts Flushing Meadows-Corona Park which is already severely affected by the USTA during the event.  The City allows thousands of cars to park on grass for instance.  

The USTA has been allowed to double its park land holdings since 1993 when they were permitted to expand from 21 acres to 42. 

The tennis giant will reap billions over the course of the lease while giving back  just  $ 5 million for capital improvements and a few hundred thousand dollars annually towards the park for twenty years,  in a poorly negotiated deal elected officials made.

Park Cash Cow - Last year the USTA generated $ 275 million dollars and gave the city back just $ 2.5 million and while sending millions in "profits" across America.

 "It is disgraceful these electeds are willing to sell out the community and give away additional parkland in exchange for money that is supposed to come from the government.  It is their responsibility to fund public parks not private businesses. And Ferreras is on the City Council's parks committee no less."  - Afredo Centola of Save Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.

Replacement Park Shell Game 

"The signing today…. (returns) to the New York Department of Parks of 1.56 acres of land for public recreational use,"  the Governor's press release states while omitting that those facilities are already available for public use. 

The elected officials allowed the USTA to get away with swapping 5 tennis courts (below) that the public already has access to for 50 weeks of the year as "replacement" in exchange for allowing them to build on an acre of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park to accommodate a $ 500 million expansion.  Apparently the USTA assumed that reporters wouldn't bother to fact check the story.   And as they had under the previous agreement the USTA would still retain exclusive usage rights to the land "during the US Open and, possibly, other major tennis events."   

The "replacement" of the land also provided cover for the elected officials to approve the expansion.  

 -  Geoffrey Croft

Albany/Queens

ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo has given his approval to the U.S. Tennis Association’s plans to expand its flagship center in Queens, the Daily News has learned.

Cuomo on Thursday signed legislation allowing the city to hand over two-thirds of an acre in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park to the USTA to allow for new grandstands and expanded parking. 



Every single tree seen here and below in these photos will be needlessly destroyed in order to build the new USTA facility. (Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) Click on images to enlarge.


“I am committed to making this facility the best it can be to attract and host more events like the U.S. Open,” Cuomo said.

 “Today's legislation will help make that possible, by allowing the expansion and improvement of this sports complex, while also creating more than 1,500 jobs for the community,” Cuomo continued. 

As part of its $500 million expansion plan, the USTA wants to tear down two aging stadiums inside the 46-acre site it leases from the city and build new ones.

Replacement Park Shell Game.  The elected officials allowed the USTA to claim the swapping of 5 existing tennis courts (above) that the public already has access to for 50 weeks of the year as "replacement" in exchange for the public parkland in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park to accommodate the $ 500 million expansion.  

 "The USTA is proud of its rich history in New York, which dates back to 1915," said Dave Haggerty, USTA Chairman of the Board and President. 

"As the world's largest annual sporting event, the US Open is proud to bring worldwide attention to the city and state that it calls home, and is pleased that this legislation will allow the long-standing tradition to continue."   


Geoffrey Croft, president of New York City Park Advocates criticized the expansion plans, saying there was no need for the city to give up more park land to the USTA. (Photo: Corey Sipkin/New York Daily News)

The land deal signed by Cuomo also calls for the USTA to return 1.56 acres of park land — including five tennis courts — to Flushing Meadows. That land is currently leased to the USTA but accessible to the public. 

“It is important to my district and it is important to the city,” said Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry (D-Queens), who sponsored the legislation approving the land deal. 

“(The Open) is one of the largest revenue-producing events that we have in the city.” 

The legislation was easily approved by the Senate and Assembly in June. The City Council voted overwhelmingly in favor of the deal in July after the USTA agreed to donate $10 million to help maintain Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. 

Geoffrey Croft, president of New York City Park Advocates criticized the expansion plans, saying there was no need for the city to give up more park land to the USTA.

 “They can build inside their existing footprint,” Croft said. “It is really sad.”   

Read More:

Gov. Cuomo approves USTA's $500 million plan to expand home of U.S. Open in Queens  

New York Daily News -  September 5, 2013  - By Glenn Blain     

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Teen Killed By Model Helicopter In Dreier-Offerman Park

Queens resident Roman Pirozek, Jr. 19, was the victim of a tragic model helicopter accident this afternoon in Dreier-Offerman Park (Calvert Vaux Park) on Shore Parkway and Bay 44th St. in Gravesend Brooklyn.

Brooklyn

A teenage toy-helicopter enthusiast was killed Thursday when his remote-control whirlybird plummeted from the sky in Brooklyn and its rotor blades slashed his head and throat, cops said, according to the New York Daily News.  

The freak accident happened about 3:40 p.m. in Dreier-Offerman Park on Shore Parkway and Bay 44th St. in Gravesend.

Roman Pirozek, Jr., 19, of Queens, was apparently attempting an elaborate stunt with his model chopper when the trick went haywire and the machine clocked him, police said.


At least four witnesses watched in horror as the toy helicopter’s two-foot-long blades sliced into Pirozek’s head and neck, cops said.Pirozek’s toy helicopter was found crumpled on the ground in a ball field about 20 feet from his body, which cops later covered with a sheet.  (Photo: Ken Murray For New York Daily News)

At least four witnesses watched in horror as the toy helicopter’s two-foot-long blades sliced into Pirozek’s head and neck, cops said.

Police said Pirozek — a graduate of the High School for Construction Trades, Engineering and Architecture in Queens — died at the scene.

Pirozek’s toy helicopter was found crumpled on the ground in a ball field about 20 feet from his body, which cops later covered with a sheet.


Police said the 19-year-old died at the scene almost instantly.   (Photo: Todd Maisel/New York Daily News)

The teen’s heartbroken father showed up at the park, but was taken away by police.

A man who heard of the accident and rushed to the park, which is also known as Calvert Vaux Park, said Pirozek was a member of the Seaview Rotary Wings Club, an organization for remote-control helicopter buffs.

“I’m upset about it,” said the man, who claimed to know Piozek’s family.

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