NYU/City In Court Over Attempted Illegal Parkland Swipe

Judge Grants Expedited Discovery Against NYU and City In Attempted Park Land Grab Case


NYU 2031 Massive Two Million Square Foot $ 6 Billion Expansion Project.  The plaintiff's lawsuit contends that the Bloomberg administration gave NYU rights over public parkland, in violation of state law, which requires, under the Public Trust Doctrine, that parkland cannot be given away without the approval of the State Legislature.

Manhattan

By Geoffrey Croft

A Manhattan State Supreme Court judge this afternoon granted an expedited discovery motion request in favor of plaintiffs suing NYU and City in an attempted park land grab case which has erupted in the West Village.

At issue is whether or not NYU can proceed in building its massive two million square foot expansion project without first getting State Alienation approval to remove 4 parks - some of which have been used for more than three decades - in order to build its enormous NYU 2031 project.   

The suit contends that the Bloomberg administration gave NYU rights over public parkland, in violation of state law, which requires, under the Public Trust Doctrine, that parkland cannot be given away without the approval of the State Legislature.

The City and NYU are attempting to argue that because the four parks in question were never officially, "mapped" they are in fact not legal parkland and as a result they do not require State Alienation approval.

Former NYC Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro presented the plaintiff's argument before the Honorable Donna Mills at 111 centre street this afternoon. 

Mr. Mastro argued that the parkland had been used for decades and the absence of official mapping does not afford the parks any less legal rights for protection under state law. 

"You can't take that precious parkland away without prior State approval under state law,"  he said.

He said they needed this discovery based on "misrepresentations by the City and NYU."

More than a 100 people attended today's hearing - many of which wore stickers distributed by Andrew Berman, Executive Director of Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.

The City, represented by Christopher Reo stated that because the four parks were never de-mapped from the Department of Transportation they were not parks in the legal sense no matter how long they have been used as parkland.

This is position that is not consistent with other park and open space policies stated by the Bloomberg administration.   

In September lawyers filed suit in Manhattan State Supreme Court on behalf of 11 Greenwich Village groups trying to stop NYU's city-approved expansion.     

On Friday plaintiffs filed a blistering affidavit from former NYC Parks Commissioner Henry Stern which called out NYU's and the Bloomberg Administration's contention that four parcels of parkland are not actually City parks.  

The four parks involved with the proposed NYU expansion-Mercer Playground, LaGuardia Park, LaGuardia Corner Gardens,  and Mercer-Houston Dog Run range from 13 to more than 32 years of continuous public use.

Assemblymember Deborah Glick also wrote an affidavit supporting the contention that the City’s approval of the NYU expansion plan amounted to an illegal giveaway of public parkland and that any move to turn City parkland over to a private entity, like NYU, must have the approval of the State legislature under the Public Trust Doctrine.


Actor Matthew Broderick speaks with reporters after the hearing.

Actor Matthew Broderick was among more than 100 people who attended today's hearing many of which wore stickers saying, PLEASE SAVE OUR PARKS. 

"This issue is personal. I live in the village, I use the parks," Broderick, a life-long Greenwich Village resident said after the hearing. 

"It's not just my children.  I grew up on Washington Square and NYU is taking up more and more."

Matthew Broderick testified at the NYU expansion hearings at City Hall on June 29, 2012.  

"Parks they make the city livable, It's hard enough. There's only one Greenwich Village, its great if any parkland is preserved."

Broderick was accompanied by fellow Village native and parent Kenneth Lonergan, a noted playwright and screenwriter, and New York University alumni.

"The university doesn't own Greenwich Village, and the part they do own they're destroying. And it's not for the students, it's for money," Lonergan said.  

Both Broderick and Lonergan noted the dearth of available parkland in the community. 

The case contests the City Planning Commission's and the City Council's decision to approve a massive building plan by NYU, which would radically impact the area-  turning the heart of Greenwich Village into a jam-packed construction site for over 20 years, The plan would also permanently destroy two of the four parks. 

Various groups, including NYU Faculty Against the Sexton Plan (NYUFASP), the Historic Districts Council, and the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, filed suit because the approved construction plan, among many other illegalities, gave NYU rights over public parkland.

At the end of the hour hearing Alan Levine argued strenuously on behalf of NYU to no avail.

Judge Mills signed an order show cause granting the plaintiffs permission to argue for discovery before the April 29th hearing.

“We are deeply gratified by the judge’s ruling today," said Andrew Berman Executive Director Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.

"It’s only one small step, but an important one towards ensuring that New Yorker’s parks, light and air, and control over the fate of their communities are preserved, and not simply sold off to the highest or most politically well-connected bidder.”   

Besides Mr. Mastro plaintiffs are also represented by Jim Walden, both partners of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

Read More:

Actor Matthew Broderick joins Greenwich Village neighbors

in protesting New York University expansion plans

New York Daily News - February 26, 2013 - By Barbara Ross 

NYU gotta be kidding! Matthew Broderick rips $6B expansion

New York Post -  By Julia March February 27, 2013

Professors And Villagers Take NYU To Court, Matthew Broderick Shows Up To Watch

NYU Local - By Zoë Schlanger  February 26, 2013 

Matthew Broderick Joins NYU Expansion Opponents in Court

DNAinfo - February 26, 2013 - By Andrea Swalec

Park Noose Victim Speaks

When 60-year-old city park worker Anthony Crum came to work on Tuesday morning he discovered this doll hanging from a chain inside his workplace at Ranaqua, the Parks Departement headquarters in the Bronx. The Police are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime. The incident has attracted a considerable amount of media attention. (Images: NYC Park Advocates)

Parks Commissioner Adrain Benepe had a meeting at Ranaqua on Thursday to discuss the issue.

In 2008 the paid out $ 20 million dollars to settle a 2001 federal discrimination lawsuit brought by 11 then current and former employes that charged the former and current Parks Commissioner fostered a racially hostile work environment for black and Hispanic employees.

- Geoffrey Croft

Bronx

In a PIX 11 News TV exclusive, the Parks Department employee who said he found a black, baby doll hanging from a chain noose in his Bronx shop said the discovery left him "kind of shocked...and confused."

60 year old Anthony Crum, who hands out equipment to maintenance personnel who fix benches and swings, told PIX 11 he found the 15-inch doll hanging from a metal chain about 8:30 Tuesday morning. When PIX 11 turned up at the Bronx Parks headquarters Wednesday, we arrived as NYPD officers were interviewing Crum at the spot where he said he noticed the doll.

The NYPD is investigating the incident as a hate crime. KKK writing was found in a bathroom, not far from the place where the doll was discovered hanging.

Crum, a grandfather of two who was raised here in New York City, told PIX he didn't think he had a problem with any fellow employees. He was only recently assigned to this indoor job, after returning from August sick leave, on December 9th. Crum--who's worked in the Bronx Parks division for eight years--said he's had heart trouble and other medical issues. "I don't like to be taken out of my 'comfort zone'," Crum said. "And now I'm being taken out of my comfort zone."

Crum said he dealt with racism a few times in high school. He told us he didn't know anything about the KKK scrawling found in a bathroom not far from his shop. "It seems like it's blown up too fast," he told PIX. "I feel like there are good people in the world and there are bad people. I prefer to be with the good people, regardless of their race, age, religion. I'm really a peaceful person."

The New York City Parks Department issued a statement late Tuesday that said it "does not tolerate hateful acts such as this or any form of discrimination." Supervisors told employees not to speak with the media, during the police investigation. "It's very upsetting, mam," one African-American employee said to me, as he jogged away from our camera.

Geoffrey Croft, president of NYC Park Advocates, reported the Bronx Parks division had recent trouble with theft of tools and a surveillance camera blackened out.

In 2008, the city paid out $20 million dollars to settle a lawsuit brought by black and Latino employees, who claimed the former Parks Commissioner fostered a racially-hostile work environment. The employees we encountered briefly on Wednesday said personnel at the Bronx Parks division got along.

When we last saw Anthony Crum on Wednesday, he was heading to a doctor's appointment. "I don't like to churn things up," he said.

Read More:

Parks Employee Who Found Black Doll Hanging From Noose: "It Left Me Shocked and Confused"

WPIX 11- December 21, 2011 - By Mary Murphy

Baby Doll In Noose Found Hanging In Bronx Park Headquarters -

Hate Crime Being Investigated

A Walk In The Park - December 20, 2011 - By Geoffrey Croft

Baby Doll In Noose Found Hanging In Bronx Park Headquarters-Hate Crime Being Investigated

UPDATED

A sixty-year-old African American Parks employee discovered this doll hanging from a chain this morning at Ranaqua, the Parks Department's Bronx headquarters. The worker briefly spoke with WPIX the following day. (Photos: NYC Park Advocates)

Bronx

By Geoffrey Croft

An African American baby doll was found hanging from a metal chain noose in the Parks Department's Bronx borough headquarters, NYC Park Advocates has learned. Police are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime.

A sixty-year-old African American male Parks Department employee found the doll hanging from its neck inside the garage this morning around 8:30am. The doll is approximately 15 inches high.

The employee - a grandfather of two - had just returned to work from being out sick - was described as looking " traumatized," by a parks employee at the scene. "He looked like he was going to have a stroke. I feel really bad for him."

The incident occurred inside Ranaqua, the Parks Department's Bronx headquarters located at 1 Bronx River Pkwy.

According to a city source three KKKs were also found scratched in a unisex bathroom on the first floor.

Investigators from the NYPD were on the scene. Employees were being interviewed at the 49th Pct.

A female parks employee leaving the building tonight said, "This is crazy, especially to find this during the holiday's.

This evening the Parks Department released the following statement:

For attribution to NYC Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe

“The Parks Department does not tolerate hateful acts such as this or any form of discrimination. We are committed to maintaining a safe and respectful workplace for all staff. We immediately reported this incident to the NYPD and are fully cooperating in their investigation. We urge anyone with knowledge of this matter to immediately contact the NYPD so that the perpetrator or perpetrators can be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Delay in reporting it.

According to police however the incident was not reported until 12:03 pm, more than three hours after the doll was first discovered by the Parks Department.

Several parks sources also strongly refuted the Commissioner's claim that the incident was "immediately reported" to the police.

"That's BS, they waited for hours," said a parks source at the scene. "They probably would have tried to sweep it under the rug if they could have."

A park source said last week eight hundred dollars worth of tools were stolen from a van at Ranaqua , and a camera was recently blackened out.

"This place is a mess."

In 2008 the paid out $ 20 million dollars to settle a 2001 federal discrimination lawsuit brought by 11 then current and former employes that charged the former Parks Commissioner Henry Stern and Adrian Benepe fostered a racially hostile work environment for black and Hispanic employees.

The lawsuit contended that Mr. Stern made racially derogatory remarks and tolerated offensive symbols, like three hangman's nooses that were displayed over the last seven years on parks property.

Read/View More:

Doll hanging by chain found at Parks Dept. office

Eyewitness News - December 20, 2011 - By Lucy Yang

Black Baby Doll Found Hanging From Noose

WPIX - December 21, 2011 - By Francesca Maxime

Noose Found in Parks Office

The Wall Street Journal - December 21, 2011 - By Sumathi Reddy

Police Investigate Black Doll Hung by Noose at Parks Dept Office

WNBC - December 21, 2011

Doll Found Hanging With Noose At NYC Parks Department Garage;

Police Investigating As Possible Hate Crime

WCBS - December 21, 2011

NYPD Investigates Noose Found At City Parks Office

NY1 News - December - 22, 2011

Black baby doll found hanging in noose in Park Dept. Bx. headquarters

New York Post - December 20, 2011 By Rebecca Harshbarger

Probe noose at Parks HQ

New York Daily News - December 21, 2011

Black Doll Found Hanging By Noose

My Fox - December 21, 2011

NYPD probes potential hate crime after black doll found hanging

by noose at NYC Parks Department building

Associated Press - December 21, 2011

N.Y. worker 'traumatized' by black effigy

UPI - December 21, 2011

Some Sicko Hung This Black Baby Doll From A Noose In Parks Dept's Bronx HQ

gothamist - December 21, 2011 - By John Del Signore

City Agrees to Settlement in Parks Dept. Bias Case

New York Times - February 27, 2008 - By Diane Cardwell

Fence Repairs Finally Being Completed At City Hall Park

A section of the cracked granite fence base. Workers have finally begun replacing broken granite curbs and fence posts around City Hall and its four-acre park - seven years after the city sued Barney Skanska Construction Co. and its subcontractors who installed them. The park was renovated during the Giuliani administration. (Photo: Chad Rachman/NewYork Post)

Under a settlement finally reached this year taxpayers will not be on the hook for the estimated $1.1 million in repair costs.

Unfortunately the taxpayers weren't so lucky on another part of the City Hall Park renovation project. In February 2008 crews started blasting the sidewalks that surround the entire park including City Hall with a blowtorch - "thermal roughening," to burn away the slippery top layer of stone.

In 2008 the city was forced to pay $ 1 million dollars to fix a poorly designed sidewalk after a Parks Department's then unlicensed landscape architect choose to use bluestone.

According to several city sources controversial parks landscape architect - and real estate agent - George Vellonakis was repeatedly told not to use that material by colleagues because the material was too slippery and people might get hurt.

Beginning in at least 2002 the city's legal department had known about the problem after lawyer Steven Kartagener slipped on a rainy, leaf-covered slab in November 2002 and tore the meniscus and ligaments in his knee.

He filed a notice of claim against the city, but did not file suit. However, a woman who slipped on ice and snow there in 2002 sued for her injuries and won a $15,000 settlement, according to the New York Daily News from a story broke by NYC Park Advocates.

The City however didn't bother to get around to thinking it was a problem worth fixing until late 2007 when Mayor Bloomberg watched several people - including two staffers - slip and fall on rainy days.

"He walked in and said, 'What are we doing about this?'" said mayoral spokesman Jason Post. "Then he made a call."

Two months later the comptroller's office gave the Parks Department an emergency safety exemption to have a contractor do the work quickly.

However Mr. Vellonakis and former Parks Commissioner Henry Stern's mistake doesn't just end there. The city has installed unsightly metal riot barriers in the southern end of the park around the beautiful historic relief on the ground in order to protect the public from being injured further. They city can not file down the bluestone without destroying the relief which depicts the parks history. - Geoffrey Croft

City Hall Park. The city has installed unsightly metal riot barricades in the southern end of the park around the beautiful historic relief inlaid in the ground to protect the public from being injured on the slippery stone material.

Manhattan

The cracks at the seat of government are finally getting fixed.

Workers have begun replacing broken granite curbs and fence posts around City Hall and its four-acre park -- seven years after the city sued the contractors who installed them when the park was renovated by the Giuliani administration, according to the New York Post.

“The damage includes major cracking, chipping, spalling and water damage,” the city charged in a lawsuit filed in 2004 against Barney Skanska Construction Co. and its subcontractors.

“The damage will continue to undermine the security and integrity of the fence, causing a public safety hazard.”

Repair costs were estimated at $1.1 million.

It took a while, more than two-thirds of the Bloomberg administration’s occupancy, but a settlement was finally reached this year to replace the rotted posts at no cost to taxpayers, officials said.

Henry Stern, who served as former Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s Parks commissioner, said it shouldn’t come as a surprise that glitches developed in the $28.6 million City Hall Park project.

“If you do it nicely, there’s likely to be more problems than when you do a garden-variety job,” he said. “It’s more complicated.”

The redesigned park opened to rave reviews in October 1999. The iron fence was cast as an exact replica of an 1820s original, which was found surrounding a cemetery in upstate Bloomingburg.

Unfortunately, a decision was also made to replace the concrete sidewalk around the park with glossy stone slabs.

They became slick when rained or snowed upon.

After several people slipped and fell, the Parks Department allocated $1 million in 2008 to “thermally roughen” the sidewalk using heating devices. That pretty much ended the slips and falls.

Large bluestones intended to grace the entranceway to City Hall were clearly a huge mistake. They’ve become chipped and shattered and have absorbed oily spills from vehicles.

Stern said he was confident that all work on the separate, $119 million project to renovate the interior of City Hall would be completed well before Mayor Bloomberg leaves office.

“The greatest incentive to completion of a major construction project is the expiration of a mayoral term,” Stern observed.

Read More:

Repairs being completed at City Hall Park

New York Post - November 11, 2011 - By David Seifman

Mayor Bloomberg orders $1M worth of repairs on sidewalk near City Hall

New York Daily News - April 14, 2008- By Adam Lisberg

Geese Kill Zones Expanded In NYC

The Federal Government, in concert with the City, recently expanded the kill zones for the eradication of geese around Kennedy and LaGuardia airports to seven miles.  Resident geese, not migratory geese, are mostly being targeted. 

City Wide

The government is on a citywide wild-goose chase.

Expanded "kill zones" for the eradication of geese around Kennedy and La Guardia airports are so large that they cover nearly all of the Big Apple -- and critics say it's literally a case of overkill, according to the New York Post.

"It reminds me of the old saying, 'Kill them all and let God sort it out,' " said former Parks Commissioner Henry Stern.

After a bird strike caused the emergency Hudson River landing of US Airways Flight 1549, a city, state and federal task force recommended creating a five-mile "geese mitigation" zone around the airports.

At the feds' urging, the zone was expanded to seven miles this summer, said city Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Farrell Sklerov. "Obviously, our priority is for the public to be able to safely fly in and out of city airports," he said.

A map obtained by The Brooklyn Paper showed the zones cover all of Queens, most of Manhattan and The Bronx and half of Brooklyn.

Read More: 

Feathers fly over goose 'kill zones'

New York Post - October 5, 2010 -  By Andy Soltis

Geese Protesters Flock To Bloomberg Residence

A Walk In The Walk - August 9, 2010 - By Geoffrey Croft

     

Brooklyn's "Dust Bowl" Field Naming Controversy

Unwilling to maintain and properly secure the two natural turf baseball fields in Lief Ericson Park in Bay Ridge, the City recently dumped $ 2.8 million dollars into an artificial turf field. When he was Park's Commissioner Henry Stern officially named the field "Dust Bowl," a sad symbol of the City's neglect. 

Brooklyn

So what if it harkens to an environmental catastrophe in American history — if Bay Ridge wants its Dust Bowl, it will get it, according to organizers of a contest to rename a once-gritty section of a popular area park, according to The Brooklyn Paper.

“If our neighborhood chooses to [make official] a long-standing nickname, we are totally and completely supportive of that,” said Dena Libner, a spokeswoman for Councilman Vince Gentile, who, along with the Parks Department, organized a contest to rename a section of Leif Ericson Park, at Eighth Avenue and 65th Street.

The Dust Bowl, so named for its inability to grow grass, was the recipient of a $2.8-million renovation, and is now covered with a verdant carpet of synthetic turf, prompting the contest.

So does the “Dust Bowl” name kick sand in the face of history? Historians think so.

“There’s probably a more innocent name to call a piece of ground that’s dusty,” said Bob Brigman, the coordinator of the historical markers program for the Texas Historical Commission.

“Several generations removed from the event, the emotion and all the physical impact has been forgotten,” he said. “It’s like calling a boat that sinks today ‘Titanic-like’ — and they lost only three people. It’s like an echo or ripple from the original event.”

Andrew Needham, an environmental historian at New York University, agrees that naming a park “The Dust Bowl” at least reveals a lack of knowledge of the grim history of the event.

“People don’t really understand the scope of the Dust Bowl,” he said. “This is something that had people in the East Coast cleaning off dirt from the Great Plains on their window sills in Boston and New York. But it’s fallen out of people’s minds.

 Today, they associate it mainly with the Joad family of ‘The Grapes of Wrath,’ or maybe ‘The Beverly Hillbillies.’ ”

He said that because the Dust Bowl has fallen out of people’s minds as an environmental disaster, the name is not offensive as, for example, naming a regulary flooded wetland, Katrina Park.

Indeed, Needham said he was far more surprised that the Parks Department would want to associate the park with the agency’s failure to properly maintain it. But that’s what former Parks Commissioner Henry Stern intended all along.

Read More:

Bay Ridge’s ‘Dust Bowl’ park — insensitive to America’s great national tragedy?

The Brooklyn Paper - September 7, 2010 - By Gary Buiso 

DOT To Kill 87 Pelham Parkway Trees - Official Insults Regis Philbin

The city plans to cut down 87 trees, like those above, along Pelham Parkway to make room for a guardrail. The road had 185 accidents in the first half of 2009, and a fatality two weeks ago. Opponents of the plan say killing the trees is not necessary. (Photo: Ip for the Daily News)

Bronx

By Geoffrey Croft

The Department of Transportation's (DOT) controversial plan to destroy 87 trees along the Pelham Parkway in the Bronx spilled onto the national stage this week when TV host Regis Philbin tackled the issue on his morning show, Live with Regis and Kelly.  Mr. Philbin spoke passionately about the trees and about growing up near the Parkway when he was a child. 

"Leave those trees alone!"  Regis Philbin exclaimed. "Why in the world would they have to remove 87 beautiful mature, lovely trees that have been there for years, and all of my life. And it's going to cost the city—us—$36 million?"

When contacted by The Daily News about the controversy, an assistant commissioner for the Department of Design and Construction made a joke and then attempted to portray Mr. Philbin as being uniformed about the issue (a tactic not uncommon under this administration when one dares to disagree).

"At first I thought he was being out-Regis," joked Matthew Monahan, assistant commissioner for the Department of Design and Construction (DDC). "But it later appeared he was not fully briefed on the plan. Public safety is the city's absolute top priority here."

In fact Mr. Philbin did mention the agency's reason for the destruction of the trees on air—he just didn't agree with it—a fact Mr. Monahan apparently ignored when speaking to the reporter in attempting to justify DOT's plan.  

The TV host read a letter  published in the New York Post written by former Parks Commissioner Henry Stern, which, to no one's surprise, did not criticize the Parks Department for giving DOT permission to destroy the trees. The DOT argues the destruction of the trees is necessary in order to install guardrails, siting a number of accidents along the parkway.  No alternative has been made available by the Bloomberg administration. 

"There is a plan to put a guardrail on the side of the road, to protect drivers who fall asleep, drive drunk, or don’t know where the road is," Mr. Stern wrote.  "The guardrail would also protect the trees, which are scuffed and gashed by the clumsy or irresponsible drivers.  

It is not a physical necessity to remove the trees in order to install the guardrail. It is a convenience for the contractor. 

When we called DOT to inquire about the removal of the trees, we were told that DDC was in charge of the project," Mr. Stern wrote in a follow up letter on August 12, 2010.  "When we called DDC, we were told that the trees were on park land. When we called Parks, we were told that the reconstruction had been initiated by DOT. This round robin of avoiding accountability would be comedic if it didn't involve the destruction of trees that are older than most people.

It also appears that no environmental assessment was ever performed on this project. According to the City Environmental Quality Review (CEQR) procedure, the lead agency of any city project should perform such an analysis when it would lead to "the removal or destruction of large quantities of vegetation or fauna" or "the impairment of the character or quality of important historical, archeological, architectural or aesthetic resources (including the demolition or alteration of a structure which is eligible for inclusion in an official inventory of such resources)."

The newly formed Pelham Parkway Preservation Alliance, founded by Dr. George Zulch, Joseph Menta, and David Varenne, has been leading the campaign to preserve the trees. Plan opponents have collected more than 1,000 petition signatures from local residents.

The newly formed Pelham Parkway Preservation Alliance can be contacted by email: treestosave@yahoo.com and on Facebook.

The historic Pelham Parkway, known for its stately elm trees, was built in the late 19th century and created by the Grandfather of Bronx parkland, John Mullaly (1835-1915) . (The City recently repaid him for his exemplary civil service when they allowed the destruction of a large part of his namesake park to the build the new Yankee Stadium.)  At  2.3 miles long, the parkway connects two the famous parks—Bronx Park and Pelham Bay Park.

According to the Parks Department, the parkway consists of three traffic lanes going in each direction, two large center plots, one small plot, two marginal streets, a bridle path, and an aqueduct shaft. 

"An opulent thoroughfare linking two of Parks’ brightest jewels, the Bronx and Pelham Parkway, is a graceful testament to the beauty Mulally and the New Parks Act brought to the Bronx, " the agecny says on its website. 

Read More:

Save the Pelham Parkway trees

New York Post - August 8, 2010 - By Henry Stern

Regis Philbin wants to save Pelham Parkway trees slated to be

cut down by city for guardrail space

New York Daily News - August 13, 2010 -  By Mike Jaccarino

Tree massacre coming to Pelham Bay Parkway

Queens Crap - August 13, 2010

87 Mature Pelham Parkway Trees,

Face Deracination Under City Plan

NY Cvic - August 6, 2010 - By Henry Stern

Trees to go as part of Pelham Parkway redesign

New York Daily News -  November 10, 2009 -  By Mike Jaccarino