Parks' Top Flack Out After Offensive Remarks - Calls Reporters "Illiterate"

Manhattan

by Geoffrey Croft

Arthur Pincus, who headed up the Parks Department's press office, has been unceremoniously shown the door, NYC Park Advocates has learned. 

Mr. Pincus was forced out of his $132,000 job as the department's assistant commissioner of communications after 19 months.

Yesterday was his last day.  

The move comes after Parks Commissioner Silver learned of offensive remarks he allegedly made regarding the media during a meeting several weeks ago with union officials.

Representatives from Local 983 who represent Park Enforcement Patrol officers and other titles, attended the meeting at the Arsenal, the Parks Department headquarters in Central Park.

They raised issues regarding Parks Department senior management and the press office's regular misrepresentation of the responsibly of PEP officers as well as exaggerating their numbers in the field.

For years park officials including Liam Kavanagh have attempted to minimize the policing role of PEP by referring to them simply as "eyes and ears."

When a union official questioned two recent articles, one in Queens and the other in the Bronx, Mr. Pincus went on a rant saying that reporters are "illiterate" and "they lie," according to sources who attended the meeting.  

Pincus said if they weren't reporters they wouldn't even be able to get a Parks Department job.

He went on to explain that reporters recycle information from past articles and don't bother to reach out to the press office to update it.  

When union reps said they were going to fact check those last two articles, he allegedly shot back, "I don't give a shit."

"They have this plantation mentality," said a person who attended the meeting.

 "They do what they want. There are no repercussions. I couldn't believe how he was speaking. He really belittled reporters," the source said.

"They consistently undermine the role of PEP. They don't want to acknowledge what they do or give them credit. Our employees really believe in what they are doing,  I mean look at what they are paid,   and these guys constantly belittle them and they get away with it."

Parks Commissioner Silver was made aware of Mr. Pincus' most recent behavior on October 31st and then again on Wednesday.   

He was gone the following day. 

"The sooner Adrain's (former Parks Commissioner Benepe) legacy is extinguished the better," said an attendee of the meeting.  

"Parks is thankful for Arthur Pincus' dedicated service to the department, and we wish him well in his future endeavors," a spokeswoman told Capital New York.

Pincus formerly served as the Vice President of Public Relations for the National Hockey League, Sports Editor of The Washington Post, and Deputy Sports Editor of The New York Times.

The press department was routinely criticized by reporters for its general lack of professionalism during the Bloomberg/Benepe years, including its well-deserved reputation for being defensive, unhelpful, and often giving out misleading information. 

Reporters routinely complained about the treatment they received under two previous heads of the Parks' press office, Vickie Karp and Warner Johnson.

This article has been updated.

 Parks Department spokesman leaves job amid bad press

Capital New York  - November 7, 2014 - By Sally Goldenberg

Mitchell Silver To Be Named City's New Parks Commissioner

Mitchell Silver is the City's new Parks Commissioner.  

City-Wide

By Geoffrey Croft

An ex-planner, with a reputation for  working with communities will be appointed By Mayor Bill De Blasio to head the City's Parks Department later today.

Mitchell Silver, a Brooklyn native was formerly the chief planning and development officer for Raleigh, N.C. and former head of the American Planning Association. Prior to that he was deputy planning director in Washington, D.C.

Silver has taught at Hunter College, where he got his master’s degree in urban planning.   

Silver also co-authored Local Planning: Contemporary Principles, the primary textbook for the profession’s main licensing exam.

He met his wife, Mary Singleterry at Pratt  Institute.  

Mr. Silver was hired by WE ACT  to help faciliate the design process for the redevelopment of the Harlem Piers at 125th Street.   Community access to the waterfront in Harlem was created from a former Fairway parking lot and is now a heavily ulized open space.  

"Mr. Community engagement"  

A parks commissioner known for community-based planning and consultation will be sharp departure from the Bloomberg Administration which was known for having an often contentious relationship with critics and promoted a number of controversial policies and projects.

The current administration is facing a number of controversial Bloomberg-era park policies; The building a high-end restaurant in Union Square Park,  the  seizing of more than 47 acres on Flushing Meadow's Corona Park to build a mall; Allowing the commercial take-over of Damroach Park in Lincoln Center, Using the Bronx waterfront for Fresh Direct instead of for open space, and installing housing in Brooklyn Bridge Park to name just a few.  

The agency is also facing chronic underfunding and a number of privatization policies left over from the previous administration. 

Deputy commissioner Liam Kavanagh who has been running the day-to-day operations of the agency since former  Parks commissioner Adrain  Benepe was let go in 2012 was in Brooklyn last night attending a meeting in Brighton Beach on the controversial comfort stations. 

12:45 PM – Hosts Press Conference to Make an Announcement

Seward Park

Corner of Essex Street and Canal Street

New York, NY 10002

Footage will be provided by NYC TV and will be available shortly following the event on Encompass Port CTY- 4205. Official photos will be available at flickr.com/nycmayorsoffice shortly following the event.

Read More:

Mayor de Blasio Poised To Appoint Mitchell Silver Parks Commissioner

NY Daily News - March 20, 2014 -  By Jennifer Fermino

De Blasio to name parks commissioner

Crain's New York Business - March 20,  2014 - Andrew J. Hawkins   

Parks Commish Veronica White Lands Job With Bloomberg After Lobbying Efforts To Stay Failed

Park Commissioner Veronica White (center) flanked by Deputy Parks Commissioner (and former Bloomberg re-election political operative) Larry Scott Blackmon  (L) and First Deputy Commissioner for Parks Liam Kavanagh at a City Council Hearing in September 2013.  Mr. Kavanagh has been Acting Parks Commissioner since Ms. White's departure on December 31st.  (Photo: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates)

"We have a great operating budget,"  Veronica White embarrassingly testified at the hearing.

City-Wide

Parks Commissioner Veronica White quietly left the agency on December 31 and landed a job at Bloomberg L.P. after lobbying efforts to stay on failed NYC Park Advocates has  learned. 

Sources say Ms. White had attempted to enlist the help of several prominent people including DC 37 head Lillian Roberts to lobby the new administration but those efforts were ultimately unsuccessful.

No public announcement was made regarding her departure and Ms. White did not send out a customary Broadcast email announcement to all parks employees. Instead she sent an email to upper management on Dec. 31st  thanking them and stating it was her last day according to several park employees.

Ms. White began her employment the following day on Jan. 1 at Bloomberg L. P. as chief of staff to Thomas Secunda, Vice Chairman & Global Head of Financial Products & Services, and a founding partner of Bloomberg L.P. 

"She was more of a figure head,"  said a long-time parks employee of White's sixteen month tenure, and speaking on the condition of condition of anonymity.  

"Liam's been running the agency since Adrian left," the employee said.

First Deputy Commissioner for Parks Liam Kavanagh has also been the Acting Parks Commissioner since Ms. White's departure. 

"We have a great operating budget,"  Veronica White embarrassingly testified In September,  a view consistently shared by Adrain Benepe who was fond of the calling the funding  "robust." 

Ms. White was out on sick leave for several months this spring. 

When her appointment was announced she called the position, "truly the most important and great job that I could ever hope to have."  

When asked what her top priorities and goals were she stressed the need to make sure that all parks in in all boroughs were maintained. 

"As we increase the parkland obviously we have to increase the resources available public and private - especially the private - for each of these parks we are creating as well as the existing parks," she said emphasizing the reliance on private funds.  

Former long-time Parks head Henry Stern complained about her lack of parks background  at the time and compared the situation to Schools Chancellor Catherine Black. 

Veronica applied for the Parks Commissioner job once before,  shortly after Mayor Bloomberg was elected in 2001. 

Before joining the Parks Department White worked for Bloomberg as the first executive director of the mayor's anti-poverty Center for Economic Opportunity a program he created in 2006 that reportedly used $100 million annually in public and private funds.

White is perhaps best known for her controversial anti-poverty ventures, including an initiative to pay poor people to attend parent-teacher conferences and a program to take kids to the dentist.

Ms. White began at Parks' on August 30, 2012 after the position was vacated by Adrain Benepe who held the job from February 4, 2002 to August 29, 2012.

Benepe finally wore out his welcome from the Bloomberg administration and was summarily told to find employment elsewhere according to several City sources.

Benepe landed a job at The Trust for Public Land,  a partner organization in the Mayor's PLANYC Schoolyards To Playgrounds Initiative.  

It is unclear if Mr. Benepe received a waiver from the Mayoral appointed Conflict of Interest Board before joining the organization.  

City Officials Keeping A Close Watch On Occupy Wall Street Rally At Union Square Park

Parks Commissioner Adrain Benepe visited Union Square Park Friday evening with the Park Enforcement Patrol (PEP) Urban Park Service head Michael Dockett. Liam Kavanagh came by a bit later in the evening. The Parks Department has pulled PEP officers from other parks and deployed six officers for the Occupy Wall Street movement in Union Square, officers they can not spare. (Nice overtime) On Saturday, OWS is planning to march from Liberty Square (Zuccotti Park) to Union Square Park. (Photos: © Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates)

"As long as they are not interfering with the rights of other people who are enjoying the park they can stay, as long as they are not blocking access they can stay," Benepe said of the protestors on Thursday.

When asked if they would be allowed to have their large Saturday rally planned for the park without a permit Benepe replied, "I really can't comment on what might happen in the future."

The City is not allowing protestors to sleep overnight in the public park. - Geofffrey Croft

Manhattan

The city will be watching like a hawk Saturday as Occupy Wall Street protesters rally in bustling Union Square, according to the New York Daily News.

“We’ll speak with the Law Department, the Police Department,” Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe said. “We’ll handle situations as they arise.”

Benepe, who made the comments after a City Council budget hearing, said some protesters have been rallying in the park the past few days without a permit.

He said the protesters have been allowed to gather as long as they follow the rules because they haven’t been an “organized group.”

“If it’s an organized group,” he said. “that brings up other things.”

There is a midnight curfew in the park and protesters will be expected to leave by then, he said.

Councilman Jumaane Williams said the cops haven’t always been clear about what the rules are.

He said he was in the park on Wednesday and was told that it was illegal to hold up a banner.

“Let everybody know exactly what the rules are so the protesters can make informed decisions,” he said.

NYPD officers keep a watchful eye on activities in Union Square Park on Friday Night. For the past two nights police have enforced the park's 12:00am curfew. The have placed barricades around the southern plaza and prevented protesters from staying overnight.

Read More:

City officials will be keeping a close watch on Occupy Wall Street rally at Union Square Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe said he will ensure that any demonstrators have proper permits

New York Daily News - March 22, 2012 - By Tina Moore

Occupy Wall Street Relocates To Union Square Park -

NYPD Moves Them Out Wednesday Morning

A Walk In The Park - March 21, 2012

Queens Civic Group Takes DPR Contractor and Management To Task In Kissena Park

"Despite hearing that the protection and preservation of public trees is a paramount concern by New York's Greenest, we continue to see a blatant disregard for those very trees (under the jurisdiction by NYC DPR) that we have placed such high value and regard. What is disturbing is the incorrigible behavior by DPR management who show poor judgement when it comes to our public tree assets." - The Kissena Park Civic Association

The Kissena Park Civic Association fired off a letter to Deputy Commissioner Liam Kavanagh to alert him of some "disturbing behavior by a NYC DPR tree contractor and their DPR management supervision," according to Queens Crap. The group called out Dom's Tree Service and Wood Resource Recovery (Ocala FLA) for damaging not just the lawn area, "but compaction of soils and damage to the wide spreading and unseen root zones by heavy equipment." The group also called into question DPR management who were supposed to be responsible for overseeing the tree clean-up operation.

Queens

September 13, 2011

Commissioner Liam Kavanagh
NYC Department of Parks & Recreation
The Arsenal, Central Park
830 Fifth Ave
New York, NY 10065

Dear Commissioner,

Members of the Kissena Park Civic Association, Flushing and the greater community have been asked to be stewards of Kissena Park - and so we alert you of some disturbing behavior by a NYC DPR tree contractor and their DPR management supervision.

On Saturday, September 10 a day after torrential rains that left the grassy landscape wet and soggy Dom's Tree Service and Wood Resource Recovery (Ocala FLA) staged a tree damage clean-up effort upon wet and soggy tree occupied soils. This operation occurred with authorization and supervision by Kissena Park M&O management. The attached photos reveal impacts not just to lawn area but compaction of soils and damage to the wide spreading and unseen root zones by heavy equipment. The trees impacted are several Samuel Parsons heritage trees and other current tree species. We are concerned because established mature trees growing in open landscapes have root systems that extend large distances beyond the tree drip-line and that the compaction of those root occupied soils will have a negative impact to whole tree health. We are reminded here of the 2004 NYC DPR Capital Kissena Park Lake Reconstruction project where DPR engineer(s) allowed a DPR contractor to utilize lawn areas for staging and storage of equipment and materials resulting in needless damages to parkland trees.

Despite hearing that the protection and preservation of public trees is a paramount concern by New York's Greenest, we continue to see a blatant disregard for those very trees (under the jurisdiction by NYC DPR) that we have placed such high value and regard. What is disturbing is the incorrigible behavior by DPR management who show poor judgement when it comes to our public tree assets. A park manager with a sound skill set would have simply directed this operation off of the lawn area.

To address the long-term health concerns of the heritage trees and to mitigate the damages by heavy equipment, remediation of tree root zones is duly needed. With the tree care technology currently available the KPCA wishes to see the root zones of these trees restored by pneumatic air-spade (to reduce the negative health impacts from soil compaction) followed by soil amendment, Rhizofuel, mulch and irrigation. This action should be performed by vetted certified arborists with supervision.

We acknowledge the potential by the Agency to do the right thing here and await a response with an effective plan of action from New York’s Greenest.

Thank you.

Kissena Park Civic Association

Parks needs more sensitive contractors

Queens Crap - September 18, 2011

Second-Class Parks For Park Safety

Although this illustration more than doubles the actual amount of PEP officers available for patrol, it still illustrates the striking disparity between the boroughs. A City Council hearing on this issue was held in April.

City Wide

On any given day, about 700 acres of New York City parkland—almost all of them in Manhattan—are patrolled by 78 parks enforcement officers, close to half of the parks department’s manpower. The remaining 86 officers are left to cover the other 28,000-plus acres, according to City Hall.

The difference in staffing levels comes down to who’s footing the bill: the city or private parks conservancies.

As staffing for the city’s Parks Enforcement Patrol plummets due to an ongoing hiring freeze, a two-tiered system that favors affluent neighborhoods is being thrown into sharp relief. Hudson River Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Washington Square Park and others are always well staffed, because private associations—not taxpayers—hire PEP officers. While Battery Park has some 30 officers, the entire borough of the Bronx has only 15—and officers say that official figure is higher than the reality.

“Right now there’s three sergeants and two officers,” said one Bronx PEP officer, who declined to be named for fear of reprisals, adding that only five officers cover the day shift.

“Because we’re so short-staffed, there’s only one eight-hour tour,” the officer said, “and we respond to the whole borough.”

PEP officers, who are unarmed but can make arrests, respond to both crime and quality-of-life issues, from unruly park-goers to dogs running off-leash to smoking, recently banned in all city parks and beaches. But staff shortages mean that officers in the outer boroughs drive from park to park dealing with complaints assigned by a central office.

“They give false hope to the public,” the Bronx worker said, “because they promise an officer will be posted at a park to handle conditions, and it’s absolutely not true.”

Parks first deputy commissioner Liam Kavanagh attributes the sharp drop in “tax-levied” PEP officers—from around 450 in the mid-1990s to fewer than 100 today—to the hiring freeze put in place in 2009.

“Because the parks enforcement staff tend to be younger and tend to be interested in careers in law enforcement, in general the attrition has been higher within those ranks,” he said.

Kavanagh said the distribution of officers “is based on public use,” and that the privately funded officers help the city by taking those busy parks off their radar.

“I don’t see that as having a disparate impact,” he said.

But while Kavanagh sees no disparity, others do. Queens Community Board 7 chair Eugene Kelty, who represents part of Flushing Meadows Park, said he felt the 1,225-acre park “doesn’t get the attention it really deserves.”

“We’re never going to compete with Manhattan, because that’s the profile borough,” he said. “I would love to see more parks enforcement people, but we just never get the funding for it.… We generate a lot of people going through Flushing Meadows, especially in the summertime, but I don’t think we get the kickback that goes with it, at the enforcement end.”

Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito, who chairs the parks committee, held a hearing on the issue in April, and has been told since of rock-bottom patrol numbers.

“I think in the Bronx sometimes they have, like, two officers patrolling all of the borough,” she said. “That’s crazy.”

DC 37 Local 983 vice president Joe Puleo, who represents the PEP officers, said his members were struggling to keep their heads above water.

“What they are doing presently is going to locations and trying to put a quick fix to a problem,” he said. “If there’s graffiti, if they’re lucky they can catch the guy. But they know that nobody’s going to be there on a day-to-day basis.”

All PEP officers go through the same civil service hiring process and are paid the same wages and benefits, whether they serve in a marquee privately funded park or a publicly funded outer-borough park. But in the field, understaffed parks are clearly the ones that need more enforcement, according to one worker who patrolled Hudson River Park for two years and now works in Queens.

“It’s a totally different animal,” the worker said. “Those contract parks have their own issues, but they’re not as severe as the borough issues. It’s 90 percent quality-
of-life stuff. You may get a mugging or two here and there, but not as much as in the outer boroughs.”

With the smoking ban signed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg in February, PEP officers could help generate revenue with tickets. But Kavanagh said there’s no chance of that spurring new hiring.

“We issued roughly 8,000 summonses last year for quality-of-life infractions,” he said. “At an average of about $50 a ticket, it would generate $40,000—nothing to sneeze at, but it’s not a revenue stream.”

Geoffrey Croft, president of the New York City Park Advocates and a vocal critic of the disparity, thinks the problem is only going to increase.

“I don’t think anyone is against private funding, helping or subsidizing. But that’s not what’s happening,” he said. “The government is abdicating its responsibilities, which is forcing the public to fund these operations.”

Mark-Viverito shares the sentiment. “It’s not a fair system, unless the intent of the parks department is to try to privatize every park. Not to be cynical, but there’s a level of truth to it, too. That can’t be the solution.”

Read More:

Second-Class Parks

Despite hiring freeze, privately funded parks get more attention

City Hall - June 17, 2011 - By David Sims

Arrests In Union Sq. Park Up 320 %

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

Park Crime Surges - Calls For Increased Security

A Walk In The Park - June 15, 2011 - By Geoffrey Croft

Park Enforcement Officers Say They Need More Personnel

A Walk In The Park - March 13, 2011 - By Geoffrey Croft

NYC Council Hearing Reveals Big Park Enforcement Patrol Disparity

A Walk In The Park - April 29, 2011 - By Geoffrey Croft

200 Trees Disappear, Some "Murdered" In Lower Manhattan

Downtown trees are disappearing -- and often in a shady way.

An estimated 200 trees have vanished -- some mysteriously murdered -- in Greenwich Village, SoHo, Chinatown, Little Italy, and other areas under Community Board 2, leaders say, according to the New York Post.

The missing limbs have left leaf-lorn neighborhoods pocked with muddy, litter-strewn craters and ugly stumps.

"Oh, what happened to that tree? It's something that happens when you're not looking," said Liz Walker, owner of Local café on Sullivan Street, where several trees have gone missing.

While the city forges ahead with its ambitious "Million Trees NYC" planting project, it gives less priority to replacing trees destroyed by delivery trucks, contractors, vandals, and people who simply ax them.

"The city is so desperate to reach their quota, they plant where there's a space, and rarely inform the community," said Geoffrey Croft, founder of New York City Park Advocates, which monitors arboreal abuse.

"Sometimes, people do not like trees, and take matters into their own hands."

When three trees disappeared outside Da Gennaro restaurant at 129 Mulberry St. about 18 months ago, some suspected they were whacked -- possibly to clear space for sidewalk dining.

"I'm outraged, but welcome to Little Italy," one resident fumed.

"With the city pushing to plant trees to help improve the quality of air, and just to make it look nice and pretty, the merchants are cutting down trees here."

Aki Gholizadeh, Da Gennaro's owner, insisted the Parks Department chopped down the trees, calling them a "hazard."

But Parks officials said they removed only two dying trees -- and left a healthy one.

"We were never able to establish what happened to that third tree," said Liam Kavanagh, first deputy commissioner. "There is an allegation that somebody removed it illegally, but we weren't able to substantiate it."

The Parks Department plants or replaces trees requested by callers to 311, but it can take up to a year.

Read More:

There's no safe 'arbor', Thefts stump city

New York Post - May 8, 2011 - By Susan Edelman

Related

Tree Abuse Fines Reach $ 123, 000

A Walk In The Park - February 28, 2011

Tree Cutter: Staten Island Builder $135K Fine Upheld

A Walk In The Park - February 15, 2011