Woman Struck By Hit & Run Driver In Prospect Park

Brooklyn

A 51-year-old woman walking in Prospect Park was struck from behind by a vehicle that fled the scene according to police.

The incident occurred this morning at 4:55 a.m. on the West Drive near the Parade Grounds on the jogging path along the roadside.  

The victim, an Ocean Parkway resident, was taken to Methodist Hospital where she is being treated for a fractured spine and fractured pelvis.  

No witnesses. 

Police are checking nearby cameras to ID the vehicle.

- Geoffrey Croft

Teen Attacked & Stabbed In Prospect Park

Brooklyn 

By Geoffrey Croft

The victim an 18-year-old male was walking with friends last night in Prospect Park when he was attacked and stabbed in the abdomen in an apparent random attack, NYC Park Advocates has learned.

Two men approached the group and an altercation ensued.

The Incident occurred inside Prospect Park on the East Drive at approximately 9:45 p.m.  not far from 450 Flatbush Ave. 

Friends called 911 and the victim was taken to Methodist Hospital where he is expected to survive 

Seven of his friends were taken back to the 78 Pct. and all told the same story of the unprovoked attack.

The attacker is described as a male white, 6-ft-1 inches tall, 170 lbs. with dark hair. He was wearing a dark colored baseball cap, a dark hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans.

Police are also looking for a second accomplice but did were unable to provide a description at this time. 

Both were described as in their 20's. 

Police canvassed the park and failed to find the attacker.

Mayor De Blasio Using Park Ballfields As Helipads

On Oct. 14th  Mayor De Blasio was picked up by a police helicopter that landed in a Prospect Park ballfield.  The Mayor was supposed land by police helicopter in Harlem River Park during an Aug. 9 little league game but balked after fuming parents threatened to expose the stunt on social media.

City-Wide


Mayor de Blasio shut down a Little League baseball game in a Harlem park for more than an hour in August so police could ready a field for his helicopter, The Post has learned.

 The chopper landing was then abruptly canceled after an angry dad started griping to cops about the intrusion, threatening to post pictures of the mayoral interruption on social media, a source said.

The extended seventh-inning stretch got underway at Harlem River Park during an Aug. 9 Little League game when the NYPD cleared the diamond of two under-14 teams, one dad told The Post.

The cops “basically told everybody to get off the field,” the dad said.

“The mayor wants to land his helicopter here,” he recalled police telling him.  And when he griped to the officers they sympathized.

“They said it’s absolutely ridiculous and that I should file a complaint,” said the dad, who didn’t want his name printed for fear of retribution.

Another angry dad confirmed the story.  De Blasio was slated to deliver remarks at Gracie Mansion at 7 pm that evening and visited an injured firefighter at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx earlier that day. He had nothing else on his public schedule.

The guy feels he’s so entitled to do whatever he wants.” Police said he was taking the whirlybird from the Bronx because traffic was backed up, the dad recalled.

“It’s ridiculous,” he fumed. “The guy feels he’s so entitled to do whatever he wants.”  Another dad confirmed that police said it was de Blasio who was supposed to land on the field.

“I wanted to see my son playing,” he said, griping, “We should have been home an hour earlier.”

A former cop familiar with the situation told The Post police “were not happy” about having to arrange for de Blasio’s park landing.

The mayor’s office refused to comment on the aborted chopper ride, instead referring questions to the NYPD.

“The security and transportation of the mayor are determined by the NYPD,” said Deputy Commissioner John Miller.

“We do not discuss the specifics of security.”

That was the same canned statement the department issued less than two weeks ago after The Post reported de Blasio had been picked up by a chopper landed in a Prospect Park ballfield.

De Blasio dodged questions on that flight Wednesday, refusing to say whether or not he was making political calls on Friday, Oct. 14, the day of the Park Slope flight.

“We’ve done every form of disclosure we have to and we follow exactly the rules,” he said.

When pressed about having to use a chopper becuase he was in a rush after making political or campaign calls, he said: “I’ve just said all I’m going to say about it.”

De Blasio and his administration have also kept relatively quiet on why he used a police chopper to whisk him and wife Chirlane out to last month’s presidential debate on Long Island.

Read More:

De Blasio’s helicopter shut down a Little League game
New York Post - October 26, 2016 - By Michael Gartland

Attempted Rape Of Jogger In Prospect Park

The police released a sketch and video surveillance of a suspect wanted in the sexual attack of a 23-year-old jogger in Prospect Park at knife point early Wednesday morning.

Brooklyn

By Geoffrey Croft

A 23-year-old woman jogging in Prospect Park was attacked at knife point.

The terrifying incident occurred on Wednesday morning around 5:15 a.m. in the park near the Garfield Place and the Prospect Park West entrance.

The man came from behind and threw her to the ground. He displayed a knife and told the woman he was going to rape her, according to police.

The woman fought back and struggled with her attacker until he eventually gave up.

The woman was taken to New York Methodist Hospital where she needed stitches to close the wound to her right index finger she received during the assault. 

Police have flooded the area with wanted posters.

The assailant is described as a black male between 5’10” and 6′ tall

180 to 190 pounds with short hair and a goatee. 

He was last seen wearing a black t-shirt and black pants with white lettering on one pant leg and wearing black sneakers with white bottoms. 

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. or for Spanish 1-888-57-PISTA (74782) 

Read/View More:

JOGGER FIGHTS OFF KNIFE-WIELDING WOULD-BE RAPIST IN 

PROSPECT PARK -  SKETCH RELEASED

WABC - April 21, 2016

Police Release Video Sketch Of Suspect In Attempted Rape Of Prospect Park Jogger

WCBS - April 21, 2016

14-Year-Old Arrested In Yesterday's Prospect Park Shootings

Brooklyn

By Geoffrey Croft

A 14 year-old boy was arrested for yesterday's afternoon shootings at Prospect Park that left two injured including a 14-year-old girl, according to police.

The  young girl was sitting on a bench when shots ran out, hitting her in the leg.

 A 38-year-old woman who was watching her son play baseball was hit in the shoulder.

The assailant fled on his bike northbound along Parade Place.

The teen was charged with 8 counts including two counts of attempted murder.

Central Park: Free Ice Skating On Pond Returns! Other Boroughs Not So Lucky

Bring Your Own Skates.  Tim Davey and son Vann, 5, play hockey on the Conservatory Water in Central Park, the park system's only free outdoor ice skating pond available to the public.    With icy temperatures expected to return beginning next week after a brief respite,  the pond is expected to be frozen over for the immediate future.   Ice skating was the first activity in Central Park when it opened in 1858,  twelve years before the park was completed.  (Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) click on images to enlarge)

City-Wide

By Geoffrey Croft  

One of the most delightful, and free, winter fun activities is to skate outdoors among nature.

And for those who have their own ice skates — or are able to borrow them –  a little slice of winter heaven exists in Central Park.

As the public knows ice skating is strictly prohibited on the Parks Department's numerous waterbodies due to safety concerns and for good reason:  the risk of falling through the ice and getting hurt or worse is also too real. 

Each season one park prepares for the possibility that winter just might get cold enough to allow skating on one of its ponds.  

This is the year.

For the past several weeks the public has been quietly using the park's famed model/sail boat pond near 73rd street near Fifth Avenue to ice skate.

The Conservatory Water,  as it is officially known,  is normally 3 to 4 feet but each year the Central Park Conservancy cleans the pond and, borrowing a page from the past,   drains the water to a depth of 1 foot in the winter months in order to facilitate a solid and safe bed of ice.  (The Parks Department requires the ice be at least 6 inches deep to allow skating)     

The Conservancy also builds a wooden ramp so people can access the pond.

This week Tim Davey and his son Vann, 5 1/2,  enthusiastically cleared the snow covered surface with a broom and shovel so they could play.   

"I saw a couple of people out here the other day,  it was news to me that you could even do this," said Mr. Davey, a father of three who lives a few blocks way. 

"It was great, we were loving it.  We loved shoveling off the snow to make our own hockey rink," he said. 

After a large enough section was cleared an impromptu pick up hockey game broke out that included Maxy,  14 a student from the UN School, and Emmet, a 10- year-old visiting from  southern California.   While walking with his mom Emmet saw the action, borrowed a broom and made his way onto the smooth ice wearing sneekers and began playing goalie.

For Tim's son Vann it was the first time he played stick and puck. 

"He didn't want to leave after four and a half hours, he was having a great time."

Even his 2-year-old daughter Teagan made an appearance on skates. 

Two nearby concessions stands serve hot chocolate and snacks.  

On February 6th, the Conservancy tweeted out: RARE OPPORTUNITY! Conservatory Water OPEN this w/e for skating!! BYO skates. Ice not groomed. Do NOT go on any other frozen waterbody!!!

Up in Crotona Park in the Bronx, the situation is quite different.

Although Indian Lake was also built for the same activities as in Central Park  the once popular ice skating activities and lake boat rentals were abandoned many decades ago.  

Several garbage cans are embedded into the ice at Indian Lake in Crotona Park, once a popular ice skating destination in the Bronx.

  

With no dedicated maintenance staff the impacts are obvious. Several garbage cans tossed into the pond remain frozen in the water. Several bright red wooden ice rescue ladders are littered on the snowy landscape. 

The red brick Parks Department building that replaced the wooden warning huts for skating is still there but no such programs are offered.  Today Park Rangers have to shoo kids away from the dangerous icy waters. 

Sign Of The Times.

During the Bloomberg administration the Parks Department established  "safe skating" sites throughout the five boroughs.  

A Parks Department spokesman said there are no plans to establish such sites this winter.

Free outdoor skating options in the city's parks are basically non-existent today, but that wasn't always the case.  

Skating in Central Park for instance has a long and storied past.   One of the first parts of the park to open to the public was the skating pond, now called The Lake, in the winter of 1858-1859, twelve years before the park was completed.   The Lake was actually designed to accommodate this activity in the winter, and for boating in the summer. 

In order to help ensure proper skating conditions, and safety, The Lake was designed so it could be drained to a level that helped ensure that the would ice froze every year. The 20-acre water body was labeled on park designers Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux's original Greensward plan as a "skating pond." This was the park's first recreational activity when the park opened and it immediately attracted parkgoers in droves.

Long before Zambonis people swept the ice to make it clear for skating.  There were ice skating warming “huts” along water’s edge where park patrons could leave their shoes while skating.  Parks Department workers would raise the flag to indicate it was safe to skate. 

Skating competitions were a popular attraction.     

According to the Central Park Conservancy when Central Park first opened more people came in the winter than in any other season….largely to skate.

Today some have a hard time orienting themselves when they see the iconic late 19th century photos of the throngs of people skating on the Lake with the famous Dakota building towering alone on Central Park West in the background. 

The iconic photographs of ice skating in Central Park (1898) with the Dakota building (1884) in the then non-existent skyline along Central Park West. The Lake was designed to so it could be drained to a level that would ensure public safety as well so it could freeze each year.  

Agnes Tait’s Skating in Central Park, 1934. The Pond (59th Street and Fifth Avenue) and The Lake (W.72nd Street) were very popular locations for ice skating in Central Park. 

But Central Park was hardly the only spot.  Tens of thousands of people once flocked annually to skating sites that once dotted the park system. The city built concession stands for skaters as well as for those who used the ice for other winter activities such as curling, yes curling! 

In the Bronx skating sites included Van Cortlandt Park and Crotona Park. 

"During the winter when the lake was thick enough to support skaters,  "Parkee" Solomon,  would raise the flag (a red ball on a white field) near the boathouse to indicate that skating was permissible," Daniel Wolfe writes. 

"Whenever that flag was up, homework was benched. I would grab my skates, dash across Boston Road,  pass P.S. 61,  round the corner at Charlotte Street,  pass the playground on my left and run to the Indian Lake in Crotona Park."

Curling,  Van Cortlandt Park  (Photo by Bain News Service/via Library of Congress) 

Brooklyn sites included McCarren Park, Prospect Park, Sunset Park, and Commodore Barry Park. 

The Brooklyn Parks Department annual report of 1920 notes that in Prospect Park, the Boat House was converted to a Skate House which also offered coffee and snacks, the Parks Department notes.  

Today the Prospect Alliance has been allowed to seize the historic building and rents it out for private parties.   In 2014 the Alliance raked in $346,210 for 68 parties, records show. The landmark building, renovated with millions in taxpayer funds, was closed to the public on weekends starting in April 2013.

Read More:

Ice Skating - Central Park in New York City 1800s-1900s

JUST SKATE! PARKS OFFERS SAFE-SKATING SPOTS FOR ALL TO ENJOY

The Daily Plant -  January 28,  2003

Prospect Park Alliance Shuts Audubon Center At The Boathouse

To Rent It Out For Private Events

A Walk In The Park - April 15, 2013 - By Geoffrey Croft 

NYPD Issues Tickets For Prospect Park Curfew

Brooklyn

Pedestrians in Prospect Park have been left bewildered by a recent ticket crackdown by the NYPD.

As CBS 2’s Jessica Schneider reported, they said they were just walking through after dark when they got slapped with summons.

Geoffrey McFarlane was given a ticket and a court date for simply walking down a path in the park.

“This is the most convenient way to go,” said McFarlane, of Brooklyn, “and I was just strolling through.”

McFarlane was stopped by NYPD officers last Tuesday around 11:15 p.m. They gave him a ticket for remaining in a park after dark – something McFarlane had no idea was illegal in the part of the park he was passing through.

“It’s the first I’m hearing of it, and I’ve lived here for five years,” McFarlane said.

The problem is that near the path, there is no sign anywhere that the park is closed after dark. But around the corner, a close look reveals you can find one.

“It’s about a block and a half away, right over here, where you couldn’t possibly see it from that entrance,” McFarlane said.

McFarlane said he was with five people ticketed that night.

And it is not as simple as just paying a fine. McFarlane also has to appear in court to dispute the charge.

“A warning would be nice,” McFarlane said. “Maybe park right over here where there’s great parking spaces for police vehicles, and when people try to walk in, just let them know, ‘Hey, park’s closed!’”

The dozens of people CBS 2 saw going through the park also had no idea they were doing anything wrong. Lindsay Harrison of Park Slope said she always rides through the park on her bicycle.

“We play soccer at fields a couple of times a week,” Harrison said.

She said she had never heard of the area being closed after dusk, and added that she would be “annoyed” about the ticket.

McFarlane was feeling the same frustration.

The city Department of Parks and Recreation did not respond to CBS 2’s requests for comments.

Neighborhood leaders said police officials will address concerns at a community meeting Wednesday night.

Read More:

Prospect Park Pedestrians Baffled By Ticket Blitz

WCBS - September 9, 2014 - By Jessica Schneider

Two-Year-Old Drowns In Algae-Filed Prospect Park Lake

The heartbroken mother of two-year-old Ruhshona Kurbonova at the scene on Saturday. Her daughter had wandered off  shortly after 1:00 p.m. during a family picnic and fell into the Lake in Prospect Park and drowned.  Police fanned out across the park to search for the missing toddler. Her body was found by NYPD police divers after a five-hour search.   The city's medical examiner officially ruled the death of a two-year-old Brooklyn girl this weekend an accidental drowning.   (Photo: Debbie Egan-Chin/ New York Daily News)

Rescuers struggled to find the girl because of a murky green algae called Azolla caroliniana, which covers the lake and has been a source of contention for years.

Brooklyn

A Brooklyn mom wailed inconsolably Saturday after her 2-year-old daughter drowned in Prospect Park Lake during a family barbecue turned holiday weekend horror, according to the New York Daily News. 

The NYPD Scuba Unit found tiny Ruhshona Kurbonova after a frantic and ultimately tragic five-hour search for the missing tyke in the sprawling 585-acre Prospect Park, cops said.

Her heartbroken mother sat screaming and sobbing on the Brooklyn lake’s grassy bank as paramedics walked toward the water carrying a stretcher around 6:30 p.m. The toddler, who stood just 2 feet tall, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Paramedics then needed a second stretcher for the 37-year-old mom, an Uzbekistan immigrant whose 3-year-old nephew was found shortly after wandering off with Ruhshona around 1:10 p.m. When family members asked the tot what happened to his cousin, the boy pointed ominously at the lake, witnesses said.

“My heart is broken hearing the mother scream,” said Shavonne Dillard, 35, whose church group joined the search for Ruhshona.

“Right now, her child is gone.”

The boy’s father was seen sobbing later at the family’s home as relatives offered their condolences. The Muslim family planned to fly their baby home for burial in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, early this week.

NYPD community liaison Erham Yildrim visited to read the Quran with the shattered family.

Ruhshona was the youngest in her family and the lone girl after her parents had three boys, said the superintendent of their Brooklyn building. “She’s a little angel,” said super Zada Bacoj, 60.

“A beautiful, nice-looking girl. What bigger heartbreak than this do you want? I feel shocked and I feel sad.”  


The algae that covers the LAKE in Prospect Park has been a source of contention for years. (Photo: NormanY. Lono/For New York Daily News)


The two youngsters slipped quietly away from the get-together near the park’s boathouse — with both apparently heading for the murky water on a warm July afternoon, cops said.

The older kid was quickly located, covered in the algae that rims the lip of the lake.

“Another family was walking and they heard a cry coming from some bushes near the water and they looked and found the boy all wet,” said one witness, who identified herself only as April.

“There was the green stuff, the algae, all in his nose and his hair.”

When cops arrived, the mother said the little girl was missing and had possibly gone into the lake near the boathouse where the family was gathered.

“I don’t know what happened,” one of Ruhshona’s three older brothers told the Daily News at the family’s Brooklyn apartment.

The party, one day after the Fourth of July, was held on a gorgeous afternoon beneath blue skies before death turned the day dark.

The mom, whose English is shaky, was eventually removed to a local hospital for evaluation once police brought her out of the park. Though investigators plan to question the mother and consult with the Brooklyn district attorney, criminal charges in the tragedy were highly unlikely, police sources said.

The family moved into their building about three years ago, and Bacoj described the parents as hard-working and devoted to their four kids.

“They’re very nice people,” said the building super. “It’s very sad. They’re a very good family. How this happened, I don’t know.”

A horde of cops had scrambled across the park to hunt for the toddler with shoulder-length black hair.

The girl was dressed adorably in white shorts, a white shirt and pink sandals. Desperate officers with a photo of the missing child flashed the shot to parkgoers, while others hung missing person posters.

Additional cops searched the vast area by bicycle and helicopter before the hunt came to a halt with the recovery of the little girl’s body. Valery Vaval, 44, was spending the day in the park with her sister and a friend when the search began.

“Police came asking if we had seen the child who went missing,” said Vaval, who had not spotted the youngster.

Through it all, Dillard said, Ruhshona’s panic-stricken mom was seen pacing by the lake as each terrifying minute, and hour, passed.

“She was just throwing her hands up,” Dillard said. “She was frantic.”

After scouring the park, Dillard and her church group lingered for a bit. “We stuck around just praying, hoping that she was OK,” she said.

Read More:

Family mourns loss of 2-year-old girl who drowned at Prospect Park Lake On Sunday
New York Daily News - July 6, 2014 - By  Laura Bult, Jill castellano and Reuven Blau 

NYPD divers find body of missing 2-year-old girl in Prospect Park Lake 

New York Daily News - July 5, 2014 - By Jan Ransom, Natalie Musumeci, Thomas Tracy   

Prospect Park's $74M Ice Rinks Project Unveiled

One of two rinks at Lakeside, part of a 26 acre $74 million redevelopment project in Prospect Park that includes a café and event space.  The project,  along the southeast shore of the park’s lake, has been troubled by delays and money issues.   Approximatly two-thirds of the budget came from city and state funds.   (Photo: Christie M. Farriella for New York Daily News) 

The Prospect Park Alliance will run the complex under a licence agreement with the city.  The Alliance will be required to pay the City of New York nothing for the first year and just $ 100, 000 annually beginning the second year according to the terms of the sole source concession agreement the city "negotiated" with the influential group. 

The new facility replaces the Kate Wollman Memorial Rink which opened in 1961. The complex  opens to the public on Friday.  

Brooklyn

Park officials, flanked by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other city officials, marked the completion of the year-round skating facility named the Samuel J. and Ethel LeFrak Center at Lakeside on Tuesday according to tthe Wall Street Journal.  

The $74 million restoration project covers 26 acres of parkland and includes the construction of new rinks for ice and roller skaters, a seasonal water-play area, an event space and a cafe. Parts of the new facility, such as the parking lot, are still being built.

Prospect Park was designed in the 1860s by architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux following the completion of Central Park. The new Lakeside facility replaces Prospect Park's former Wollman ice skating rink, which was built by Robert Moses in 1960 and was closed in 2010.

During lake excavation in 2011, parts of an original granite wall and several drinking fountains were found at the bottom of the lake, covered in mud. Some parts found during the work were reused in the restoration, according to Christian Zimmerman, vice president of design and construction at Prospect Park Alliance, which oversees the park.

"Preservation wasn't important back then, but it is to us," said Mr. Zimmerman, who was a designer for the renovation project.

The Lakeside facility has a circular and seamless theme, said Tod Williams, who was also a designer of the space with partner Billie Tsien. He said the outdoor ice rink is designed to make skaters feel as if they are on the lake, while the paths surrounding the center gently curve upward, so those talking a walk in the park may not notice they are actually going up onto the facility's roof terrace.

The rinks will be operated by Upsilon Ventures, which also operates the ice rink in Bryant Park. Admission for skating will be $6 on weekdays and $8 on weekends and holidays. Skate rentals will be $5.

The center was named in honor of the LeFraks after a $10 million donation from the family, which is well known in the real-estate industry.

The park previously unveiled two other portions of the restoration—Music Island and the Esplanade.

The brand new 26-acre LeFrak Center at Lakeside includes a pair of adjacent ice rinks, one open and one covered, which will be used for roller skating during the warmer months, as well as a café and event space, according to the New York Daily News. 

 “This is a thrilling day for us,” Prospect Park Alliance President Emily Lloyd said of the transformation, which officials called Prospect Park’s most ambitious improvement since the green space was built nearly 150 years ago.

 It restored and redesigned 26 acres of the southeast corner of the park. 

 “It symbolizes the historic restoration and expansion of city parks our administration has overseen since 2002,” said outgoing Mayor Bloomberg.   

“I think it also epitomizes the spectacular renaissance of Brooklyn over the past 12 years.”  

The new Samuel J. and Ethel LeFrak Center replaces the old Robert Moses-era Wollman Rink, which was torn down in 2010 after nearly five decades in operation.  The rinks officially open on Friday and will be open for skating and ice hockey from November through March, and roller skating from April through October.  

They will be open from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Mondays through Thursdays; from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and 9 a.m. until 8 p.m. on Sundays. Skating rink admission costs $6 on weekdays and $8 on weekends. Skates rent for $5.  LeFrak Center at Lakeside in Prospect Park, located closest to the Parkside and Ocean Aves. entrance. For information visit, www.prospectpark.org/about/lakeside.

Read More:

Skaters Take to the Park New Rink Complex in Prospect Park After Restoration Project

The Wall Street Journal  - December 17, 2013 - By Kaya Laterman

Officials unveil $74M Prospect Park ice skating rinks 

New York Daily News - December 17, 2013 - By Natalie Musumeci  

Prospect Park Alliance In Lakeside Skate Rink $ Windfall

A Walk In The Park  - November 10, 2013  - By Geoffrey Croft

President Obama Lands In Prospect Park

Two Marine One helicopters (L) and a Marine Four copter on the baseball fields in Prospect Park this afternoon. (Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) Click on images to enlarge. 

Brooklyn

By Geoffrey Croft

All games were suspected today in the baseball fields in Prospect Park on account of the President of the United States.

Two Marine One helicopters - one carrying Barack Obama and the other a decoy - along with two other copters began ascending on the fields around 2:45pm this afternoon. 

Marine One touched down in the outfields of baseball field # 3 and # 4 kicking up large clouds of infield dirt and rattling tree branches.

Spectators strained to catch glimpses of the spectacle along the park's Long Meadow, pathways and through trees wrapped with blue police caution tape.

Marines in full dress uniform stood near the copters and Marine aviator personnel were also seen walking the grounds of the ball fields.

A contingent of emergency service personnel including NYPD ESU and FDNY were stationed near the landing area and along the park's drives.

A large contingent of unformed officers were spread out on the park grounds.

Visitors today found the park's drives closed to vehicle traffic but pedestrians were allowed inside with only the parameter around the ball fields closed off in a "frozen zone."

The West Drive near the ball fields were also closed for a short period of time. 

Earlier this week the Prospect Park Alliance announced on its website that the entire 585 acre park would be closed for six hours, however yesterday they clarified that saying only portions would be closed without providing addition information. 

The President was in Brooklyn to visit Pathways in Technology High School in Crown Heights. 

In the mid-1980s the future president lived a half a block from Prospect Park in a town house on Second Street in Park Slope after he graduated from Columbia.

Marine Three and Four parked on the baseball fields flanked by an NYPD ESU truck.

Spectators along the park's Long Meadow watch Marine One land.

Marine One lands in Prospect Park.

Spectators near the West Drive. 

Marine Four and Three. 

Marine Four 

FDNY standing by.

Marine Four. 

Marine One standing by.

Police guard the entrance to Prospect Park along Grand Army Plaza.

Officials Closing Prospect Park On Friday To Accommodate President Obama

Two U.S. Marine Corps choppers practice landing on baseball fields in Prospect Park on Tuesday in preparation for President Barack Obama's visit to a nearby high school on Friday.  The park will be closed on Friday, October 25 from 12 – 6pm due to security associated with the President's visit.  (Photos: Tom Prendergast)

Brooklyn

Authorities are closing a 585-acre Brooklyn park for six hours on Friday for security associated with President Barack Obama's visit to a nearby high school, according to WNBC.

Obama is visiting the Pathways in Technology Early College High School on Friday that he mentioned in his State of the Union address earlier this year. 

The school is about 2 miles away from Prospect Park, where several helicopters landed on a ball field earlier in the week in a security drill.

The park, which has seven playgrounds, horse trails, a zoo, a carousel, a boathouse and 150 acres of woodlands, attracts more than 10 million visitors a year. 

It will be closed from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday.

The park was closed for a few days after Hurricane Sandy last year, but the city could not immediately say whether it had ever been shut down for an event unrelated to weather.

In his yearly address, the president praised the school, also known as P-Tech, as a model for preparing students for the 21st century economy,the school's website says.

Read More:

Brooklyn's Prospect Park to Close for Obama Visit

WNBC - October 23,  2013  

Marine Helicopters Land In Prospect Park

South Slope News - October 22, 2013 

Prospect Park Alliance Rakes In $ 200 Grand For Privatizing Public Boathouse Over First Few Months

The Prospect Park Boathouse has generated nearly $200,000 in revenue from weddings and other posh events over the last few months. In April the City irresponsibly allowed the Prospect Park Alliance to close the public Audubon Center At The Boathouse building exclusively on weekends so the group can rent it out for private events.  (Photo: Reven Blau/New York Daily News) 

Brooklyn

The Prospect Park Alliance has hauled in nearly $200,000 by renting out its historic boathouse for posh parties after the building was shuttered on weekends, according to the New York Daily News.  

The Boathouse has been rented out 46 times at roughly $4,000 a pop, raising $197,750 since April, when the Prospect Park Alliance enraged park advocates by closing the landmark building on Saturdays and Sundays. 

Those activists are still angry. 

"This beautiful building belongs to the people, not to the Prospect Park Alliance," said Geoffrey Croft, president of New York City Park Advocates, a watchdog group.

 In 2002, the 108-year-old Beaux Arts building was renovated with $5 million in public and private funds. The building was converted from a storage area into the borough’s first Audubon Center, filled with educational exhibits, live animals and a library. 

The fixed boathouse also housed a café and dock for boat rides as well as one of the few public bathrooms in the 585-acre park. But the Alliance, which oversees $9 million budget to operate the park, has been desperate for money to tackle routine maintenance and repairs. 

The Alliance’s president, Emily Lloyd, has not had her $180,077 salary cut. The Boathouse remains open on Thursdays, Fridays and during school holidays, said spokesman Eric Landau. 

And the park still hosts free environmental education courses inside new tents on weekends.  

The Audubon Center during its recent heyday.  The popular boating has disapeared as well. (Photo: Prospect Park Alliance) 

Those roving classes have attracted an average of 300 to 350 people each weekend, up from the 30 to 35 people who attended similar classes held inside the boathouse, Landau said, refuting the need for the boathouse to be reopened. 

"The pop-up is a more effective program," he said.

But critics remain unconvinced, saying the closure stems from the Bloomberg administration's constant belt-tightening.

"(The Alliance) just don't have money for the maintenance. This upkeep should be coming out of the general funds of the city of New York," fumed avid birdwatcher Neal Frumkin.

Most park goers remain surprised to find the boathouse barred.

 "It kind of stinks," said bicyclist Sidal Musluoglu, 39.

 "I'm fine with them closing it every now and then but if it's always closed off, and only open to the privileged few, that's kind of unfair." 

On Sunday, a couple living in Tribeca used the building for their wedding reception, complete with two guards outside to make sure no park visitors stumbled into the elegant party. 

But even the groom's brother couldn't understand why the building was permanently closed to park goers. 

"That doesn't sound right. Weddings aren't going on constantly," said Brian O’Malley, as he puffed a cigarette on the water’s edge.   

Read More:

Prospect Park Alliance cashing in on decision to close its boathouse for fancy parties

Closed on weekends, the Boathouse has raised nearly $200K. That's enough to pay the Alliance president  

New York Daily News - October 7, 2013 - By Reven Blau

Prospect Park Alliance Shuts Audubon Center At The Boathouse

To Rent It Out For Private Events

A Walk In The Park - April 15, 2013