A Walk in the Park

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Like Safe Parks? Don't Count On City To Help Out

Like safe parks? Don't count on city to help out

BY GEOFFREY CROFT, Monday, May 23, 2011

The Parks Department's Park Enforcement Patrol (PEP), whose responsibility is to ensure "the safe use of parks," is severely understaffed. Over the last six weeks alone, there have been five shootings, including four deaths, on park land. It is no secret that having a uniformed officer present acts as a deterrent. Unfortunately, in today's political climate only a few chosen parks in wealthy neighborhoods are being afforded this "privilege."

In 2010, crime in parks grew 24%, yet the mayor's budget includes just $11.3 million in city funds for 151 PEP positions. The number of full-time officers has declined dramatically from a high of 450 in the mid-1990s. This is alarming, considering they are responsible for securing more than 29,000 acres (14% of the city's land). It is important to note that crime is tracked in only 30 of the city's 1,700 parks and playgrounds.

At full strength, only seven full-time dedicated PEP officers are available to patrol more than 6,700 acres of parkland in Queens, five for 6,970 acres in the Bronx, seven for Brooklyn's 4,336 acres, and five for Staten Island's 7,400 acres. These numbers drop further when you factor in vacations, sick days and days off.

And that's the good news. During the summer these numbers decline dramatically as the majority of PEP personnel are deployed to beaches and pools.

Over the next few weeks, Queens will lose three officers, the Bronx two and Brooklyn five. This leaves the vast majority of city parks completely unprotected. Some days there are no officers available for patrol. These numbers are shocking considering the tens of millions of people who use our parks annually.

By sharp contrast, an increasing number of public parks - almost exclusively in Manhattan - have a dedicated security presence, some 24/7. More than 50% of PEP officers are now permanently assigned to "contract parks" - parks run by select private nonprofits, or other government agencies that buy what are supposed to be a basic city service. A few shell out more than $2 million annually. Contractually, these parks are required to have a minimum number of officers deployed.

For example, Battery Park City has more than 40 officers for 35 acres, Hudson River Park has more than 30 officers for 150 acres. Madison Square Park has three, plus seasonals for 6 acres: Bryant Park spends $900,000 annually for 22 private security personnel, including 12 patrol officers for its 6 acres. The Bloomberg administration has assigned 11 full-time officers to the High Line's 2.8 acres.

Central Park also has multiple PEP officers assigned, in addition to having its own police precinct with more than 125 officers.

These numbers highlight the enormous disparity between publicly funded parks and those that receive substantial private funds. The city's increasing reliance on these schemes has resulted in a vastly unequal distribution of service. Experience over the last 20 years has proven that private subsidies to individual parks have created an enormous gap between the haves and the have-nots, while ignoring the real problem - that our parks are not funded as an essential city service.

Compounding the problem, the city has repeatedly tried to mislead the public on the deployment numbers.

It was revealed at a recent City Council hearing that the number of PEP officers hired from city funds fell far short of the amount adopted in the budget. A senior Parks official said this was to due to a hiring freeze. That is not accurate. There have been four PEP academy classes over the last year. However, the officers hired have been diverted to contract parks.

Investing in PEP also makes financial sense because it costs considerably less than deploying NYPD officers to park patrol, and PEP frees the police for more pressing issues. There are also 8,000 fewer NYPD officers available for patrol than a decade ago.

All communities deserve safe, well-maintained parks, not just those that can afford to pay extra. This is a basic quality-of-life issue. We need our elected officials to allocate the necessary funds and to make sure they are distributed equally.

Geoffrey Croft is president of NYC Park Advocates.

New York Daily News - May 23, 2011 - By Geoffrey Croft

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Police and Parks Commissioner Visit Union Sq. Park's Methadone Alley

Union Square Park - May 21, 2011. Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe speaks with park employees including an enforcement officer along Methadone Alley, a bench-lined path located on the East Side of Union Square Park yesterday. Police have made 182 arrests in the park and surrounding area from April 1 - May 9th alone. Besides making arrests, Park Enforcement Patrol (PEP) have also issued 71 summons in April, and 50 through May 21st, including 30 for alcohol. Last week the commissioner attempted to play down the conditions. (Photos: © Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates.) Click on images to enlarge.

Manhattan

By Geoffrey Croft

The City's top cop and its Parks Commissioner both visited the city's most crime plagued park this week. Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe took time out on Its My Park Day to visit Union Square Park's Methadone Alley yesterday afternoon. The commissioner just missed an incident where a man was inhaling a computer dust cleaner and was asked to leave the park. Earlier in the day another unconscious male was transported from Methadone Alley to Beth Israel hospital.

Mr. Benepe's visit came less than two days after NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly visited the troubled area on Thursday evening in the rain.

Last week we reported that the Police had made 182 arrests in the park and vicinity from April 1- May 9th alone. Since January the NYPD made 84 narcotic arrests in the 6 acre park. Most of the drug related incidents have occurred on the Park's East path - aka Methadone Alley.

The Parks Commissioner attempted to play down the crime wave when he compared it to the bad old days.

Police have responded by dramatically stepping up enforcement in the park and surrounding area to include 24 hour coverage. They have assigned special teams of patrols including undercover operations and are conducting sweeps of the park. Crime has increased so much the local BID now pays for a detail of off duty NYPD officers during week and two on Friday's. They also pay for two dedicated Park Enforcement Officers in addition to their own security which patrol the park.

Unfortunately people passed out on benches along the East Side of the park is a regular sight. Yesterday morning around 10:15am another unconscious person was transported from Methadone Alley to Beth Israel hospital. Since January the NYPD made 84 narcotic arrests in the 6 acre park. Most of the drug related incidents have occurred on the Park's East path. Park Enforcement Patrol (PEP) have issued 71 summons in April, and 50 through May 21st, including 30 for alcohol.

The city held a meeting inside the Children's Pavilion on the North end of the park on May 10th to address the condition. More than a dozen city officials attended including representatives from the NYPD, the DA's office, Homeless Services, the Parks Department and the Union Square Partnership. The hour and a half meeting concluded with a tour of the park.

"The Precinct Conditions team patrol the area 24 hours a day," the NYPD said in a statement last week. "As a result of the quality of life complaints in and around Union Square Park, the Commanding Officer of the 13th Precinct has assigned an officer to the park daily during the hours of 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. The Precinct Conditions team patrol the area 24 hours a day. This security is augmented by a Paid Detail officer from noon to 8:00 pm. An additional Paid Detail officer is assigned on Fridays during the evening hours until the park is closed."

A Walk In The Park - May 17, 2011 - Geoffrey Croft

Maspeth Residents Rally For St. Saviour's Park

Young Community Voices Heard. Jakub - 2 ½ and his sister Emilia, 4 ½, in front of the St. Saviour's Park site at 57th Road and 58th St. A rendering of proposed park hangs above them. (Photos: © Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) Click on images to enlarge.

Queens

More than one hundred people rallied in front of the once lush St. Saviour's historic church site in Maspeth, Queens, on Saturday, May 21, 2011, to advocate for a new park. Maspeth residents, led by the Newtown Historical Society and civic groups C.O.M.E.T. and Juniper Park Civic Association, called on the City to begin the ULURP process and acquire the land through condemnation (eminent domain) if the City and the property's owner, Maspeth Development, LLC, cannot come to terms.

The two sides are reportedly $ 2 million dollars apart according to City sources. Park supporters accused the property owner of holding the park hostage in order to get a higher price.

Elected officials including Council Members Elizabeth Crowley and Karen Koslowitz, Assembly Member Andrew Hevesi and long time park supporter State Senator Tony Avella joined local residents and community groups to push for the green space. Supporters held signs in multiple languages including Polish and Spanish.

For more than five years the community has been fighting to convert the 1.5 acre property into a public park.

$ 3.5 million dollars has been secured by Council Member Crowley and Borough President Helen Marshall, enough for the City to start the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) required to take possession of the property, according to Christina Wilkinson, president of the Newtown Historical Society, who has been leading the charge.

The City, meanwhile, is now saying it does not have enough money to begin the process.

Critics assert that the City has been dragging its feet on starting the ULURP process, which in itself could take years to complete. ULURP is required before the City may take title to the property. The community fears the developer will not wait that long and may either sell or develop the property in the meantime. This scenario is unacceptable to area residents.

"If the City and the property owner can't come to a purchase agreement, then the City needs to consider condemnation," said Wilkinson. "They need to take possession of this site by any means necessary. More open space is something the community needs, not just something we would like to have."

The last time a rally was held at the St. Saviour's site was in 2008 when the historic church building was about to be razed. At the time, the area's elected officials were not interested in supporting the effort to create a park and neither was the Parks Department. A lot has changed since then.

Today, the church is in storage awaiting its new home. The City is in negotiations with the property owner in the hopes of coming to a purchase agreement. Elected officials at every level of government are now all on board with acquiring the site and converting it into a desperately needed public park.

Maspeth is very underserved by parks. There are a total of 12 acres of parkland for more than 36,000 residents, which is about 1 acre for every 3,000 residents. The City of New York has calculated the ideal amount of open space to be 2.5 acres of parkland per 1000 residents. Maspeth is also located in what is known as “asthma alley” because of the lack of greenery and prevalence of pollution in western Queens. This site is also not within 10 minutes walking distance of a park, a goal put forth by Mayor Michael Bloomberg in PLANYC2030, his blueprint for the future of a sustainable city.

"We don't need more warehouses in Maspeth and we don't need a garbage dump," Wilkinson said. "What we need, and what future generations will need, is more parkland."

In July 2007, all 185 trees on the property were cut down without any warning. Shortly after the parsonage was demolished, the church was removed and the land was leveled.

The property was once a verdant oasis according to residents.

"It was like an ocean breeze with all the trees," said 72-year-old Gerry Olechna who has lived in the area her entire life. "During the Winter it was a scene right out of a Currier & Ives painting. And look at what they've done."

"They made it a garbage dump," added 81-year-old Rosemarie Pittelli, who also grew up in the neighborhood, 61 of those years living across the street from the church site. "It's really sickening. It used to be so beautiful."

"We've already been at this for 5 years," said Wilkinson. "It shouldn't take 5 more years, but if it does, so be it. We won't stop advocating for this much needed green space." - Geoffrey Croft

May 21, 2011. construction equipment in the barren St. Saviour's site.

May 19, 2011 - By Joe Anuta

Administration ignores residents while installing plazas for tourists

A Walk In The Park - April 25, 2011

Get Moving On St. Saviour’s Park Plan

Timesnewsweekly - April 14, 2011 - By Christina Wilkinson

Newtown Creek Settlement Could Fund Park at St. Saviour's

Forum News - November 11, 2010 - By Eric Yun

City Officials Dragging Their Feet On St. Saviour's Church Park Site

A Walk In The Park - July 16, 2010

The Story of St. Saviour's: One Community's Battle to Create a City Park

A Walk In The Park - May 17, 2010 - By Christina Wilkinson

St. Saviour's Church Site Gaining Steam To Become City Parkland?

A Walk In The Park - November 12, 2009

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Shot gun Found In Fort Greene Park Garbage Can

Brooklyn

A Parks Department worker discovered a shot gun sticking out of a garbage can in Fort Greene Park yesterday at approximately 12:00pm. NYPD responded and secured the weapon. The gun was transported to the 88th Precinct. - Geoffrey Croft

Read More:

NYPD Daily Blotter

New York Post - May 27, 2011 - By Doug Auer, John Doyle and Lorena Mongelli

Friday, May 20, 2011

24/7 Goose Watch Established in Prospect Park

Volunteers and kids are organizing a full-time patrol inside Prospect Park to protect Canada geese from being slaughtered again, including the cute new baby goslings. (Photo by Tom Callan )

Brooklyn

Meet the goose patrol.

A group of watchdogs has launched “a 24/7 goose watch” in Prospect Park to prevent federal officials from once again slaughtering their feathered friends, according to the Brooklyn Paper.

The group — which consists of about 40 wildlife advocates, business leaders and residents — says it will plant night-vision cameras and set up “stakeouts” in the park until the killing season ends in July.

At least a dozen “core members” — ranging from 17 to 70 years old — met at an undisclosed Park Slope business for the first time late on Monday night, hoping to send the feds a message: We’ve got an eye on you.

One of six goslings that were born this month in Prospect Park, the first Canada Geese born in the park since federal authorities slaughtered 300 last year. (Photo by Peter Colen)

“If they come back [for the geese], it should be documented,” said Edita Birnkrant, an organizer and a director for the wildlife advocacy group Friends of Animals. “It’s an outrage; and people should see it.”

Appropriately titled “Goose Watch,” the group’s meetings are the first organized effort by citizens to monitor the behavior of theagency that secretly exterminated hundreds of geese in the park last July.

Plans for the military-style operation come after six geese hatched in the park last week — the first since last year’s massacre, and a triumph of nature against the efforts of biologists who tried to prevent their births in a humane attempt to keep the goose population from attracting federal attention.

“It’s heart-wrenching to think they might target those goslings,” said David Karopkin, a 26-year-old paralegal by day and goose-saver by night, who organized the group. “We’re committed to protecting them — and all of the wildlife in the park.”

A network of volunteers, many of whom are also 20-somethings, will be assigned rotating days of the month and will pair-off to monitor the park, even at night.

If volunteers spot suspicious behavior — including federal vehicles — they intend to alert Goose Watch leaders, who are prepared to storm the park in protest. (And text a certain Brooklyn Paper reporter, who lives nearby.)

Binoculars will be used, cameras will be carried; video footage will be taken from secret outdoor locations along the park’s perimeter, channeling the dolphin slaughter expose, “The Cove.”

Goose Watchers were mum about some details of the still-in-the-works undertaking, but noted it would be conducted legally.

Other members hope to pressure the city to end its goose extermination contract with the feds, which expires on June 30.

“The mayor has declared a war on wildlife,” Birnkrant said. “We intend to reverse that.”

A spokeswoman for the Department of Agriculture did not return calls before our squawking deadline.

The Brooklyn Paper - May 19, 2011 - By Natalie O’Neill

Help us name the park’s miracle baby goslings!

The Brooklyn Paper - May 11, 2011 - By Gersh Kuntzman

Prospect Park Goose Reduction Plan Unveiled

A Walk In The Park - November 19, 2010

Geese Kill Zones Expanded In NYC

A Walk In The Park - October 5, 2010

A "Sound" Canadian Goose Management Plan Coming Soon To Prospect Park?

A Walk In The Park - September 23, 2010

Geese Protesters Flock To Bloomberg Residence

A Walk In The Park - August 10, 2010 - By Geoffrey Croft

Additional Geese Massacres Coming

A Walk In The Park - July 23, 2010

Hundreds Of Geese Killed In Prospect Park

A Walk In The Park - July 13, 2010

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Temporary Restraining Order Lifted In Park Artist Case - Enforcement Begins Today

Union Square Park. The Parks Department began affixing Expressive Matter vending rule signs last week after the Appellate Division, First Department of the New York State Supreme Court struck down a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) that had been in effect since last Summer.

The City will begin enforcing the Parks Department rules today which limits the number and location of street vendors who sell art in four parks. The new Parks Department rules went into effect on July 19, 2010.

According to the lawsuit, the City is seeking to limit and restrict “expressive matter” vending in four Manhattan parks - Central Park, Union Square Park, Battery Park and the High Line, as well as on the sidewalks adjacent to them. The four parks are run either entirely or in large part by public/private partnerships. The artists contend the new rules infringe on their rights to free expression and equal protection under the New York State Constitution; violate New York State and New York City human rights laws; and contradict New York City Local Laws and the Administrative Code.

Two other lawsuits in Federal court are also currently pending on this issue.

On Tuesday evening, PEP Inspector Robert Reeves sent out an email stating they have just learned that the courts "have ruled in our favor" and beginning Wednesday May 18th, they will "once again begin education by handing out the FAQs and taking down info of those we have spoken with," he wrote.

According to sources, PEP have attemped to collect contact information from vendors but only a few have complied.

"We must also check to see that the signage indicated the EMV rules are posted. We also need to check to make sure all medallions are in place at the 4 designated parks. Enforcement will begin this Saturday 5/21," Inspector Reeves wrote.

PEP officers began attending Expressive Matter training classes last week in preparation of enforcing the new Park rules. – Geoffrey Croft

Manhattan

New York City officials can start limiting the number and location of street vendors who sell art, photography and similar wares in some of the city's most congested parks, a state appeals court has ruled, according to Thomson Reuters.

In Union Square Park vending spots will be reduced to 18 on Greenmarket days and 58 the remaining times.

Tuesday's decision, by the Appellate Division, First Department, was the latest round in a legal battle that began last summer, when several artists sued the city's Department of Parks and Recreation, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other city officials over the new regulations, for violating their constitutional rights to free speech and equal protection.

Those lawsuits are still pending in both state and federal courts, but the appeals court denied the plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction and lifted a temporary restraining order that had been in place since the lawsuits were filed.

"We can start enforcing the rules right now," said Gabriel Taussig, chief of the administrative law division in the New York City Law Department. "We've discussed that with Parks and they are formulating their plans."

Union Square West. Dangerous Going. Vendors feel its only a matter of time before someone is hit by a vehicle. According to the new park rules they must vend directly behind medallions the City has affixed on the ground which puts them precariously close to traffic.

The plaintiffs also sought a preliminary injunction in federal court, but that motion was denied last July.

"We are extremely pleased with the appellate court's decision," said Julie Steiner, who represented the city in the state appeal. She added that the city's rules are "narrowly-tailored, content-neutral regulations" and do not infringe on the vendors' First Amendment rights.

The plaintiffs are "very disappointed," said their attorney, Jon Schuyler Brooks, but he added that "we are reviewing our options." The plaintiffs did not immediately appeal the ruling to the Court of Appeals, New York's high court.

The regulations limit the selling of "expressive matter" -- for example, art, photography and books -- to a total of 100 designated spots in four of the most heavily visited city parks: Union Square Park, Battery Park, High Line Park, and portions of Central Park. Such vendors do not require a permit.

Only one vendor would be allowed at each site, on a first-come, first-served basis. In their complaint, the plaintiffs argued that vendors were spending the night on the perimeter of the restricted parks in order to be the first to claim one of the few designated spots. That resulted in a "survival of the fittest" system, "which has a discriminatory effect on women, the elderly, and the disabled, who are unable to fairly compete with others for the designated spots," the lawsuit said.

In its ruling, the court found that the city "has a significant interest in preserving and promoting the scenic beauty of its parks," which includes "providing sufficient areas for recreational uses and preventing congestion." The court ruled that existing restrictions were "no longer sufficient" to balance the interests of the vendors and the general public.

The city will start enforcing the rules in High Line Park on Saturday and in the other three parks on Monday.

The case is Diane Dua et al v. New York City Department of Parks and Recreation et al, New York Appellate Division, No. 5122N-110344/10.

For Diane Dua et al: Jon Schuyler Brooks of Phillips Nizer.

For the city: Julie Steiner of the New York City Law Department.