Artists and Vendors Bristle at Proposed Limits in Parks

Manhattan

David Goldman for The New York TimesNoel Donaldson, an artist from the Bronx who sells his work in Union Square, says that the city’s proposal to sharply limit the number of vendors will sow chaos.

At 11 a.m. on Friday, more than 90 vendors selling art packed Union Square Park, creating a colorful gauntlet for visitors. But the scene could be drastically altered if the Department of Parks and Recreation is allowed to amend its regulations for people selling printed texts and visual arts. If that happens, just 18 vendors will be approved, according to the New York Times.

Some see such an outcome as a victory of parkgoers, a long-overdue effort to unclog the pathways and sidewalks of the city’s precious greenspace. But others, namely, the artists and vendors in the parks, see it as an effort to hurt their incomes while curtailing their freedom of speech.

No wonder this has been one of the more contentious issues in the city going back to 1982, when a sentence protecting the vendors was added to the general vendors’ law. The rule has been interpreted to include all vendors of “expressive matter” under the First Amendment’s right to free speech.

The proposed regulations would cap the number of vendors of “materials or objects with expressive content, such as newspapers, books, or writings, or visual art such as paintings, prints, photography, or sculpture,” in congested areas of specific parks. Vendors would be limited to designated spots apportioned on a first-come-first-served basis. The rules specify the dimensions of a seller’s table and the table’s proximity to public property like benches, transit stops and monuments.

If they are put into effect, expect lawsuits to follow.

Read More: 

Artists and Vendors Bristle at Proposed Limits in Parks

New York Times City Room - April 5, 2010 -  By Daniel E. Slotnik

Gun-Toting Rapist who Struck Twice in Brooklyn's John Hancock Playground Caught

Brooklyn

Police say the man in this sketch raped at least two women in John Hancock Park in Brooklyn. The first incident occurred on March 16, and the second on March 23, 2010. Dupree Nicholson, 26, was apprehended and charged with rape, assault and robbery, said a spokesman for DA Charles Hynes.

DNA did him in.

Cops tracked down a rapist wanted for two recent attacks in Bedford-Stuyvesant, authorities said, according to the New York Post.

Dupree Nicholson, 26, grabbed a 56-year-old woman at Fulton Street and Franklin Avenue at 1 a.m. on March 16, police said, and dragged her at gunpoint into John Hancock Park, where he raped and robbed her.

A week later, he sexually assaulted and robbed a 42-year-old woman in an alley near Franklin Avenue and Fulton Street at 5 p.m., police said.

Nicholson was brought in for questioning and voluntarily submitted a DNA sample that linked him to the attacks, police said.

He was charged with rape, assault and robbery, said a spokesman for DA Charles Hynes.

Read More: 

NYPD Police Blotter

New York Post - April 5, 2010 - By John Doyle

Rapist Strikes Twice In Brooklyn's John Hancock Playground

March 25, 2010  

New Yankee Stadium Impacts on South Bronx Parkland/Residents

George Steinbrenner kicks children out of Macombs Dam & Mullaly parks in the South Bronx (2006). The image appeared on a community group's postcard addressed to City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who ended up supporting the Yankees' land grab. Thousands of residents sent these cards imploring Quinn to save the parks. (Image Courtesy of BROKEN PROMISES: THE CITY’S REPLACEMENT PARK SCHEME FOR THE NEW YANKEE STADIUM PROJECT  

TIME FOR A QUICK MID-COLUMN Q&A

As the founder and president of the New York City Park Advocates, Geoffrey Croft has often been a pain in the neck for City Hall, because of his willingess to closely examine plans for projects like the Yankee Stadium redevelopment. I spoke with Croft recently about the Yankee Stadium demolition and the replacement parks, a condensed version of our Q & A follows: From Bronx News Network.

Bronx News Network: When all is said and done, how are the new parks going to compare to the old parks, in terms of green space?

Geoffrey Croft: Well, there’s no comparison. The community is losing three acres of parkland. They’re losing two ball fields, which of course is ironic. It’s just a sham. You know, the Yankees are having Bar Mitzvahs up there, and prize fights, and they’re doing Victoria’s Secret shows, and that’s what it is. It’s an event space, which the public were forced to give over to them for free. It’s the poorest congressional district in the United States, and you know, when Bloomberg was asked — at least he was honest about this — “would this ever happen in Central Park,” he said “no.

BNN: Shea was demolished in a few months and Giants Stadium has a similar timetable, what do you think makes Yankee Stadium different?

GC: Well, the politics. This administration has bent over backwards to serve the Yankees. Shea Stadium, the day after the season ended they started demolition. With Yankee stadium, we found out they had a deal to allow them to stay in the stadium for up to two years. These kinds of behind-close-doors deals are just so abhorrent.

BNN: What did you think when you saw all the coverage last year of Steiner Collectibles collecting tokens of stadium soil and cubes of turf — as someone who has advocated for speedy replacement of parks?

GC: When they were taking up the issue at City Council, only six seconds were spent talking about the actual parkland. So, it’s not about the parks, it’s not about the people, it’s about servicing the New York Yankees. So when Steiner has this deal, the City bends over backwards. There’s so little transparency in the fact that they’re taking their sweet time to remove all that while the public wasn’t getting their parkland.

Read More:

The Yankees, Unobstructed: A New Season Begins with Closure 

Bronx News Network - April 3, 2010 -  Graham Kates

Wild Rabbits Disappearing from City Parks

CITY -WIDE

NEW YORK -- If anyone knows why the bunnies have disappeared from Central Park, wildlife officials are all ears, according to The Washington Post.

Though abandoned pet rabbits perennially turn up after each Easter in what's affectionately called New York's backyard, a wild cottontail hasn't been spotted in the park for about four years.

"I've been here for 17 years, and there were not many when I got here," Regina Alvarez, director of horticulture for the Central Park Conservancy, a nonprofit that manages the huge Manhattan park for the city, said in an e-mail. "But I would see them once in a while."

Only time will tell if they are gone for good, said Sarah Aucoin, director of Urban Park Rangers for the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation.

Cottontails seek habitats with lots of food sources and thick brush for protection, so it's possible there are still some hiding out. Rabbits have lived on the land since before the park was established 161 years ago.

Because bunnies "mate like rabbits," if there are still a few, "we'll see an increase, definitely," Aucoin said.

Geoffrey Croft, of the watchdog group NYC Park Advocates, said at least two other New York City parks have seen rabbits disappear in recent years.

The Eastern Cottontail used to be plentiful on Randall's Island, between the Harlem and East rivers, but Croft said the population there vanished as its parkland was rehabilitated and redeveloped, and some natural fields were replaced with artificial turf.

Rabbits have also disappeared from Calvert Vaux Park in Brooklyn near Coney Island, he said.

Bunnies are vulnerable to a number of hazards, including weather, predators and automobiles - all features of urban parks, said state wildlife biologist Alan Hicks.

In NY's Central Park, where goes Peter Cottontail?

The Washington Post Via The Associated Press - April 3, 2010 - By Megan K. Scott

High Line Second Section Delayed One Year

CHELSEA — The planned fall opening of the second section of the High Line has been pushed back to 2011, officials said Thursday, according to DNAinfo.

The park’s second stretch — running from 20th to 30th streets — was slated to open later this year after the initial section debuted last summer.

But Parks Department and High Line officials say that date could be pushed back to as late as the spring or summer of 2011.

"Scheduling construction projects is never a perfect science," said Kate Lindquist, a spokesperson for the nonprofit Friends of the High Line, which oversees maintenance and management of the park.

"A recent review of the construction schedule shows that Section 2 will open in spring 2011."

She added that construction of the second section is already fully funded.

“Fundraising is the biggest challenge,” said Joshua David, cofounder of Friends of the High Line, about the park's reliance on private donations. “In the toughest fundraising year, in the 2009 calendar year, we expanded our staff and our budget. It’s an ongoing issue, but I’m eager and optimistic.”

“Great parks don’t come for free,” added Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe of the fundraising efforts. “This park had a huge private investment.”

High Line Second Section Opening Pushed Back to 2011

DNAinfo - April 2, 2010 - By Nicole Breskin  

User Fees Increase at NY State Parks

Fees increase at NY State Parks

Published : Thursday, 01 Apr 2010, 8:16 PM EDT

BUFFALO, N.Y. (RELEASE) - The New York State Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation officials identified $4 million in fee increases to take effect for the 2010 season. The increased revenues are built into the 2010-11 fiscal year budget plan that calls for closing and reduced operations at dozens of state parks and historic sites, and will not change the number of parks and historic sites slated for those cutbacks.

The fee increases include:

+Golf Courses. Greens fees will increase various amounts depending on the course. The fee at Bethpage Black, home of the 2009 U.S. Open, will increase $15 per round, from $60 to $75 on weekends and from $50 to $65 on weekdays. Other courses will increase no more than $3 per round. 
+Ocean Beaches Vehicle Use Fee. The fee will increase from $8 per vehicle to $10 per vehicle at parks with ocean swimming beaches. 
+"Flagship" Parks Vehicle Use Fee. Fees will increase from $6/$7 per vehicle to $8 per vehicle at parks with significant amenities and high visitation. They are: Bayard Cutting Arboretum, Bear Mountain, Belmont Lake, Bethpage, Captree, Caumsett, Connetquot, Fair Haven, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Fort Niagara, Grafton Lakes, Green Lakes, Harriman/Lake Welch, Sebago and Tiorati, Hempstead Lake, Lake Taghkanic, Letchworth, Minnewaska, Montauk Point, Moreau Lake, Planting Fields Arboretum, Rockland Lake, Saratoga Spa, Southwick Beach, Valley Stream, Watkins Glen and Westcott Beach. 
+Out-Of-State Camping Surcharge. A surcharge of $5 per night on campsites and $25 per week on cottage and cabin rentals will be added for out-of-state visitors, bringing New York in line with many states in the Northeast that charge an out-of-state differential. 

+In addition, a mandatory vehicle entrance fee for the Walkway Over the Hudson parking lot in Poughkeepsie will be established at a later date. Voluntary donation boxes, prominently placed with "suggested donation" signage, will also be erected at the Walkway.

These fee increases are helping to offset additional park service reductions for the upcoming season. The new fees will be in place for the 2010-11 operating season. Last year, fees were increased on campsites and cabins, the Empire Passport season pass, marina rentals, and golf courses, while vehicle use fees were unchanged. Fees collected by State Parks are dedicated by law to the operations, maintenance and capital improvement of New York's state parks and historic sites.

New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation oversees 178 state parks and 35 historic sites. For more information on any of these recreation areas, call 518-474-0456 or visit www.nysparks.com .

Fees increase at NY State Parks

WIUB.com - April 2, 2010

Yankee Stadium "Gate 2" Taken Down

( April 1, 2010) This morning demolition workers were hosing down the smoldering remains of Gate 2 in Yankee Stadium. The Gate had been the subject of an intense lobbying effort to save it which had been launched by a group of Yankee fans and tourists citing the "historical and cultural importance of the old Stadium."  

  

Members of the community and park advocates were vehemently against saving the Gate.

On February 22, the Design Commission approved the City's revised plan for Heritage field which did not include saving the Gate.

The long delayed project will eventually be turned into three ballfields promised to the community in exchange for allowing the Yankees to seize more than 25 acres of historic parkland to build their new stadium. In the end the community will lose two ballfields and three acres of public parkland among other things.  Photos: © Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates

Video - March 31, 2010

The Pull-Down occurs approximately 1:06 into the clip