From The New York Shitty Photo Pool: Urinal Land

August 25, 2010 ·
Filed under: 11211, Williamsburg, Williamsburg Brooklyn 

This hails from East River State Park and comes courtesy of Alex Gaidouk.

Miss Heather

From The New York Shitty Inbox: Al Fresco Living At Manhattan Avenue Park

August 14, 2010 ·
Filed under: 11222, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic 

Earlier this week I broke the news that 400 McGuinness Boulevard may very well become a 200 bed homeless facility. If what I found in my inbox is any indication, this may not be such a bad thing. For a city that purportedly never sleeps, I seem to find people getting a little shut eye damned near everywhere nowadays. This is especially true of our precious (and, it should be noted: poorly managed) park space. What makes this case special is, well, see for yourself…

Laura (who took the above photographs today) writes:

This particular group has been camping out in Manhattan Ave St. End Park for about a week now. Their group is getting bigger & they now have a blow up mattress & other gear there…

WOW.

Miss Heather

From The New York Shitty Inbox: Defend Greenthumb Gardens!

August 5, 2010 ·
Filed under: 10002, 10003, 10009, 10012, 11101, 11104, 11201, 11205, 11206, 11211, 11215, 11216, 11217, 11221, 11222, 11231, 11237, 11372 

This item comes from a fellow flower lover in north Brooklyn. She writes:

The agreement between the City of NY and the NY State Attorney General that has been protecting community gardens for the past 8 years is set to expire in September.

The City of NY recently published Proposed Rules for community gardens under the jurisdiction of the Department of Parks and Recreation and the Department of Housing, Preservation, and Development.

The AG’s agreement referred to itself as a “protocol for preservation and development of GreenThumb gardens” —  some community gardens were given up for development, some were “subject to development” and 198 community gardens were “offered to the Parks Department or land trusts for preservation as community gardens or open space.”

The word “preservation” appears nowhere in the proposed rules. In a nutshell, the rules essentially make new NYC community gardens not owned by land trusts or Parks subject to development after a review process.

This is a sea change for community gardeners. Though the city has said they do not intend to develop community garden sites, this is little consolation for gardeners who fear the protections that allowed their community gardens to thrive for the past 8 years are being stripped away.

Green Guerillas has been supporting the untiring efforts of the NYC Community Garden Coalition (NYCCGC) as they have negotiated with the city, mobilized community gardeners, and made a strong case for why community gardens can and should be preserved.

Green Guerillas also mailed out 550 copies of the rules to community garden groups across the city and co-sponsored with NYCCGC an information session to help community gardeners understand the issues so they can mobilize support in their neighborhoods.

We could make an emotional appeal for why you should voice your support for preserving community gardens, but we would not do a better job than the New York Times – read their editorial HERE.

What can you do?

…Attend the upcoming public hearing: The city will be holding a public hearing on August 10th at 11 AM at the Chelsea Recreation Center at 430 W. 25th Street (between 9th & 10th Avenues) – closest trains are the C, E at 23rd Street or A at 34th Street. (To testify, you must notify Associate Counsel, Ms. Laura LaVelle at the Arsenal via telephone at (212) 360-1335 or e-mail at laura.lavelle@parks.nyc.gov by August 9, 2010.)

View and comment on the rules on the City of NY website HERE.

If you prefer to put pen (or ink cartridge) to paper, submit comments to General Counsel, Mr. Alessandro G. Olivieri, Department of Parks and Recreation, The Arsenal, Central Park, 830 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10065.

Call 311 and tell them you would like to comment on the Proposed Park Rules as published in The City Record.

As arduous and boring as this legalese is you should read it. Especially this passage:

Given tour Parks Person (and “Open Space Advocate”) has seemingly seen fit to obstruct Nick’s Garden/Red Gate Garden’s Greenthumb paperwork it makes one wonder who she’s serving. Is it the people using said parks? I think not.

The dead tree that graces the beginning of this post is a testament to her folly. It was one of the many trees planted by the Boy Scouts of America last April at her behest and due to neglect (no watering) and poor placement (being pissed on by humans and canines) died. They since have been removed. I suppose our “Parks Person” finds “carpet-bagging” concerts and fund-raisers more compelling?  I can’t blame her. She has no public administration or horticultural knowledge at all. She formerly hails from Wall Street. It”s all about the money.

Which is, I can assure you, what this revision of the Greenthumb rules is about. Cashing in.

Miss Heather



Greenpoint Photo Du Jour: Transmitter Park

July 23, 2010 ·
Filed under: 11222, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic 

While hardly the most comely of open spaces (although has attained some popularity with a certain segment of the population, as seen above) I have it on very good intelligence WNYC Transmitter “Playground” could be shuttered as early as next Tuesday, August 27. Why, you ask? Because they will need time to make preparations for the ground-breaking ceremony that will come to pass August 3, 2010 at 11:30 a.m. Who knew wood chips needed so much fussing over?

WNYC Transmitter Park Groundbreaking Ceremony
August 3, 2010 at 11:30 a.m.
Greenpoint Avenue and (roughly) West Street
Brooklyn, New York 11222

In closing it has been brought to my attention that a fig tree graces this site. For those of you who are not in the know (I didn’t) apparently fruit-bearing trees are not allowed on city park land. If you are interested in giving this tree a forever home please shoot me an email at: missheather (at) thatgreenpointblog (dot) com. I will forward it to the appropriate parties. Thanks!

Miss Heather

Greenpoint Audio/Visual Presentation Du Jour: The American Playground

Given that we are embarking upon a holiday weekend (celebrating our nation’s birthday, no less) I feel it is only fitting to showcase Greenpoint’s very own American Playground. Rutila wrote regarding the above image (which I posted June 20th):

There was a homeless man sleeping in the jungle gym this morning when jumping rope in one of the handball courts. He was coughing, and I wasn’t sure if he was sick or clearing his throat to let me know I was interrupting his sleep. Should I have apologized?

Oh, and one of the trees/bushes that flank the storage shed/bathroom was pulled — roots and all — from its planter and dragged to the middle of the basketball courts. I don’t see how this would be possible without a vehicle.

I have been keeping a careful watch over this park ever since.

It isn’t pretty.

But what I was most puzzled by was the womens bathroom’s “new arrangement”.

I have no idea why the Parks Department, in their infinite wisdom, would do something like this. And here’s why:

1. This bathroom is located at a playground. Children will invariably get dirty and need to wash their hands. Most of the children I have observed at this park are tended to by their mothers. Thus, they will need to use the womens bathroom. And if someone is using it they are shit out of luck.

2. This kind of open space (with added privacy) is an enabler for all manner and variety of criminal activity. Foremost in my mind is drugs, as heroin addicts seem to have taken a shine to this park.

And then of course, there is this.

A detergent bottle (Tide, methinks, this brings a whole new meaning to Tidy Bowl) being retrofitted for some hitherto unknown purpose.

Here’s a close-up of its contents. And on July 1st, dear readers, I finally got the wherewithal to flush said toilet and film it.

It appears to be collecting water from the faulty plumbing. Incoming or outgoing I do not know. What’s more, it’s not important. This is yet another (and exemplary) half-assed solution to the manifold problems our parks “comfort stations” face. On that note I have word via a tipster/leaked email that port-o-lets are one the way. Four to be precise:

  • One for Bushwick Inlet Park
  • One for Barge Park
  • Two for McCarren Park

In regards to the lattermost, here’s what one board member of Open Space Alliance North Brooklyn— not the Parks Department— had to say:

They’re portable so, if you or other parks users have strong feelings about their placement, they can probably be moved. Personally, I think it’s a good idea for the condo-dwellers on Bayard to fundraise for the park.

This statement is in regards to a Bayard Street resident calling 311 and complaining about public urination; getting a letter from Adrian Benepe advising him/her to talk to our Parks Administrator, Stephanie Thayer, only to be asked by Ms. Thayer if he/she would be interested in fundraising for more garbage cans and bathrooms in McCarren Park (via Open Space Alliance, which is Ms. Thayer’s other employer). Fundraising for amenities one would presume (hope) would have already been paid for via our tax dollars. But I suppose I am being old fashioned.

To recap: a 311 complaint seems to have been employed as a recruitment tool for a not-for-profit org which, theoretically, has nothing to do whatsoever with a public urination complaint. But I suppose that’s what happens when you have a public/private partnership which is out of touch with the very people it purportedly serves. Here’s my advice for anyone who has issues with our public parks:

  • Call 311. Repeatedly.
  • Document and send your complaints to our local Community Board.
  • Don’t bother with our local Parks people, copy the head honcho: Adrian (dot) Benepe (at) parks (dot) nyc (dot) gov
  • It criminal activity is involved, go the the 94th Precinct Community Council meetings and make D. I. Fulton aware of it.

Miss Heather

P.S.: If our Port-O-Potty point person at OSA is listening (because it’s become all too apparent this organization holds the purse strings, not our Parks Department), you might want to toss one WNYC Transmitter Park/”Playground’s” direction.

It’s very popular.

Albeit not by not children.

When I saw this gent walk away from a secluded part of this “playground” a few days later I decided to investigate.

Yup.

LAST GASP: Presenting Newtown Barge Park Dot Com

June 29, 2010 ·
Filed under: 11222, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic 

This item was brought to my attention by Laura Hofmann, one of the founders of Barge Park Pals, the community watch dog/advocacy group for this park. She writes:

Is it common for concert organizers to set up a website for a “one time gig”?

I honestly did not know what to say. So I looked up the owner of this site instead.

So much for keeping it local.

Miss Heather

P.S.: I would be remiss if I didn’t point out this corker from Open Space Alliance North Brooklyn’s own web site:

Thanks to the efforts of the Newtown Creek Monitoring Committee (NCMC) and Barge Park Pals, a parkhouse with comfort station will be built in Greenpoint Playground. The small triangular playground is bounded by Franklin Street, Commercial Street and Dupont Street and is adjacent to the Newtown Barge Playground which is the only active park space in North Greenpoint (and yet Ms. Thayer et. al. saw fit to commandeer part of it for a concert. — Ed. Note.). The playground is heavily used and the comfort station is a long needed amenity.

So let me get this straight: it “is heavily used” and yet, Ms. Thayer, our Parks Administrator and Executive Director of OSA, told a reporter from the Williamsburg Greenpoint News + Arts this same park was (and I quote)  “underutilized”?

So which one is it, Ms. Thayer? Or by “underutilized” do you mean by those willing to pay $12.00 to enjoy a park their tax dollars are already (ostensibly) paying for?

Greenburg Photo Du Jour: McCarren Park

If I had to pick one photograph to exemplify the state of our parks in north Brooklyn this would be it. A young girl sitting on a concrete ledge (which was created when our Parks Department, in its infinite wisdom, decided McGolrick needed this piece of fencing more) amidst bags of garbage and a bottle full of urine. All the while at Barge Park in Greenpoint the band played on. AND ON. It could be heard from several blocks away in any given direction.

Imagine, if you will, trying to throw a birthday party for a group of young children in the playground across the street from this?

I can personally attest that a group of young mothers attempted to do just this. Now imagine trying to do so while a gentleman on stage across the street is screaming the word “Fuck” at the top of his lungs. This did— indeed— happen. How our Parks Administrator— who also happens to be the Executive Director of OSA, Stephanie Thayer, lacked the foresight to know that throwing a concert across from a playground might be problematic is beyond me. Clearly she has other things on her mind. If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say making money for OSA.

I know for a fact that a number of board members of OSA (which was in large part responsible for this shit show) have young children. It is not unreasonable to assume that some of them, had the shoe been placed on the other foot, would not have been very happy if this had happened during their child’s birthday party. In fact, I’d go so far as to say if their young ones were subjected to this “language” some of these individuals would raise holy hell. But therein lies the rub: the board members of OSA, having $3,000 a piece to spare each (so as to become board members in the first place) do not have to rely on public park space to have birthday parties for their children. They are able to afford other options.

I suppose some children matter more than others.

Miss Heather

P.S.: I suppose I would also be remiss if I didn’t point out that Barge Park has been waiting for a field house (so as to furnish this park with bathrooms) for several years. The money was supposedly heir marked but nothing ever came of it. Yesterday I counted no less than five port-o-lets provided by OSA/the Parks Department for concert.

It’s very telling our supposed “Parks Advocate” saw fit to provide such an amenity to transient park users but somehow cannot find the wherewithal to provide lavatories for the people who use this park the other 364 days a year? Oh wait, I get it: concerts— not toilets— make money.

New York Shitty Day Ender: Hanging On The Telephone

Lest the sporadic postage of late has not been an indication, yours truly has been sick. REALLY SICK. First it was a cold. Then it was lingering congestion in my nose. This affliction lasted until I ate some enchiladas from San Loco in Williamsburg. Those bad boys made yours truly vomit with such gale force it made Hurricane Katrina look (or at least feel) quaint.

This came to pass not just once, but TWICE. After the second time the Mister asked me what I thought about the new bathmat/rug arrangement he had created in the bathroom. He prides himself on being handy that way. Believe it or not, I did notice his handiwork (and for the record it is quite nice: white flowers on a pretty carnation pink background), it’s kind of hard not to when you are hunched over a toilet holding onto a towel rack for dear life. A white knuckle ride through a sunshine smile.

I assured the Mister that I thought his creation was quite nice (and thanked him) I shuffled off to bed. I slept for four hours. When I later awakened I noticed something quite remarkable: my congestion was GONE! Apparently rancid, half-digested enchiladas expelled from my proboscis were able to do what Tylenol PM and a lot of bed rest couldn’t: allow me to breathe in an unobstructed manner. If the National Institute of Health didn’t have more pressing matters to attend to I would strongly recommend they look into this.

But I digress.

If there is a lesson to be learned here it is this: there’s an upshot to almost anything— or at least it can always be worse. Which brings me to the following from the Williamsburg Greenpoint News + Arts, a paper I would like to mention that yours truly usually enjoys reading. In addition, Genia Gould is a very nice lady. In other words, I do not relish what I am about to write— but I am going to write it anyway.

I do not know if any of you, dear readers, have read this tome— but you should. Not because this piece is particularly informative (for the most part it isn’t— although the Friends of Barge Park, AKA: Greenpoint Playground and Dupont Street Playground, were interested to learn their park is being “under-utilized”— but I’ll go into that later). Rather, it is a textbook example of the kind of “puff piece” which invariably seems to follow the Parks Department— especially in North Brooklyn— getting negative press. And negative press they did indeed receive.

What happened at the Red Gate (AKA: Nick’s) Garden* is nothing short of a fiasco. I would even go so far as to say that under ordinary circumstances someone would get fired for this level malfeasance/incompetence/arrogance. But this is no ordinary situation: we are talking about the Parks Department. ANYHOO…

As you probably imagine this article was the source of some discussion on the (unofficial)  CB1 Yahoo Group. Yours truly even said her piece:

Speaking as someone who lives pretty close to the Greenpoint/Dupont Street Playground I can personally attest that I have never seen Ms. Thayer there. I have, however, seen a fair number of families with children patronizing it. Perhaps by “under-utilized” she means not garnering her sufficient column space in the local papers or catering to the newer, more affluent influx which is obviously her bread and butter?

Let’s face facts: this park has been waiting for bathrooms, a basic human necessity, for years. I do not see this changing in the foreseeable future either. Toilets do not net hagiographic articles in the WGNA or make for nice photo opportunities (they should). Concerts, artists’ performances and the like do.

What’s more, what does event planning have to do with improving our community’s parks?

Anyone one with an iota of common sense would know that before you throw concerts, open skate parks and all that fun stuff you get down to basics. e.g.; repairing/upgrading the existing infrastructure and performing basic maintenance. This is something she seemingly does not grasp or simply does not care about. When you (for example) have events at McCarren Park or open a skate park (and in so doing increase its usership) you will have more people using its lavatories (which are deplorable), garbage cans, etc. What we have in place currently is inadequate. Why else would I find urine-filled bottles every time I walk by this “public” space? This is not only disgusting, it is easily preventable. Yet nothing is being done? Why?

I also feel compelled to point out that a great many of the concerts Ms. Thayer is so proud of organizing draw patrons who reside outside of north Brooklyn. While this is not in and of itself a bad thing, the fact of the matter is a number of these people do not have the sense of attachment/commitment to the community (or basic common courtesy) a resident does. They drink, they break, they leave. We, the residents, are the ones who are left to cope with the noise, trash, vomitus, etc. This not only makes one feel like he or she is a mere bystander/stranger in his or her own community (one which has been seemingly rendered into a tourist attraction), but it begs the question as to whom our parks belong? If the incident at Red Gate is any indication, the answer would be “not us”.

Laura writes: Is that payback for disagreeing with your eviction of the Red Gate Garden?

Yes, it is. Did you know that Ms Thayer was kind enough to insinuate herself into the process of getting Nick’s/the Red Gate Garden’s paperwork up-to-date? This was initially promised to be an easy process process per the initial point person at Green Thumb. Not anymore. Now we have to bargain with the very person who tried to shut down this LEGITIMATE community garden in order to keep it. This is ridiculous.

Lastly, suggesting in any way that Ms. Thayer is an expert on Newtown Creek is an insult to the many dedicated people who have made cleaning up this body water their mission for DECADES.

I have read this WGNA tome. I have reread twice over. I felt compelled to do so because quite frankly I could not believe what I was reading. This is not an article. No attempt has been made whatsoever at a fair and balanced recitation of the facts. It is propaganda and the sad fact is someone will read this and believe it. This is most assuredly why it was published.

This article, just like the concerts, ribbon cuttings and so forth are window dressing. The conditions at our parks in the meantime have not improved. If anything their increased “utilization” have placed a greater burden on their already tenuous infrastructure. No amount column space is going to change this.

We need to get back to basics. While concerts and the like are nice, they should not receive attention at the expense of the very basic and in some cases urgent maintenance concerns our parks have. If this is something Ms. Thayer is unable and/or unwilling to acknowledge then we need to get a new Parks person. One who will spend less time mugging for the camera and more time fixing our community’s parks. It really is that simple.

Not surprisingly, I have yet to receive a rebuttal. I doubt I will: what I have stated is true. In other words, there is nothing to rebut. However, I would like to make it known that two people thanked me for writing this tome. Another Parks Department/OSA dissident who aired his/her views on this public forum was not so lucky. He/she received a phone call at 7:00 a.m. this morning from our parks poobah herself. Anonymous writes:

Seven am phone call from stephanie t(hayer— Ed Note). Feel free to post that she apparently has free time to harass citizens for expressing their opinion in an open forum! (W/o my name)…

Ms. Thayer is quoted in the above-mentioned WGNA piece as saying:

…As a resident of the community I push that much harder to green North Brooklyn for my friends and neighbors.

I for one would like to take a moment to applaud Ms. Thayer’s dedication to her “friends and neighbors”. It takes an incredibly committed individual to call someone at 7:00 a.m. on a Monday morning— or in the wee hours of the night (READ: 12:30 – 1:00 a.m.). Yes, Ms. Thayer has done just this on at least one occasion. Probably more.

If any of you, dear readers, have been reached out and touched by our Parks person/OSA Executive Director off-hours and/or have any other interesting interactions with this individual I would very much like to hear from you. Please post your anecdotes/tips via comments or send them via email to:

missheather (at) thatgreenpointblog (dot) com

All emails/tips will remain anonymous unless you indicate otherwise. Don’t let Ms. Thayer (or her backers) intimidate you: SPEAK UP!

In closing, I regret to inform everyone that my anonymous tipster did not answer the phone this fateful morning: Ms. Thayer’s missive went to voice mail and was summarily deleted. I can only imagine what was so important so as to motivate Ms. Thayer to call this person, who she presumed to be her friend and neighbor, at such an ungodly hour. Had the shoe been placed on the other proverbial foot, I doubt Ms. Thayer would have been as charitable. In some circles phone calls in the wee hours of the morning (save in the case of emergencies, e.g.: someone dying or going to the hospital) are considered to be harassment.

Miss Heather

*For those of you who are wondering, the much-talked about trees the Boy Scouts of America planted are not faring very well. They appear to be dying due to lack of proper watering and being inundated with dog urine. In addition, the Parks Department’s removal of the fence at Red Gate managed to kill a number of plants in said garden. You can see a handful of pictures by clicking here.

Photo Credits: Trashy Phone image comes courtesy of kiminnyc

BREAKING: A McCarren Park Land Grab?

I have received no less than two emails about this in ten minutes. M writes:

Stephanie Thayer’s “crew”  is taking down the fence around what she refers to as the renegade garden on the corner of Bayard and Lorimer this second. It has been there for over 10 years. It is beautiful. This is not right. Is there ANYTHING that you can think of for us to do?

Here’s another item Katherine Naplatarski was thoughtful enough to forward to me:

hey all,

just at the park. if anyone’s around today, sat., go talk to folks at red something-or-other garden in mcC at corner of bayard and lorimer- gina, walid. they should be there most of the day. steph ordered their fence taken down today by parks and for the boy scouts to plant in garden.

they have been there for 12 years and are really upset and angry.

that’s the short of it. they would appreciate help and the word spread.

I’m not against the Boy Scouts having a garden. But this is ridiculous— and begs a lot of questions:

  1. How did this get approved?
  2. Why weren’t the people behind this park notified?
  3. Why did the Parks Department elect to remove this fence on a Saturday?
  4. Why did the Parks Department elect to remove this fence when they knew a great many people— community activists foremost among them— would be attending the Visitor’s Center Opening at the Newtown Creek Waste Treatment Facility?

All in all, I think this stinks. BIG TIME. If you agree please call the peeps behind this garden: Gina at (646) 266-9526 or Walid at (212) 464-8096 and voice your support.

Thanks!

Miss Heather

UPDATE, April 25, 2010: I have been told the boy scouts were planting in this area for one day (as opposed to permanently). While I certainly do not object to this it still does not answer the question as to how this came pass without anyone seemingly knowing about it. I did and do find this very troubling.

UPDATE, April 26, 2010; 11:30 p.m.: Here is an email from Miss Mousey Brown (who shot the above photographs) which was sent to David Rivel, the Director of the City Parks Organization, various Parks Department Officials, and many, many more:

My point of view on The Red Gate Garden is fairly clear. If you refer to my flickr set of photos and description of what happened this past weekend one can see that I do have a bias towards the situation; and my reaction was of a regular neighbor, friend, and infrequent contributer to the garden. I have given them plants. They have given me plants. I allow them to come and wash up, or use the bathroom facilities at my business on the corner. I pick a few weeds, and ask plenty of questions about plants.

My business, Mousey Brown Salon ( est. in 1997 on Bedford Avenue), moved to the corner of Bayard and Lorimer st.
6 years ago, come June. I see everything that happens on that corner from about 9 am until as late as 11p, seven days a week. I know that the NYDS street sweeping truck, actually cleaned Lorimer’s gutter for the first time in a year last week.
I have seen the NYPD herd middle school children that want to hang out, and be teenagers being teenagers (some, but not all, of them extremely troublesome/dangerous); swiftly off the block, or onto city buses. It’s not the school’s job to worry about a kid from the school setting the tail light of one of my clients new car on fire. The fist fights are not anyone’s job to breakup. I am known to offer first aid or call 911, but that is about it. The Skateboard Park folks, that I am so happy to see having fun and getting exercise, have twice referred to me as the Band Aid Lady. Clearly, I have a bias to this corner of McCarren Park. It is from one that cares about it. I care about it’s safety. I care about it’s beauty, cleanliness, and usage.

If, I had a dime for every public urination, a dollar for every noxious charcoal barbecuing (not legal btw), a nickel for every time I let a stranger use our bathroom (including all the concerts when the gates didn’t open until 7, and concert goers started showing up at 3)… well, I could have enough cash to pitch in to help preserve Red Gate Garden from the parks department.
There seems to be some concern that the garden is exclusionary. The wind fence that is in place to protect all the small closely planted flowers, vines, bushes, and trees from careless foot traffic. Even the Green Dome garden in the center of McCarren Park, which is absolutely viable as an award winning community garden within a city park, is locked at times. Why? Because there are three types of people. People that are careful and respect all things. People that make careless mistakes and have had a lapse in their sense of respecting their surroundings. And the people that do not care about any consequence to anything. It is why we have doors, and gates, and locks.

That a few people have taken it upon themselves to sustain, cultivate, and protect a very small slice of a public park should be commended. If you have felt not welcome to engage in the garden, then I am sorry that you have felt excluded. That has been in no way the intent of it’s caretakers. In the 12 years that Gina and Walid have been the “gatekeepers” to the garden, not but a handful of us have shown interest in partaking in it. Sometimes a note complimenting the flowers, offering help is left on the fence. None has returned any call back to them to accept their offer to help. I am so angry of any suggestion that this is in any way a private garden. That is so far from the reality. Honestly, if you really know McCarren Park, how long do you think that the little plants coming up would survive, if there were no fence around it ?

If I were smart, I would leave it alone right there. I suppose I am not, because I want to know why the hell a person from the parks department thinks it’s okay to rip down the fence without notice. The same person that had a comm comm with their other employer, the tuesday before to discuss all the new ideas for McCarren Park. It is a dirty, illogical, and inconsiderate way to meet one’s needs. If, I had ever heard at a cb1 meeting, from an OSA (or any other civic group) comm comm , or even through the grapevine, that the garden was an “issue” then this wouldn’t be happening. It is.

My last incoming email on the topic from a reporter, suggested that according to his source with admin in McCarren Park,  is that this is all just a misunderstanding on behalf of Parks Dept and the garden.

I’ll say it is. How awkward. The upside is that is an opportunity for the community to express their feelings about it. Involved parties are fully aware that changes are on the horizon. I am thinking there will be lots more tenders to this small public oasis, and an appreciation of what it represents.

Oh yeah, it would appear this park was protected by a written agreement with the state and the city (NOTE: hit “control +” or “Apple +” to magnify). Whoops.

H

Photo Credits: Miss Mousey Brown. You can see her full demolition set by clicking here.

New York Shitty Day Starter: The OSA Trilogy Part 2

It’s dull as dishwater— unless you paid attention to the last segment. Wherein I stated “OSA Presents Inc.” was created by:

…certain members of the Board of Directors of OSA…

and noted the org in question was headquartered at 79 North 11 Street: the Brooklyn Brewery. OSA Presents Inc. was created without “Community Committee’s” knowledge. It was OSA’s ostensible attempt at claiming community feedback/input. If the buzz I have heard is correct a great many people were unaware about OSA Presents Inc. Including so-called “board members”. Which is why I find this filing for an extension so interesting.

New York Shitty Analysis: When an organization takes this long to file a tax return (I hail from a bloodline plagued by accountants) it makes me wonder. This is what happens when millionaires, people with monetary interests and the “powers that be” which are beholden to them (Mayor Bloomberg et. al.) dictate what is in the best interests of north Brooklyn. Their interests.

Miss Heather

  • NYS Flickr Pool

    The One CrewSnowy SeagullsWalking the Dog in the Snow
  • Ads