According to the Bloomberg administration, artists in parks are a nuisance and a safety hazard. But hey there Union Square holiday market, it looks like you're full of funky retailers and stair-blocking booths, and some artists are calling the Parks Department hypocritical. Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe says that's not true because of a little thing called payoff payment. more ›

Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe is warning New Yorkers about one of winter's many silent killers: ice. Don't become a statistic, people, the ice doesn't have to win! Not this year! That is, not if you follow the ice safety guidelines provided by Benepe (below) and exercise extreme caution (and/or less extreme common sense). While you probably won't fall through the ice at Wollman Rink, you can AND WILL if you dare venture onto the thin ice coating ponds and lakes. more ›

Community garden volunteers praised recent Parks Department rules which will prevent the land from being developed as long as the gardens are registered and licensed by the department. But many gardeners worried that the next administration won't be as kind to community gardens as Bloomberg has, and want more permanent protections. Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe (father of Quidditch Association founder Alex Benepe) announced an extension of the license terms for Parks community gardens. He said in a statement, "We are pleased to have worked with the City Council to extend the license term for gardens and to strengthen their protections." more ›

In April word got out that the city was looking to slash the number of art vendors allowed in certain city parks. This was followed by a lawsuit against the city, filed by artists. But eventually The Man won, and last week a judge upheld the new rule, capping art vendors at 120 (down from 300). more ›

The wet snow that has been blanketing the city is so heavy it knocked a "healthy branch" from a "healthy tree," killing a pedestrian who was walking in Central Park yesterday afternoon, according to Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe. "These trees are probably among the best cared for trees in the country—carefully monitored for disease and removed if there is any hint of disease," said Benepe of the American elms, which line both sides of the park's Literary Walk. "And that was apparently a healthy branch and a healthy tree." more ›

Following a lot of noisemaking by artist/activist Robert Lederman after his two recent arrests on the High Line, Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe has personally assured him there will be no more trouble. Quite the change of tune considering it had been reported that Benepe personally ordered his arrest earlier this month! more ›

Yesterday Robert Lederman and fellow ARTIST member Jack Nesbitt were both arrested on the High Line for hocking their art — specifically, they received 5 summonses for vending without a Parks permit. In 2001 they were both plaintiffs in a Federal lawsuit that overturned the Parks permit requirement for artists. Since then no permit has been needed to sell art in public parks. more ›

Tuesday's night sudden storm damaged numerous trees, from the Upper West Side to Central Park and into Harlem and the Bronx. The devastation was especially stark in Central Park, where Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe lamented to the NY Times, "It created more damage than I’ve seen in 30 years of working in the parks." more ›

Aw: Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe made good on his promise to buy some lemonade from the 10-year-old girl who was ticketed for operating a 50-cent/per cup lemonade stand in Riverside Park without a permit. Clementine Lee had thought that selling lemonade (and cookies) would be a nice thing to do, "It was such a hot day I figured people would want a cold drink," but the overzealous parks officer thought differently, giving her a $50 ticket. In the end—and when the Post let him know about it—Benepe quashed the ticket and visited the 10-year-old at her stand, buying three cups. The Post reports that Lee found him "nice" and notes she "sold 80 cups, raising $40 for the World Wildlife Federation." As for the parks officer, he/she "has been temporarily removed from enforcement and is being retrained in park rules and regulations." Maybe we need a Colbert Report Nailed 'Em segment on Clementine—remember 6-year-old "graffiti punk" Natalie Shea? more ›

A deadly wave of drownings in the Rockaways has prompted the Parks Department to encourage heightened caution while swimming in what have been strong rip tides throughout the Queens shoreline this summer. Jose-Luis Olivares became the sixth swimmer to drown this summer while rescuing his wife and daughter; only two people died from drowning out there all of last year. Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe points out that all six swimmers died at an unguarded beach or when there were no lifeguards on duty. With the first real heat wave of summer arriving this week, Parks officials called on swimmers to only go in while lifeguards are around. Benepe told the Post, "We have over 300 lifeguards and supervisors in the Rockaways. We also have 50 security personnel who patrol the beaches both before and after hours to prevent people from going into the water. There aren't many other municipalities that do that. We've sometimes been called beach Nazis." more ›

As if Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe hasn't been given enough agita by the New York Post this summer as they breathe down his neck over delinquent lifeguards, now he has to answer why his officers are giving out $200 tickets to a 10-year-old girl selling lemonade at Riverside Park. 10-year-old Clementine Lee and her dad Richard set up a stand selling lemonade for fifty cents a cup yesterday afternoon when they had their run in with Parks officials. Richard Lee describes, "They approached us nonchalantly but then surrounded us. They were very hostile as soon as they approached, saying 'Where's your permit? Where's your permit?' " The Parks party poopers issued a summons that carries a fine of up to $200. Benepe waved off the ticket, saying the officers used poor judgments and would be retrained. He tried to save face by telling the paper, "We're going to make lemonade out of lemons...I look forward to buying lemonade from her if I pass by." But if you think the commish can out-adorable young Clementine, guess again. The "soccer enthusiast" says she was "really nervous" when she and her dad were cornered and added, "It was such a hot day I figured people would want a cold drink." more ›

Despite the ongoing attack on lifeguards, the parks commissioner is standing by his boys in red. After a city pool's lifeguard was arrested for dunking a teenager who accused the lifeguard of trying to drown him, Commissioner Adrian Benepe is saying that he does not think there is any systematic problem with his lifeguards, telling the Post, "Any time you have a large group of workers, you are going to have some problems." Benepe stressed that there's two sides to the dunking story and said, "If someone is resisting, it may appear something that it's not." The teenagers at Highbridge Pool in Washington Heights though must smell blood in the water because they're coming to the Post and claiming that the dunking was not an isolated incident. One 15-year-old told the paper of a similar altercation that occurred in the 10 Feet section of the water two weeks ago, saying, "It was three lifeguards. They took turns dunking the kid without letting him come up for air." more ›

It's sort of fitting that with our death sand and polluted water that our city's beach lifeguards are probably drunk and under-trained. Going to the beach is now just as adventurous as going to Tompkins Square Park after midnight in the 80s—danger lurking around every corner and no one there to save you! Anyway, the NY Post is reporting on the sad state of affairs, saying the Parks Department has launched an investigation into beer drinking at the Orchard Beach lifeguard office; which comes on the heels of the Rockaway iPod lifeguard incident. more ›

After a recent end-to-end walk through the newly renovated Washington Square Park, there was a certain ring missing from the din— had anyone polled us to see if we smoke (smoke). To make sure that the new-look park stays on the up-and-up, there's word that a local community group is planning to hire additional security that the Post says "will soon be booting druggies and lowlifes" out of the square. more ›

Some public school kids were treated to the first look at Central Park Zoo's new snow leopards yesterday, the first of their kind to have a Manhattan zip code. Some of the kids talked to the Daily News, giving their initial thoughts on the uncertain future of the animals as a species. One 8-year-old named Conway told them, "I'm inspired. In the winter, I will spend all the time helping endangered animals by not wasting paper, and I will try not to litter, which I already do." What about the other three seasons Conway? more ›

Arborcide! Not content with the steady stream of stabbing and shooting opportunities the city provides so many of its common criminals, someone has taken to destroying 17 trees in Inwood Hill Park with a machete and possibly an ax as well. Parks Department Commissioner Adrian Benepe said: “A methodical serial attack just to kill trees. It’s sad.” While cedars were the primary target of previous attacks in 2006 and 2008, the current crop of victims are tulip trees, pines, sugar maples and hackberries. Local residents were organizing a volunteer patrol and there is a $2,000 reward for information leading to an arrest, which could land someone in jail for up to a year with a $15,000 fine. Benepe told the Times that the tulip trees were just planted in the last 10 years near a spot once occupied by a a 280-year old tulip tree that died in 1938. more ›

Today City Council is hearing arguments for a bill that would prohibit the use of artificial rubber in all city playgrounds and fields. The bill comes on the heels of the temporary shutdown of Thomas Jefferson Park, a soccer field at 113th Street and First Avenue where five times more lead than the Environmental Protection Agency allows in playground soil was discovered in December. Advocates of the bill say that dangerous amount of toxins are contained in the "tire crumbs" that make up the turf. Co-sponsor of the legislation Councilman Eric Giola said yesterday, "You wouldn't let your children play in a junkyard, but many of the same chemicals are in this material." The Parks Department says that Thomas Jefferson Park is an aberration, possibly caused by coal that was there in years past. Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe adds that grass parks may not actually be more environmentally conscious when you factor in the pesticides, herbicides, aeration and millions of gallons of water that go into maintaining them. more ›

Staten Island: Clove Lakes Park, Martling and Slosson Avenues more ›

It may have looked like simple joyriding on a Friday afternoon, but the Parks Dept. employee careening around Battery Park near Whitehall St. yesterday afternoon was actually a man on a mission, i.e. to kill as many birds in the park as possible. Martin Hightower has been a Parks Dept. employee since 2005, but was arrested after 911 started receiving calls about a man driving recklessly on a golf cart at the southern tip of Manhattan. more ›

An estimated three million people assembled along Broadway during yesterday's ticker tape parade to celebrate the Giants' 17-14 Super Bowl XLII win over the New England Patriots. more ›

No one knows for sure what’s to become of the future Union Square pavilion, but a strong contender for the space – formerly occupied by the shabby Luna Park – is a new restaurant helmed by Danny Meyer, who opened the Union Square Café in ’85 and whose Shake Shack in Madison Square Park is an object of obsession. more ›

The family of late Detective Dillon Stewart was joined by Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and other city officials in the dedication of a Prospect Park playground in Stewart's honor. The Parade Ground Playground, at the corner of Caton Avenue and Parade Place, near East 16th, was renamed the Dillon Stewart Playground. Stewart was killed on November 28, 2005, when he and his partner stopped a car for a traffic violation. Someone... more ›

Yesterday, Deutsche Bank and the Parks Department unveiled a 9/11 memorial fountain on Wall Street. Four Deutsche employees died on September 11, 2001, and the CEO of Deutsche Bank Americas Seth Waugh said, “Wall Street is Deutsche Bank’s home in the Americas, and this fountain will be a beautiful focal-point for the neighborhood as well as a reminder of the family, friends, neighbors and colleagues we lost on 9/11." Deutsche Bank security guard Francisco... more ›

There are many fun events today, like Ecofest at Lincoln Center and Atlantic Antic in Brooklyn, but for those interested in our fine feathered friends, we recommend you head to Central Park to check out the Parks Department's Falconry Extravaganza with the Urban Park Rangers. more ›

WCBS reports that, according to an Animal Department Supervisor at the New York Aquarium, the shark was a thresher shark, not known for attacking humans. Its attempts to swim onto shore are considered abnormal so the shark could have been sick. In fact, a 10-year-old witness said, "It was like freaking out. Its tail was flopping everywhere...Maybe it got separated from its family. It looked sick." more ›

This Labor Day weekend is not just the unofficial last weekend of summer - it's the official last weekend to enjoy the city's beaches and pools. After Monday, the 14 miles of beaches and 52 outdoor pools (including the Floating Pool - which will be heading to the Bronx for the summer of 2008) will be closed. more ›

Alley Pond Park, the second biggest park in Queens, has a new attraction: The biggest adventure ropes course in the Northeast. Last Friday, the Park Department opened up the Alley Pond Park Adventure Course, which has zip lines, a climbing wall, webs, swings, trust falls, and balance boards.

The course consists of 20 high and low elements that can be both physically and emotionally challenging and also encourages a connection with nature. The low elements take place on the ground or on cables a few feet above the ground. Many of these elements are handicap accessible and concentrate on team building and problem solving skills. High elements take place on cables suspended 45 feet in the air, require a harness and climbing rope for safety, and focus personal achievements as they may require participants to confront personal fears. The Adventure Course staff is trained in program implementation and safety techniques.

New York's own floating pool is opening tomorrow! The concept was that of Ann Buttenwieser, founder of the Neptune Foundation and a former manager of City Parks. The water on water can be found at Brooklyn Bridge Park, it's free and open from 11am to 7pm (the beach is open from 9am to 9pm) - seven days a week. more ›

Thanks to a donation from Target, the city will be distributing free cycling helmets throughout all five boroughs in coming weeks, as part of a program called "GET FIT-TED." That's not an admonition for some guy named Ted to get in shape; it has to do with a dual emphasis on properly fitting cyclists with their helmets and encouraging physical fitness among New Yorkers through cycling and other outdoor activities. more ›

As we mentioned earlier this week, the vendors who set up shop at the Red Hook ballfields may be at risk for losing their permit. According to the New York Times, the vendors have operated for years under a series of temporary use permits, but now they will have to place a formal bid with the city in order to remain in the space. But the vendors are not guaranteed to win this bid, so the fans of this culinary community institution have rallied behind it. more ›