Despite the absence of any sweet sweet cheeba, parks officials destroyed a vegetable garden cultivated in Highbridge Park by Washington Heights senior citizens to prove a point: parks are meant for tweaking out and screaming at smokers, not experiencing a kinship with the earth through peaceful cultivation. "The basic principle is that what this person did is wrong. This is a public park, not private," Manhattan Parks Commissioner WIlliam Castro told DNAinfo. Although the Parks Department initially said the garden may have contaminated the soil, Castro said, "We're not really concerned about contamination so much…you just can't go into a public park and dig up a significant area, or any area, it's just not right." That'll teach those seniors to not neglect Highbridge park! more ›

Speaking of parks, locals are speaking out about the poor condition of Harlem's Highbridge Park. According to the Daily News, the space has more hypodermic needles than flowers. One area resident told them, "It's really sad. I don't go there," and NYC Park Advocates' Geoffrey Croft even found a partially filled needle when he was visiting! more ›

Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg and other city officials unveiled the newly renovated access path between Highbridge Park and the High Bridge in Manhattan. more ›

There's a fascinating obituary in the NY Times today for Harvey J. Weinstein (no relation to the movie producer). Weinstein died on May 13 at age 82 in Manhattan, and while he was once the head of the biggest tuxedo manufacturer, he gained a different kind of notoriety when he was kidnapped in 1993 by a man who worked at one of Weinstein's companies as a collar maker. more ›

This Saturday, the City Parks & Recreation Department will open the first official mountain biking trail at Highbridge Park in Inwood. According to the Parks Department, the "new trail system includes black diamond features, a BMX track, and a challenge trail for younger or newer riders," as well as "trailhead kiosks, trail markers and interpretive signage, natural resources monitoring, landscaping material to replant denuded areas, trail building tools, and educational pamphlets that advocate safety and environmental stewardship." more ›