Results tagged “parksdepartment”

Following the pedicab crash off the Williamsburg Bridge earlier this year, the city decided to try to get those pedicab laws in order. With less than a month left to pass an inspection to obtain a license, there are reportedly only 25 of around 1,000 pedicab operators who have done so as of earlier this month.

Seeing as how it takes the Parks Dept. 3 to 5 years to deal with tree problems, it's unlikely that Bay Ridge resident Richard Mahany will get the gingko tree that's stinking up his neighborhood removed any time soon. The Brooklyn Paper reports that the man is angry that the tree "dumps its foul-smelling fruit on the sidewalk in front of his 78th Street home."

All of the trees in Queens are leading to a ton of problems lately. First the decision to chop down a 600-year-old tree nearly tore a community apart, then trees were falling on top of houses during the great wind storm of early October, and now MyFoxNY reports that a group of angry homeowners in the borough are up in arms about a tree stump.

Travel up to the northernmost neighborhoods of Manhattan these days and you might catch a whiff of more than just gentrification in the air—now skunks have invaded Inwood and Washington Heights as well! The area where the only skunk smell formerly found was from the weed sold along Dyckman Street is now crawling with the unwanted pests. The Parks Department's chief naturalist says, “It really seems like the population has gone from zero to many. I’m not sure why."

A Maspeth-based youth football organization, the Queens Falcons, is suing the Parks Dept. to let them keep playing at Juniper Valley Park in Middle Village, where the team has been playing for over 20 years. The Parks. Dept. kicked them off because they were worried the constant activity would ruin the grass, and have instead suggested that they play on an artificial football field made of rubber pellets recycled from old tires. But coach Tim Cavanaugh is willing to fight for his team. He tells the Daily News "so what if you've got some dead grass on a field. What they're doing is totally wrong. Parks are not trophies." He's also worried about the content of the artificial field, which is apparently made from the "same tires that gather petroleum, chemicals and toxins from the road." The Parks Dept., however, claims that the field was meant to be used for baseball, and the only football fields at their disposal would be artificial. Whatever the outcome, it will at least be a good civics lesson for the players. Remember, kids, football is 80% mental and 40% physical.

The NYC Parks Department selected a new operator for that touristy chestnut, Tavern on Green. By picking Dean Poll, who already runs the Central Park Boathouse, the Parks Department is kicking out the restaurant's current operator Jennifer LeRoy. The Post says Poll's bid (apparently offering to spend $25 million to restore the space) was better than LeRoy's and adds, "Although it had revenues of $36 million in 2008, Tavern paid just 3.5 percent of that amount in rent to the city following a generous contract originally signed by LeRoy's well-known dad, Warner, during the depths of a fiscal crisis in 1973." (Poll pays 16.5% to the Parks Dept. at the Boathouse.) Poll's lease is for 20 years and the NY Times reports that besides updating the plumbing and kitchen facilities, his "proposal calls for an outdoor cafe and bike racks. The Crystal Room, often used for weddings, will be reconceived as a conservatory-style dining space." Plus, there will be two entrances—one for banquet dining and the other for the restaurant and a new bar—in an effort to make it more welcoming to casual dining. Poll also said he wants to keep the union employees.

Wednesday night a few Russian women were ticketed $250 a piece for swimming past 6 p.m. at Brighton Beach. The Parks security allegedly threatened to jail them and check up on their immigration statuses. While the Parks Dept. told us that "New York State law does not allow you to swim at your own risk," the swimmers (and eyewitnesses) say that the lifeguards never alerted them that the beach was closing, and simply clocked out without getting anyone out of the water.

Move over, Clementine Lee, the Parks Department has a new Public Enemy #1: The older Russian women enjoying a swim at Brighton Beach—and yesterday a few of them were handed $250 tickets for cooling off in the water. A tipster writes in: "I guess there's a sign somewhere on the boardwalk that says swimming is not allowed 6 p.m. to 10 a.m., but I never noticed it. It's hot, it's August, and some people have to work during official swim hours."

                  

The Wiliamsburg Pool Parties will wrap up next Sunday with Grizzly Bear and Beach House, but in many ways yesterday's blowout with Girl Talk felt like the real explosive climax to the summer. Fifteen minutes before Girl Talk went on, the line to get in stood still from the entrance at N 8th Street and ran well past the corner of N 11th. Parks officers seemed constantly on the run throughout the set as the hordes of people shut out of the fun became unruly and threatened to push through or turn over port-a-potties. One reader left a report of a chaotic scene from the front gates where allegedly hundreds of people cut the line and were allowed in by security just as the set was getting under way.

The Michael Jackson birthday celebration in Brooklyn that was accused on the New York Times blogs as being "Spike and Marty’s big ego trip" just got bigger—eighteen times bigger. The event in honor of what would have been the singer's 51st birthday is being thrown next weekend by filmmaker Spike Lee and was originally set to be a block party taking place at Fort Greene Park. But now it has been moved to the much roomier Prospect Park after the city became involved when concerns arose over the celebration's growing publicity. The event that the Post uncomfortably refers to as "JACKOFEST" will now take place next Saturday at noon in Nethermead at the center of Prospect Park, with organizers saying they expect a crowd that could reach over 10,000. A Parks official succinctly told the Brooklyn Paper, “There were concerns about the size of the event.” This month also marks the fifteenth anniversary of the HIStory teaser video being shot in Budapest—maybe it's time for an update to Prospect's James S.T. Stranahan Statue.

As Hurricane Bill heads north and not too close to our shores, there are still concerns about rip currents from the storm. The Parks Department said that it is "closing Rockaway Beach, Coney Island Beach, Manhattan Beach, South Beach, Midland Beach and Wolfe’s Pond Beach to swimming due to the approaching hurricane. Orchard Beach in the Bronx remains open assuming conditions do not deteriorate and the city’s 63 pools and 650 spray showers offer opportunities to cool off."

Despite increasing warnings from Parks officials and a drowning death toll that continues to rise, swimmers are still finding their way into the Rockaways after lifeguards are off-duty, often into the night. The Times goes out to the Queens beaches to discover that "police officers patrol the area until 9 p.m. or so...but daring swimmers know to wait until the police leave to dive in, stepping past signs in English and Spanish warning against nighttime swimming." And one local resident tells the News, "Kids think it's just a big bathtub." City Councilman James Sanders held a community "brainstorming" session this week to discuss how to put an end to a deadly summer that has already claimed six victims, three times as many as all of last year. A Parks deputy described just how dangerous the waters can be by saying, "In certain weather conditions, particularly with a lot of south wind, the waves can create an opening in the bar. When that happens, it's like turning over a 5-gallon water cooler bottle and ripping the lid open - all the water comes rushing out." Here's a tutorial on what to do if you're caught in a rip current.

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?

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."

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."

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."

Move over, Canada geese. The New York Post has a new public enemy in its sights—the city's 1300 lifeguards. This weekend the paper caught a shot of one of the Parks Department employees in Coney Island off his chair (but seemingly on-duty) coming down to the sand and "canoodling with a lovely." The picture captures his floatation device going unused as his flirtation device works its magic. The most recent indiscretion comes on the heels of a week in which the Post caught lifeguards with iPods on and drinking beer in their tower after hours. Catching the young employees acting so irresponsibly on the job is not just raising the tabloid's ire; they also talk to Chris Bewster, president of the US Lifesaving Association. He says, "It's indicative of very poor management of these beaches...What is extraordinary about the pictures that are coming out of New York is that they do it in front of everybody else. It suggests they don't fear that, if they're observed, they will be disciplined." The rate of swimmers to die on NYC lifeguards' watch hovers around 3x greater than the national average.

Swooping in like a regular Mister Monopoly riding in on his hot dog cart (or was it a wheelbarrow?), vendor Dan Rossi has come to the rescue of fellow frank seller Pasang Sherpa after Sherpa was evicted from his high-priced spot outside the Met. Yesterday news broke that Sherpa was $300,000 behind on the $600K+ in annual rent he was supposed to be paying the city to sling dogs outside the Upper East Side museum. That prompted Rossi, who is able to set up his stand without paying rent due to an exception for veterans like him, to invite Sherpa to join his edible empire. When asked about his former rival turned subordinate, the winner of the wiener wars told the News, "He's gonna work for me now. Nobody's gonna touch him now without talking to me...The guy was crying. They pushed him out." Rossi also called for the Parks Department to crack down on unlicensed, "black market" vendors nearby saying, "I sell water for $2 and the others sell it for $1. If I charged $10 a hot dog maybe I could compete."

Hot dog vendor Pasang Sherpa made headlines a few months back for his big six-figure bids to guarantee lucrative space slinging franks outside the Metropolitan Museum, paying out $643,000 annually to the Parks Department for his spots outside the Met. At the time, he said that he didn't want to pay the city his big rent bills because he contended that nearby construction was having too negative of an impact on his business. Now after following through on his threat to hold off rent, the city has responded by evicting him. A Parks Department spokesman says Sherpa had fallen $310,000 behind in rent. Sherpa told the News that he was "going crazy" and didn't know what to do or where to go. Even more lost though were some Rhode Island tourists outside the Upper East Side museum, one of whom told the paper, "We don't know the area or where else to eat but here. There's no other place to eat around here." When Sherpa's original beef was reported in January, the Post said that another nearby vendor on 5th Avenue was set up and operating without permission or paying anything because of "a regulation that lets veterans like him bypass the bidding process."

A day after a Bronx teenager drowned after getting caught in a Rockaway riptide, the Parks Department is suspending a lifeguard who was photographed wearing his iPod headphones while working at a nearby beach. Mayor Bloomberg was quick to lash out at the unnamed city employee, telling reporters, "He certainly wasn't doing what he was supposed to be doing." The mayor also urged anyone on the beaches who spots something similar to call 311. Beachgoers in Rockaway told the Post headphones on the lifeguards who start out making $13.50 an hour are just the tip of the iceberg—one resident said, "Half the time, they're chatting with people. They're listening to music. They're on their cellphones. They're texting with people." The lifeguard in the photo could be fired if he has been on the job for less than a year; it'll at least be a consideration after a hearing if he's been around longer. A Parks Department spokesman said, "This is an unacceptable violation of our regulations, which is not representative of the dedication and diligence displayed by the vast majority of our over 1,300 lifeguards."

Those pushovers at the Parks Department have accepted the apology of MIHventures, who trashed Prospect Park during their annual illegal Heatwave BBQ. The Brooklyn Paper notes that everyone is getting along, and the Parks folk say they "will also ensure that they [MIH] fully comply with our rules and regulations when considering any future events at Prospect Park or any other park."

Yesterday's free concert on the Waterfront (the third of the weekly Pool Parties this summer), was one of the many events that succombed to the weather gods. I'm Not Sayin speaks up and reports back from the frontline saying "the State Park management told the promoters to pull the plug—before headliners Trail of Dead could plug in and play a single power chord." Smart move, and the crowd made the best of it, running off to nearby bars, and snapping windblown shots for their Facebook pages.

A transsexual who spent two months working as a mail clerk for the Parks Department in Central Park says she was fired after she complained about her co-workers' cruel insults. Chanel Birden, who was born Andrew Birden and is on female hormones, also says her boss tried to bar her from the ladies' room and refused to call her Chanel. And when she used the ladies room anyway, workers called her nasty names and gasped, "What in the world is that?" So, unsurprisingly, Birden's suing the city for gender discrimination. She tells the Daily News, "There is no mistaking me when you see me—this is definitely a girl. It's not like you're looking at a messy man with a wig on. And I'm a gorgeous woman at that. I would always go to work looking very glamorous." Clearly the other mail clerk ladies in the powder room were just jealous. Birden's lawyer Derek Smith says that while his client has not yet had "a sex-change operation but she is, in fact, a woman... The genital appendage alone does not make her a man."

While performance artist Thoth, beloved by many, awaits his court date in August after getting arrested for "prayforming," the Parks Department has gotten back to us with their somewhat canned comment on the incident. Parks spokesperson Philip Abramson explains:

"There are many spaces in Central Park where unamplified music may be played without a permit. However, the Bethesda Terrace area has been designated a 'quiet zone' for many years. The Parks Department routinely asks musicians and performers to move from Bethesda to other areas of the park such as the Bandshell and Dead Road.

Continue reading "Parks Department Speaks Out on Thoth Arrest"

A city committee has paved the way for the Parks Department to come to terms with the Friends of the High Line on a ten-year, noncompetitive deal for the group to get exclusive rights to sell food and merchandise at the newly-opened park. And now City Controller and mayoral candidate Bill Thompson is crying foul, saying, "It almost appears to be some sort of back-room deal." Founders of the Friends of the High Line have already given endorsements to Mayor Bloomberg and board members have contributed over $100,000 to Speaker Christine Quinn. Thompson added, "We should not let the beauty of the park overshadow our obligation to ensure transparency and accountability regarding the operation and use of a public park.” A spokesman for the mayor calls Thompson's comments "politically transparent," noting that he has backed similar deals at other parks and that unlike Bloomberg, Thompson has taken contributions from private groups that conduct business with the city.

A group of politicians and activists gathered at the city-owned Holocaust Memorial Park in Sheepshead Bay to protest the Parks Department's plans to make additions to the memorial to more prominently commemorate other groups killed under the Nazi regime on top of the Jewish victims currently being honored there now.

With all the talk of pet cruelty and an otherwise quiet weekend of New Yorkers enjoying the mild weather, the Post checks in on that nagging topic we probably haven't thought enough about lately: animal sacrifices around town. Longtime Parks Ranger Joe Puleo told the paper that Forest Park and Highland Park are the hotbeds for the violent rituals performed for reasons such as "devil worship to voodoo to offerings for good luck." Puleo then put on his creepy voice for the paper and said, "They are never caught, because they are careful, and they never do it during the day. They do it at night when no one is around." A Forest Park man recently discovered a rooster and goat head while walking his dog—he called 311. Then things really start getting fun when the paper talks to NYC Parks Advocate founder Geoffrey Croft, who recounts finding a dog shot and eaten by a man. At least Croft is able to sum up the whole madness quite succinctly by saying, "It's a public-health issue, it's disgusting, and it freaks people out with the whole voodoo thing."

There have been countless stories to invite allusions to Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn in the sixty-six years since she first published the novel. But Marion Smith's woeful tale of attempting to get a tree to grow in Brooklyn may be the ultimate reference-baiting tale. The Daily News has the account of the 79-year-old Smith asking that the city not plant a tree in the spot in front of her Park Slope apartment. She made the request because the previous tree began to wither right around the same time she lost her husband, as she tells the paper, "It died right after he died." After she was assured that her sidewalk would be kept clear, the city still went ahead and showed up to plant one. When a neighbor of the disabled Smith tried to intervene and halt the tree's installation, the Parks Department planter threatened to have the neighbor arrested! Smith is also concerned that she will be unable to clean up any leaves or possible fruit that comes of the ginkgo tree, the fruits of which have an aroma that has been compared to "rancid butter, vomit and dog droppings."

The Brooklyn kickballers have a new opponent this season: twenty freshly planted baby trees! The Brooklyn Paper reported yesterday that the leafy obstacles were planted as a part of Mayor Bloomberg's Million Trees program, and affect all three kickball fields. Allegedly the city chose that spot in order to restore the area to Gilmore Clark’s 1936 design. They told us about how in the past "McCarren Park was decimated by the Asian Long Horn Beatle crisis and lost more than 50% of it's tree canopy coverage."

The Post has an exclusive about "Brooklyn's canine vigilante"—a man who documents dog owners who illegally let their pooches go leash-free in Prospect Park as well as other parks. Bird watcher Orrin Tilevitz has a website—Committee for Responsible Dog Ownership—that apparently has photos and videos of dogs going free in areas that are not designated as leash-free. One example shows pups off leash at 1 p.m. (off-leash hours are before 9 a.m. and after 9 p.m.), plus "After one of the dogs stole food from a baby and smeared our correspondent's friend with his wet, muddy paws, the owner and another dog owner continued into the Ravine with their dogs unleashed, right past a sign that prohibits off-leash dogs in the Ravine." Tilevitz tells the Post he was once attacked by a dog so now he's armed with pepper spray (some other birders also pack pepper spray), "I have become militant, and that itself is the Parks Department's fault" for not enforcing the off-leash rules. Dog owners simply say that their dogs need freedom, but one admitted undercover parks officers busted him and other people for having their unleashed dogs earlier this month.