Results tagged “theparksdepartment”

It's a walk-up, but the price is right. City squirrels are enjoying the goodwill of concerned citizens and the Parks Dept., who cooperated to install squirrel houses in City Hall Park. Mark Garvin had five of the boxes, which measure about a foot around, built with soft pine for several hundred dollars a piece--city real estate insanity extends to the trees!

After January hype - which resulted in rain - and a brief moment of snow last week, a winter snow storm finally made an appearance this year. Two weather disturbances resulted in many inches of snow falling in the region: By 2PM, more than 6 inches fell in the city, which is the biggest snowfall in two years and the biggest daily snowfall on the books (old record: 5.7 inches in 1948).

The fate of McCarren Park Pool turned around after being landmarked and given a $50 million gift from Bloomberg, yet its future look is still up in the air. Following the February 4th meeting, last night another Community Board meeting was held to discuss The Pool. This time architects Rogers Marvel and The Parks Department were on hand to present conceptual plans. Curbed has the reveal, but they note the renderings are merely "draft images and, of course, the redesign has to be approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission."

A state judge has shot down Mayor Bloomberg’s plan to rent sports fields on Randalls Island to private schools because the administration failed to follow the legally required land-use review process when it made the deal. The plan was for private schools to pay $2.6 million a year for the next two decades in exchange for use of the renovated fields during peak hours from 3pm to 6pm. The Parks Department had agreed to contribute $65 million to refurbishing 36 sports fields and building new fields on 12.5 acres of the island.

City Comptroller William Thompson Jr. sharply criticized the Parks Department after his office examined the 79th Street Boat Basin's financial statements, finding many discrepancies and possible criminal activity. Thompson said, "During the course of the audit, a number of red flags were raised. The number and magnitude of these red flags raised the question of whether fraud occurred at the Boat Basin.”

For the 1964-1965 World's Fair, architect Philip Johnson designed the New York State Pavillion in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Besides the well-known observation towers (think Men in Black) and the Theaterama, he commissioned a "130-foot-by-166-foot terrazzo replica of a Texaco New York State road map."

On the weekend of January 5th and 6th, dozens of spots in all five boroughs will be thick with the powerful aroma of fir tree mulch. Yes, it's time once again for the Parks Department's MulchFest! This year's twelfth annual MulchFest looks to be mulch bigger than last year, with almost a hundred different locations where New Yorkers can bring their discarded Christmas trees to be ground into wood chips. The Parks Department encourages people to bring their own bags and walk away with as much free mulch as they desire.

It's that time of year again, when pumpkins take center stage. The Parks Department is taking the big orange gourds seriously with Camp Sunshine's First Annual Pumpkin Festival on Saturday. There will be a pumpkin patch, farmer's market, puppets, and entertainment like the Big Apple Circus and Chris Barron. All proceeds will go towards Camp Sunshine, a retreat for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families

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.

Jeffrey's Hook Lighthouse, better known to many as the Little Red Lighthouse, is located right under the George Washington Bridge, in Fort Washington Park. And the Parks Department is having the 15th Annual Little Red Lighthouse Festival today between 12PM and 5PM, with hayrides, face painting, the antics of a stiltwalker, live music, and tours of Manhattan's only lighthouse.

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."

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.

The OSA (Open Space Alliance) has been working with the Parks Dept and between two community planning sessions, surveying at a concert and at McCarren's track & field they have surveyed 500 people. They also have their own outlet for your opines available online here. Those looking for more concerts will be disappointed to learn that this summer will likely be the last of the pool parties - the NY Press reports:

The mayor’s money has pool advocates confident that these large, loud concerts will soon be a thing of the past. “It’s not going to be the concert venue that it is now,” notes Joseph Vance of the Open Space Alliance, an organization expected to partner with the Parks Department for the renovation and subsequent administration of McCarren Pool. “There will be a pool with water in it,” he adds.

Continue reading "McCarren Park? Pool? Public Art Space?"

The city's attempt to increase its East Side park space has hit a boulder. A boulder in the shape of a swank Sutton Place co-op with rich and powerful residents who don't want their green backyard to become public park area! One Sutton Place South filed a lawsuit to stop the city from turning part of the building's half-acre backyard into a park, claiming that any action "violates the easement and constitutes an unlawful trespass." Sigh, this is what happens when the city takes land from a building to build the FDR - if only the time machine could bring everyone back to 1939 to write a better contract!

It's back to the Upper East Side dog run fight: Remember how dog owners are battling over a future 6,200 square foot (!) dog run on the Upper East Side, because tiny dog owners want a separate space for their petite pooches while large dog owners want a continuous space? The Parks Department has decided to put up a temporary fence (1,200 square feet for the small dogs, 5,000 for the big) to see how things go, but New York magazine reveals results of a dog census.

Lori Light, owner of a nine-pound Maltese named Rupert, has taken a dog census of 103 buildings near the park. The result (small dogs: 1,148; big dogs: 328) shows, she says, that “78 percent of the dog population is getting less than 19 percent of the space.”

It's a flashback to all the stories of hypodermic needles washing up on shores: Over the weekend, a 7-year-old girl was jabbed by an old needle on Staten Island's South Beach. The previous week, a woman at S.I.'s Midland Beach was jabbed by a needle when she was sitting on a sheet.

Things got heated in the City Council yesterday as former Black Panther and Council Member Charles Barron squared off against Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who had removed the name of Sonny Carson from a list of people to be honored with having streets named after them. Sonny Carson was an activist who railed against Korean grocers and, not wanting to limit himself to an accusation of anti-Semitism, said he was anti-white in general. Quinn feels that Carson was a divisive figure in New York's history and Barron thinks he was an important individual who united his community.

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."

The Parks Department says that there are approximately 500,000 street trees decorating New York's five boroughs. That number is based on a 1996 survey. Another tree census was conducted last year and The New York Times puts the current number at nearly 592,000, out of a total of 5.2 million trees in the whole city. The new decade-long tree-planting project would add 210,000 street trees around the city.

With much fanfare, the city announced a new public space recycling pilot program last month at the Staten Island Ferry Terminals. Six locations across the city are getting blue and green recycling bins to encourage people to separate their glass bottles and newspapers from regular trash. Not a groundbreaking idea, an important step for the city to expand its recycling efforts.

The Parks Department has finally formalized rules for allowing pets off-leash in city parks, following a revision of the health code by the Health Dept. to allow free-roaming dogs and a decision from a judge ruling that off-leash dogs were okay. A press release from the Parks Department announcing the change in policy outlined the allowable hours and locations dogs could be unclipped to roam. It also outlines requirements for pet owners to keep their dogs in compliance with the new rules when the policy goes into effect 30 days from today.

Today, the Parks Department announced a change in the rules concerning off-leash dogs in parks. Thirty days from now, the successful “courtesy hours” policy will officially become part of Parks’ rules and regulations. With proof of a current rabies vaccination and license information, owners can allow dogs to run off-leash in certain designated areas from the time the park opens until 9 a.m. and from 9 p.m. until the park closes...

Continue reading "City Dogs Unleashed"

Goodness, Community Board 8 is damned if it does, damned if it doesn't when it comes to plans for a new dog run. Even though a resolution was passed for a waterfront dog run to be created at the East 63rd Street heliport, the Sun reports that small dog owners are clashing with large dog owners over the proposed run.

If you see some adorable border collies bothering Canada geese in Central Park this April, you may have seen the Geese Police. The Parks Department will be conducting a one-month pilot program "using an environmentally-safe method to attempt to reduce the number of geese in Central Park": Using border collies to drive geese away!

Public access to City Hall Park is about to get better. The Parks Department has agreed to reopen a part of the park that has been closed since the Giuliani Administration. The section of park in question includes the grassy areas to the east and west of Tweed Courthouse. The area directly around City Hall will still remain closed for security purposes.

The Parks Department is opening up the arcade at Bethesda Fountain Terrace tomorrow. The Terrace Arcade had a Minton tile ceiling and the the tiles were removed for cleaning in 1984. Now, after a $7 million effort funded by the Central Park Conservancy, the 16,000 tiles are ready to be seen by New Yorkers again.

Well, given how nuts the debate over whether dogs should be allowed off their leashes in parks, it's no surprise that the last public hearing about the matter would be fraught with accusations of wrongdoing.

One of the wonders of a nice fir tree for the holidays is that they can stay beautiful for a while. But the bummer is getting rid of the tree. The Department of Sanitation encourages city residents to clear out their trees by mid-January, as its annual Christmas tree curbside collection starts on Friday, January 5 an runs through Tuesday, January 16. Here's how it works:

Residents should remove all tree stands, tinsel, lights, and ornaments from holiday trees before they are put out at curbside for removal. Trees must not be placed into plastic bags. Clean, non-bagged Christmas trees that are left at the curb between Friday, January 5th and Tuesday, January 16th will be collected, chipped, and then mixed with leaves to make compost. The compost will be processed and subsequently spread upon parks, ball fields, and community gardens throughout the city.

Continue reading "2007 To-Do: Getting Rid of Your Christmas Tree"

The weekend before Halloween is always busy, and the city is filled with acitivities to keep you in the spooky spirit. Besides the Haunted Houses in different boroughs and Hell House at St. Ann's in Brooklyn, there are walking tours on Saturday and Sunday at the The Green-Wood Cemetery starting at 1PM. The Parks Department also has many different activities, including "Boo at the Zoo" events, Tompkins Scare Park, and the Pier of Fear.

Today is Columbus Day, and since it's a federal, state and local holiday, there are many closings. Public schools and public offices are closed. There is no mail delivery, but the James Farley Post Office at Eighth Avenue and West 33rd Street is open. There's no garbage or recycling pick up or street cleaning. Things that are open: The stock market and many offices (based on the grumblings we've heard).