Photograph of a squirrel in a Forest Hills house courtesy of the Parks Department 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......

Photograph of someone determined to get around in the snow by Charley Lhasa on Flickr 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 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......

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......

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.” The Boat Basin has 60 moorings and 110 slips for boat owners, and......

Photograph of a section of the Texaco map by Sybil Young/NYC Parks & Recreation 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." However, after vandalism and weather, the past decades have damaged the map to the point......

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......

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 The centerpiece of the festival will be the......

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. The Urban Parks Rangers are bringing a number of falcon species, such as the Saw-whet Owl, Screech Owl, Eurasian Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, Barn Owl, Turkey Vulture, Harris Hawk, and Adrian......

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. The lighthouse was erected in 1880 and stood in Sandy Hook, NJ until 1917. In 1921,......

That shark that washed up on Rockaway Beach yesterday and briefly caused lifeguards to close the beach was not much of a threat. The shark, which seems to have beached itself, was pushed back into the water by a beachgoer and was seen swimming offshore for about an hour afterwards. WCBS reports that, according to an Animal Department Supervisor at the New York Aquarium, the shark was a thresher shark, not known for attacking......

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. Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe says, "There’s no better way for New Yorkers to wrap up the summer than......

McCarren Park Pool is getting a $50 Million makeover. Do you have a before and after image in your head? Well the NYC Parks Department wants your opinion as they ponder the design and future programming of the pool. Take their survey here. 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......

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."......

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......

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. Little Sayyidah Johnson told WABC 7 what happened: "I was playing with my buckets, scooping up sand and making sand castles. I put......

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......

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......

As part of his Earth Day address, Mayor Bloomberg is expected to announce a citywide plan to plant one million trees over the next ten years. The New York Post says that plan would involve tripling New York's tree-planting budget to $37.5 million annually. They would be planted along streets, and in parks and vacant lots - "every single place where it is possible to plant a street tree," vowed Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff yesterday.......

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. We hope the pilot program works, but there's some doubt about New Yorkers'......

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......

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. Why? Many small dog owners want a separate area for teacup-sized pooches, while large......

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! The border collies, part of the Geese Police, Inc (motto: "Call Us to Get the Flock Out"), never touch the geese......

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 Sun reports that the gates on Broadway and Centre Street could......

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. The ribbon-cutting is tomorrow at 10:30AM at the Bethesda Terrace Arcade (in the middle of Central Park at 72nd......

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. Before the Parks Department meeting, pro-off-leash-law folks from New York Council of Dog Owners (NYCdog) said that opponets falsely submitted 4,000 signatures on an anti-off-leash online petition. NYCdog pointed out the signatures at about 1 signature every 8 seconds for......

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......

The feathers are flying over plans to put a restaurant in the Union Square Park pavilion. The Villager is all over it: The Parks Department has been planning to put a new "seasonal" restaurant and expand the current playground. But critics don't want the restaurant plan at all and want a new playground immediately. Geoffrey Croft of NYC Park Advocates said, “This community has just two playgrounds, the fewest of any neighborhood in the......

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). The Parade will start at......