It was a very dramatic shift in the M’Finda Kalunga Garden after volunteers from Ralph Lauren came to add their weight to the Garden’s extensive  history of stewarding this beautiful oasis.

We are very thankful to the individuals who came with their hands, hearts and minds ready to help out. Each person was a gem.

And many thanks to M’Finda Kalunga Gardener’s Larry and Steve who helped K supervise for the Garden.

Some before photos:

And some during and after photos:

The State Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court ruled that Flushing Meadows – Corona Park in Queens could not be sold off for a mall…yet.

Because it is parkland, the Court ruled last week that it ” could not be taken as a development site  for a one-million-square-foot shopping mall simply because the administration of former Mayor… Bloomberg said it could.

The court’s decision brings a halt — at least temporarily — to what has seemed like the relentless commercial appropriation of public land in New York City, often under the rationale that private profit is the only way the people can have nice things.”

See full NYTimes article:

De Blasio’s Dilemma: Fight for a Mall Near Citi Field or Disavow It

Hi all,

Please read about this issue re: the NY Riding Academy which is operated free of charge for all children but particularly available to give an opportunity to the children of limited financial means in Harlem and East Harlem. Dr. Blair is African American retiree who cleared this area thirty years ago and operates this out of his own pocket- but is apparently being pushed out to make way for a playground and bike station on Randall’s Island.

Could DNAinfo have gotten it wrong (article below)…?

Because I cannot imagine in this first year of the UN’s Decade for People of African Descent and given all that has been in the news vis a vis the outright targeting of African Heritage children that this lovely gift to all children, but in particular to African Heritage children, would be targeted for removal.

Most children do not have homes in the country where horseback riding nearby is an option, don’t have the money to take lessons in private stables. Why destroy the chance for any child to have this unique experience – especially, especially when it costs the city nothing? Especially when the person driving this for 30 years has been a  powerful role model of generosity and caring for all communities. Especially when it serves a children who are struggling against the odds.

Feel free to write to Parks Department expressing your views – I’m still holding out that this must be an error in reporting. 

K

Pony rides in SDR Park (long ago!)

“Dr. Blair was furious that the Parks Department would take over land used to provide free services to children in order to store bike rentals that local children can’t afford and the park profits from, he said.”

from the article (see website for full story)

http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20150709/randalls-island/manhattans-only-horseback-riding-facility-at-risk-of-closing-down

By Gustavo Solis | July 9, 2015 8:31am @journogoose

RANDALLS ISLAND — The man who created Harlem’s Black Rodeo is squaring off against the Parks Department in a land dispute that may shut down Manhattan’s only horseback riding facility. Dr. George Blair, 83, who started the New York Riding Academy in 1988, claims he is being pushed out of his stables on Randall’s Island by the Parks Department, which has appropriated part of the land he uses and plans to build a playground there. He has been allowed to use that land as part of a government agreement dating back to Gov. Mario Cuomo to promote horse riding in underserved communities and offer free lessons to kids from Harlem and East Harlem, Blair said.

“It was a complete dump,” he said, “There were cars, glass, trash, everything that you’d see in a junk yard. We agreed to clean the dump and turn it into a place where children for Harlem and East Harlem can learn to ride for free.”

It took him and his wife about five years and several hundred thousand dollars to clear the space just north of the 103rd Street footbridge and convert it into a stable. For the last 30 years he has kept up his end of the agreement with New York by offering free lessons to local children….

…Dr. Blair has been promoting horses since the 1970’s, when he organized the Black Rodeo on 150th Street and Seventh Avenue. The event inspired a documentary featuring Muhammad Ali and Black Rodeos across the country. Mayor Ed Koch called it “one of the two most outstanding outdoor events in New York City,” second only to the marathon, Sports Illustrated wrote in 1988.

In Randall’s Island they have Governor’s Ball, the FarmBorough Country Music Festival, and Frieze Art Fair. They also have a golf course and tennis centers that are not free to the public. Even the softball and soccer fields require a permit, he said.

“Most of these kids would probably never ride a horse,” Ann Blair said. “They would probably never see a horse this close again in their life.”

Free lunch for children up to 18 years old…Rivington playground entrance.

Download flyers from Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer’s Office:

 http://manhattanbp.nyc.gov/downloads/pdf/2015%20Summer%20Meals%20District%201.pdf

Ladybugs successfully released: Thanks to Jenifer, Bud and thank you Chyna!

The annual Ladybug release is happening again in the garden this weekend. Invite your friends. Bring the kids.

FISCAL 2016 PRELIMINARY BUDGET HEARING

March 9, 2015

• Today there are a total of only 28 Parks Rangers for all of New York City–down dramatically from nearly 200 in years past. Rangers serve as ambassadors to the natural world, supporting environmental education, outdoor recreation, wildlife management and active conservation. But today their number is so paltry that most New Yorkers will simply never come into contact with them and might not ever be aware of their existence.
• Our city’s sprawling network of natural areas, which totals more than 10,000 acres, is today supported by a total staff of only 75, far less than what we need to adequately maintain these natural resources, which play such an important part in our city’s environmental resilience.
• The budget for supporting our city’s 600 vitally important community gardens is so small that we can only purchase a total of 150 tools annually–that’s just 1 new tool for every 4 gardens.
• Despite the fact that better parks enforcement consistently ranks at the top of the priority list for residents in every one of our districts, our city’s 1,700 parks are patrolled by a total of only 240 PEP officers, 98 of whom are privately funded and thus serve only a select few parks.  The entire borough of the Bronx, with its 7,000 acres of park land, has only 26 PEP officers, and on any given shift there might be as few as 4 or 5 on duty there.
• At a time when New Yorkers increasingly demand digital connectivity for professional and personal purposes, only 56 of our 1,700 parks have wifi access, and only 20 of those offer completely free access.

OPENING  STATEMENT

Good morning, and welcome to the Parks and Recreation Committee’s Hearing on the Fiscal 2016 Preliminary Budget and the Fiscal 2015 Preliminary Mayor’s Management Report for the Department of Parks and Recreation. My name is Mark Levine and I am the Chair of the Parks and Recreation Committee.

In line with the budget process mandated by the City Charter that ultimately will lead to the adoption of the Fiscal 2016 budget, today we will hear testimony from the Department of Parks and Recreation on its Expense and Capital Budgets for Fiscal 2016.

New York City’s parks system has improved dramatically in almost every way in recent years–with better upkeep, greater safety, and dazzling new renovations. And the most recent Mayor’s Management Report shows that the upward trend has continued over the past year.  The Parks Department accomplished this feat, despite a tight operating budget, thanks to the creativity and hard work of its staff, the efforts of thousands of volunteers, and the increasing generosity of private donors.

But improvements in our parks system have not been felt equally throughout the city.  That fact is inseparable from the decades-long decline in what we spend on our park system relative to the size of the City’s total budget.  Increased public spending is vital to the well being of our precious green spaces, especially in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods that lack access to the private dollars that have flowed into parks in wealthier areas of our city.

A few statistics illustrate some of the countless ways in which inadequate public funding impacts our parks and the millions of New Yorkers who rely on them:

• Today there are a total of only 28 Parks Rangers for all of New York City–down dramatically from nearly 200 in years past. Rangers serve as ambassadors to the natural world, supporting environmental education, outdoor recreation, wildlife management and active conservation. But today their number is so paltry that most New Yorkers will simply never come into contact with them and might not ever be aware of their existence.
• Our city’s sprawling network of natural areas, which totals more than 10,000 acres, is today supported by a total staff of only 75, far less than what we need to adequately maintain these natural resources, which play such an important part in our city’s environmental resilience.
• The budget for supporting our city’s 600 vitally important community gardens is so small that we can only purchase a total of 150 tools annually–that’s just 1 new tool for every 4 gardens.
• Despite the fact that better parks enforcement consistently ranks at the top of the priority list for residents in every one of our districts, our city’s 1,700 parks are patrolled by a total of only 240 PEP officers, 98 of whom are privately funded and thus serve only a select few parks.  The entire borough of the Bronx, with its 7,000 acres of park land, has only 26 PEP officers, and on any given shift there might be as few as 4 or 5 on duty there.
• At a time when New Yorkers increasingly demand digital connectivity for professional and personal purposes, only 56 of our 1,700 parks have wifi access, and only 20 of those offer completely free access.

The Parks Department’s preliminary FY2016 budget does not address any of these pressing needs.  In fact, while there is a nominal increase in the department’s budget from $413 million in FY15 to $428 million for FY16, this actually represents a slight drop in the portion of the total city budget we are devoting to our parks, from 0.56% this year to 0.55% next year.

At a time when usage of our parks system is soaring–with over 3.3 million visitors annually to our 35 recreation centers alone–this proposed budget may actually amount to a decrease in funding per user.  And on the critical measure of headcount, the 6,936 full-time equivalent positions that would be funded under the proposed FY16 budget would actually represent a drop of 90 employees.

Nor does the department’s preliminary budget include baselining of any of the enhanced funding measures which the City Council put in place last year.  This included:

• $5 million for Park Enforcement Officers
• $8.7 million for park maintenance workers
• $1 million for tree pruning
• $750,000 for stump removal
• and $750,000 for our Parks Equity Initiative, which helps support volunteer stewardship groups in parks in low- and moderate-income areas.

The lack of baselining of any of this funding is particularly puzzling because much of it was used to support the mayor’s excellent Community Parks Initiative.  I am hopeful that in its executive budget the administration will find the funds to sustain CPI and all of the other vital initiatives the Council supported last year.

But I hope that the mayor’s executive budget proposal will go further than just restoring last year’s funding.  Among the additional funds I hope we will see are:

• $3.5M for GreenThumb, an amount which would fund 15 new staff positions, including increased staffing for the school garden program, the Land Restoration Program, and GreenThumb Outreach Coordinators. This would also provide funding to procure resources such as lumber, compost, and soil for gardens citywide.
• I’d like to see $3M for 40 additional Urban Park Rangers to supplement this dwindling program, for the important reasons I described earlier.
• I’d like to see additional funding to ensure beaches and pools are open past labor day through to the end of September, at least on weekends.
• I’d like to see $3.5M in additional funding for the Natural Resources Group, which would allow it to deploy a full crew to each borough.
• I’d like to see $500K added to the budget to support a Master Planning process for the city’s mid-sized parks–especially those which are regional draws with high usership.
• I’d like to see $3M in additional funds for the Trees and Sidewalk program, which helps repair severe sidewalk damage caused by tree and root growth, and has experienced significant cuts in recent years, creating a huge backlog in repair orders.
• I’d like to see $5M added for the hiring of an additional 200 playground associates to build the peak-season staffing level for all playgrounds.  These important staffers provide both programmatic playground support and maintenance of comfort stations, and currently we have far too few to serve all 680 playgrounds which have comfort stations.

Lest this all sound like an extravagant shopping list, I’ll point out that every one of these enhancements combined would only push the Parks Department budget from 0.55% to 0.57% of the City’s total budget.

There are increases in the Parks capital budget which I’d like to see as well, including items in relation to two expense items I have just mentioned:

• $5M capital budget increase to GreenThumb to provide for infrastructure needs such as fencing, irrigation systems, other equipment for our city’s 600 community gardens.
• and I’d also like to see a substantial allocation of capital money, perhaps $200 million, for the mid-sized or regional parks which serve so many New Yorkers but have urgent unmet large-scale investment needs.

Bob, Kate, K, Jenifer, Carol and the Gardeners give thanks for the great help given by young people, Ms Finch and Ms. Maddox!

And we had a visitor who was very interested in our dirt pile!

Turning Madness into Flowers

It is my thought that the ugliness of war, of gratuitous violence in all its hideous forms, will cease very soon to appeal to even the most insulated of human beings. It will be seen by all for what it is: a threat to our well-being, to our survival as a species, and to our happiness. The brutal murder of our common mother, while we look on like frightened children, will become an unbearable visceral suffering that we will refuse to bear. We will abandon the way of the saw, the jackhammer and the drill.

Of bombs, too.

As religious philosophies that espouse or excuse violence reveal their true poverty of hope for humankind, there will be a great awakening, already begun, about what is of value in life.

We will turn our madness into flowers as a way of moving completely beyond all previous and current programming of how we must toe the familiar line of submission and fear, following orders given us by miserable souls who, somehow have managed to almost completely control us. We will discover something wonderful: that the world really does not enjoy following psychopaths, those who treat the earth our mother, as if she is wrong, and must be corrected, in as sadistic and domineering a way as that of a drunken husband who kills his wife.

The world – the animals, including us humans – wants to be engaged in something entirely other, seeing, and delighting in, the stark wonder of where we are: This place. This gift. This paradise.

We want to follow joy.

And we shall.

The madness, of course, for each one of us, will have to be sorted out.

Alice Walker