“Why do we have a Constitution?” – Senator Angus King (Maine Senator Independent)

“…to ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, ensure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity

…there is a paradox: the essence of a government is to give it power, but that power can be abused to hurt the very citizens who granted it.

The Framers were “deep students of history and…human nature. And they had just won a lengthy and brutal war against the abuses inherent in concentrated governmental power. The universal principle of human nature they understood was this: power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Who will guard the guardians? The Framers built into our system regular elections to return the control of the government to the people on a regular basis. .. deliberately divided power between the different branches and levels of government.

And, this is important,…the cumbersomeness, the slowness, the clumsiness is built into our system. The framers were so fearful of concentrated power that they designed a system that would be hard to operate. And the heart of it was the separation of power between various parts of the government. The whole idea, the whole idea! was that no part of the government, no one person, no one institution had or could ever have a monopoly on power.

Because it’s dangerous. History and human nature tells us that. This division of power, as annoying and inefficient as it can be,… is an essential feature of the system, not a bug. It’s an essential, basic feature of the system, designed to protect our freedoms.

The system of government contrasts with the normal structure of a private business, where authority is purposefully concentrated, allowing swift and sometimes arbitrary action. But a private business does not have the army, and the President of the United States is not the CEO of America.

In the government, power is shared, principally between the president and Congress, both houses …this unwieldy structure is the whole idea,… designed to protect us from the…inevitable abuse of an authoritarian state.”

From speech by Senator Angus King (severely edited here)  via Heather Cox Richardson

Manhattan Parks Commissioner Tricia Shimamura took a hand in the Rivington Playground redesign and got us a section of our park back!!

Thank you to Ricardo Hinkle and Chris Crowley were on hand at the CB3 Parks meeting to run through the new additions to seating etc.

Thanks to the CB3 Committee and all the M’Finda Kalunga Gardeners who came out in support of the project: MKG Founders Bob Humber and Jim Pender, Co-Chairs Debra Jeffreys-Glass and Shweta Patwardhan, Architect Jennifer Carpenter. Angela Wai and Yaliza Hernandez (University Settlement Children’s programming) weighed in prior.

It’s good to see this entire park space being returned to the neighborhood/public as Park space!!!

Removable bollards, Increased seating – terrific.

The concrete chess tables – terrific.

Two child-sized picnic tables adjacent to one with accessible and/or adult seating.

And it appears that all the ’separate adults without children’ seating has been moved out of the playground. Great!

Parks will consider a request to add a ping pong table.

Will pull back benches adjacent to playground (so they can’t be used to climb over the fence after hours)

City-bike stand will remain in the area but on the adjacent new plaza on Forsyth street

Community will likely continue to request planters (which they would maintain)

Take a look:

Prior Quibbles and a few issues:

Issue that stands out: benches alongside the playground fence (it would be the same – even more complication- if they were alongside the MKGarden a dense garden area). Smoking dope on benches outside – past issue. Any fence/chairs have been/will be used to climb over fences.  (resolved!)

If possible to remove those – put three-five benches back? One in between tree pits and two on the eastern side (or four if they faces each other)?

The tables/chair set up were well-used the last time but were broken quickly (trying to use them to climb over the fences).

Community will likely request planter boxes (at least at beginning and end northern seating area side to not interfere with bollards) to reorient the public and send the message?: This is a park are!

Background:

–CB3’s current reso on Rivington Playground

–Compilation of feedback SRPCC collected on Rivington Playground redesign (1st and most recent)

-Below CB3’s resolution (Sept 2024) most recent I believe:

4. Parks: Proposed plan for renovation of the Rivington Street Playground (SDR Park)

TITLE: Support For The Rivington Street Playground Reconstruction Design

WHEREAS, Sara D. Roosevelt Park Rivington Street Playground, located in the Lower East Side

Between Forsyth Street and Chrystie Street, will be reconstructed; and

WHEREAS, the proposed design says that the playground will include the following elements: § Inclusive and state-of-the-art play units, swings, and water play
§ Improved access, circulation, and sightlines
§ Improved and upgraded seating

• Enhanced planting and permeability
  § Upgraded water service, drainage, and lighting, so

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that CB3 supports the proposed Rivington Street Playground design with the following conditions:
§ The fence remains at the current 7′ height
§ A larger slide is provided for the 5-12 play area

• The fence on the Forsyth St side is adjusted to create space for adult/multi-generational seating on the outside of the playground.

SRP Community Coalition Requests:

Mitigations/Requests for Rivington Transverse/Playground ( Most Relevant)

– Move the City-bike stand to adjacent Forsyth street. Activates the area – safer but it takes up park space in the narrow Rivington transverse that functions as a pathway to the garden and the playground. AND we have a drug dealer who deals, sitting on the bikes.

– Create mitigations to prevent cars, motorcycles, skateboarders from using Rivington transverse. Planters installed as traffic calming measures – install one or two tables and chairs in the center (similar to what is planned at Broome transverse?)

– Please! NO benches alongside the playground or garden – people use them to climb over the fences or smoke and it wafts into those spaces.

– Downward facing, brighter lighting, in the playground and on Rivington streetway, as a deterrent (downward facing to not disturb residents or birds).

– A needle disposal receptacle alongside MKGarden was requested by the Garden.

– Add large signage that includes:

No adults without children allowed – Include the fine.

No dogs in the playground. Include the fine for dogs off-leash.

As we said in the design scoping meeting – conferring with Bob (who sits out on Rivington almost daily) and University Settlement’s Childcare programming, MKG parents, and others who frequently use this playground:

-Move the high outer east side fence to separate the ‘adults with children’ section. The new fence location would align with the right side of the gate opening (as gate is now) – a straight line running north/south to enclose the playground area that is only for adults with children. And signage that states that.

-Create a separate, now wider, area on the East side of that ‘new’ high fence to create a larger seating area outside of the ‘new’ fence where adults and others can sit both during and after playground hours. Use planters to create a garden feel. Have that area brightly lit to deter unwanted activity.

– More downward facing lighting, in the playground, as a deterrent.

-The new design will no longer has adult’s (without children) seating INSIDE the playground (which had invited adults without children to use this space (as they do now). Parents/daycare staff safer without!

– A decent sized space alongside the playground would allow University Settlement staff, local residents, bike delivery people, our elders, and the public to use that adult seating area to relax, have lunch, and make the park area safer without risking getting ticketed or impinging on children’s safe space.

– It would end the perception and the reality of adult’s without children misusing the playground and permit the police or PEP to insist that adults without children leave that area. But encourage adults who need a space to sit in to use the area (possibly creating greater safety).

– Please leave the city-bike stand close by on Forsyth (but not in the transverse)!– its constant use makes the park safer.

– Create mitigations to prevent cars, motorcycles or skateboarders from misusing Rivington Streetway with ‘traffic calming measures’ to slow bikes and create an area for pedestrians only.

– PEP officer seated in the Rivington area.

– We’ve had a request for a needle disposal box near the MKGarden to prevent needles being thrown into the Garden edges.

– The Rivington lights are still not working. Dangerous area.

Full Compilation of current situation and feedback collected by SRPCC on Rivington Playground redesign

SRPCC/MKG Situation:

A number of adults without children who use, and some who misuse, the Rivington Playground.

Misuse in the Playground:

Construction workers/others smoking cannabis. People in distress and others dumping trash, leaving used needles, engaging in sex, shooting up, using it as a latrine, dog owners bringing dogs in off-leash/leaving dog droppings, or other behaviors/acts that aren’t conducive to a children’s playground.

We have teens/adults using the playground if/when it isn’t locked after hours.

Over a year ago, neighbors let us know that a number of 13-year-olds managed to get into this playground area at night – and apparently with guns on them (neighbors said they were not from around here).

Misuse in the Rivington Transverse:

Skateboarders had regularly used the Rivington streetway to ‘practice’ – are threatening to pedestrians.

We’ve had someone dealing on the bikes – across from the playground/MKGarden

Some locals are not willing to call the police, given the sense that our precinct is no longer functioning with the concept of community policing – due to concerns for their own children’s safety.

Bike riders/skateboarders sometimes even cars/trucks drive through here – children run back and forth from the M’Finda garden to the playground across the Rivington Streetway on weekends in particular – not tenable.

Adults without children simply being in the playground:

Some adults without children, simply sit inside, using it as an open space which contributes to the safety of the entire area – and their own.

The playground is used by nearby staff from local small businesses and University Settlement, and now Mount Sinai’s Behavioral Center, construction workers or tourists. Many of those living in shelter nearby are simply needing a shaded place to sit – like the others. Residents who use this area of the park: for lunch, to enjoy the outdoors, to read, meet up with other workers in the neighborhood (construction/bike messengers), tourists, small business workers, general public, teenagers for after-school hangout (4 high schools a block from here) when the playground is often closed (or should be).

After the First Design Meeting on Zoom

After the design meeting at CB3 parks committee we conferred with Bob Humber (who sits on Rivington almost daily in the warmer months), University Settlement’s Jennifer Vallone and their Day Care staff, MKGardeners, teenagers from the local high schools, local residents, local businesses, MKGarden parents, and parents who frequently use this playground, and adults without children.

What we heard:

Positive notes 

The funding for this!

The design is lovely for the children.

It creates two spaces for different ages.

The additional trees are wonderful. Shade is going to be more and more important.

In the summer, a free breakfast and lunch truck distributes for children under 18 years old. (though it no longer draws as many children to this section due to what goes there).

Thanks to the immediate response from Parks’ Ralph Musolino, who removed a broken pipe the skateboarders are no longer practicing on Rivington transverse.

Parks staff, Park Manager Jamil, work very hard to keep this area clean.

Bob Humber still sits and monitors the area.

Requests:

Playground design kept as is but…

Create a larger space on the Forsyth Side to accommodate the many non-senior, non-parent adults, general public and residents. (detailed suggestions below)

Advantages:

Children with caregivers/parents have a dedicated playground space – not competing with other adult’s need for space.

An area for adults without children and teenagers is available both during and after playground hours.

Adult seating area sizable enough to relax, have lunch, and make the park area safer without risking getting ticketed or harassed. Makes the area safer by their presence.

The police/PEP need the signage to remove adults without children from the playground. Separating usage and signage for the playground provides police/PEP with a deterrent to misuse. They are allowed to remove adults from the playground without needing to wait until someone misuses it (and discourages profiling as determining factors). Police have told us time and again that they need that sign.

Creating an Enlarged Adult Seating Area Proposal:

–       Move the 7’ (outer east side playground fence) to enlarge the adults (without children) seating area outside of the Playground along the Forsyth Street side.

–       The new fence location could align with the right side of the current gate opening – a straight line running north/south.

–       Or create a larger adult seating space in the Northeast corner.

–        Enclose the cement chess tables that are in this area for adult’s lunch or chess.

–       Planters alongside the playground’s Forsyth (East) side to create a garden feel and to buffer the children’s playground from adults using the seating – face benches away from playground sightlines.

–       Add picnic tables and benches with backs.

–       A water spigot in adult area.

Honoring Sebastiaen de Britto and his wife Kisana

Tauba Auerbach Research:

THIS LAND  40.7191140, -73.9921550  118 FORSYTH ST BLOCK 419 LOT 45 FORMERLY PLOT 586

1647

THIS PLOT WAS PART OF A LARGER AREA GRANTED TO “BASTIAEN NEGRO”, BORN SEBASTIAEN DE BRITTO, A FORMERLY ENSLAVED MAN OF AFRICAN DESCENT WHO HAD BEEN KIDNAPPED IN SANTO DOMINGO BY THE DUTCH WEST INDIA COMPANY. ONCE A SHIP CAPTAIN, DE BRITTO HELD A CAPTAIN STATUS AMONGST THE OTHER ENSLAVED PEOPLE IN NEW AMSTERDAM. HE WAS GIVEN THIS LAND AND HIS FULL FREEDOM, ALONGSIDE SEVERAL OTHER ENSLAVED PERSONS WHO WERE GRANTED ADJACENT LAND AND PARTIAL FREEDOM UNDER THE “HALF-FREEDOM PLAN”. THESE BLACK FARMERS WERE POSITIONED NORTH OF WALL STREET (WHERE A WALL WAS SOON BUILT) AND USED AS A BUFFER BETWEEN THE DUTCH TO THE SOUTH AND THE LENAPE TO THE NORTH.

North America’s First Free Black Settlement

According to historian Christopher Moore, the first legally emancipated community of people of African descent in North America was found in Lower Manhattan, comprising much of present-day Greenwich Village and the South Village, and parts of the Lower East Side and East Village.

This settlement was comprised of individual landholdings, many of which belonged to former “company slaves” of the Dutch West India Company. These former slaves, both men and women, had been manumitted as early as within twenty years of the founding of New Amsterdam and their being brought to the colony as slaves. In some cases these free black settlers were among the very first Africans brought to New Amsterdam as slaves in 1626, two years after the colony’s founding. Several petitioned successfully for their freedom. They were granted parcels of land by the Council of New Amsterdam, under the condition that a portion of their farming proceeds go to the Company. Director General William Kieft granted land to manumitted slaves under the guise of a reward for years of loyal servitude. However, these particular parcels of land may have been granted by the Council, at least in part, for more calculated reasons. The farms lay between the settlement of New Amsterdam on the southern tip of Manhattan Island and areas controlled by Native Americans to the north. Native Americans sometimes raided or attacked the Dutch settlement, and the farms may have served as a buffer between the two. However, some scholars have noted that this area was also among the most desirable farmland in the vicinity, and the Dutch Governor Peter Amsterdam established his own farm in this area in 1651, offering a different potential interpretation of the choice of this area for farmland for manumitted slaves.

This settlement’s status did not remain permanent, however. When the English captured the colony of New Amsterdam and renamed it New York in 1664, the newly established English government demoted free blacks from property owners to legal aliens, denying them landowning rights and privileges. Within twenty years, a vast majority of land owned by people of African descent was seized by wealthy white landowners who turned these former free black settlements into retreats, farms, and plantations.

The landowners in this first settlement of free people of African descent, in chronological order of their land grants, were:

African Land Holdings in New Amsterdam

• 1. Catalina Anthony: Catalina Anthony, widow of Jochim Anthony, was granted eight acres of land by the Council of New Amsterdam on July 13, 1643. Her parcel of farmland was adjacent to that of Domingo Anthony, sitting directly above his settlement west of the Bowery and spanning downward from Hester Street to the area just below Canal.

• 2. Domingo Anthony: Domingo Anthony was granted twelve acres of land by the Council of New Amsterdam on July 13, 1643. His settlement sat just below that of Catalina Anthony near present day Canal Street, between Centre Street and the west side of the Bowery, and stretched downwards to Pell St.

• 3. Cleyn (Little) Manuel: Cleyn (Little) Manuel was granted a ten acre parcel of land by the Council of New Amsterdam following his manumission in December of 1643. His settlement neighbored the properties of Manuel Groot, Cleyn (Little) Anthony, and Anthony Portuguese. The northernmost point of Manuel’s settlement touched West 3rd St while its southernmost point reached W Houston St, spanning across Thompson St east towards Mercer St. and encompassing a large portion of what is now modern-day Mercer Playground.

• 4. Manuel de Gerrit de Rues: Manuel de Gerrit de Rues was granted twelve acres of land in December of 1643. Prior to his manumission, he was one of eight slaves involved in the death of another slave and was charged with murder in 1641. Rather than choosing to execute all eight men, Dutch officials ordered them to draw straws. Drawing the shortest straw, Manuel de Gerrit de Rues was sentenced to death by hanging but survived the fall from the execution ladder. Witnesses begged officials not to attempt a second execution. Manuel de Gerrit de Rues was released and was granted farmland as a free man only two years later. His settlement was located west of the Bowery, stretching upwards from its southern boundary near Bond St toward East 8th St and Astor Place.

• 5. Manuel Trumpeter: According to historian Christopher Moore, manumitted slave Manuel Trumpeter once held the designation of “Captain of the Blacks” and was perhaps considered the leader of the black militia in New Amsterdam. On December 12, 1643, Trumpeter was granted eighteen acres of land situated near what is now Fifth Avenue and Washington Square. The northern end of Manuel Trumpeter’s settlement stretched east towards the intersection of East 8th Street and Broadway while the bottom corner of the parcel sat near Great Jones St.

• 6. Marycke: Widow Marycke was granted six acres of land by the Council of New Amsterdam on December 12, 1643. Her land was directly next to the land of Anthony Portuguese, at the western perimeter of what is now Washington Square.

• 7. Gracia d’Angola: After being granted ten acres of farmland on December 15, 1644, Gracia d’Angola settled on a parcel of land which ran parallel to the closely neighboring property of fellow manumitted slave Cleyn (Little) Anthony. The northernmost point of Gracia’s farm was located near what is now the intersection of W Houston St and Wooster St, stretching downwards toward Spring St and eastwards toward Mercer St.

• 8. Simon Congo: Simon Congo was granted an eight acre parcel of farmland by the Council of New Amsterdam on the 15th of December in 1644, which spanned the area between Charlton Street and Downing Street, crossing over W Houston St. Simon Congo eventually came to own an additional parcel of land in an area further north, sitting at the intersection of West 16th St and 5th Avenue.

• 9. Jan Francisco: Upon manumission, Jan Francisco was granted eight acres of farmland by the Council of New Amsterdam on the December 15, 1644. Jan Francisco’s farmland neighbored that of his fellow manumitted slave Gracia D’Angola, nearly meeting his property at its easternmost boundary near Spring St and Broadway and extending eastward towards Crosby St and downward toward Canal before looping westward and upward to Broome St.

• 10. Pieter San Tome: Peter San Tome is among the original eleven enslaved men that petitioned to the Council of New Amsterdam for their freedom together in hopes of becoming free members of the New Amsterdam settlement. Upon his manumission, Pieter San Tome was granted a six acre parcel of farmland on December 15, 1644. His settlement, which neighbored land belonging to fellow manumitted slaves Paulo D’Angola and Simon Congo, spanned from Bleecker St down to W Houston St, and ran the width of 6th Ave and Thompson St.

• 11. Manuel Groot (Big Manuel): Manuel Groot, or Big Manuel, was among the first Angolan slaves ever owned by the Dutch West India Company. On the 21st of December in 1644, he was granted eight acres of land by the Council of New Amsterdam. His settlement stood adjacent to those of fellow manumitted slaves Manuel Trumpeter and Anthony Portuguese, with the northernmost corner of the parcel located near West 4th and Washington Square East, stretching down towards West 3rd and LaGuardia Pl, and moving southwest towards Bleecker St and Broadway.

• 12. Cleyn (Little) Anthony: Cleyn (Little) Anthony was among the first enslaved people brought to New Amsterdam by the Dutch. He was granted six acres of farmland upon his manumission in December of 1644. Cleyn (Little) Anthony’s land stretched just north of Prince Street and the adjacent MacDougal, Spring, and Sullivan Streets. The eastern and southern borders of Anthony’s farmland touched the neighboring settlement of fellow manumitted slave, Gracia D’Angola.

• 13. Jan Fort Orange: Jan Fort Orange was granted approximately ten acres of farmland by the Council of New Amsterdam in December of 1644. This parcel of land neighbored the properties of fellow manumitted slaves Cleyn (Little) Manuel, Manuel Groot, and Gracia D’Angola. With its northwestern boundary beginning at the mid-section of what is now Mercer Playground, near Bleecker St., his settlement stretched downward to W Houston St with its southern boundary located mid-Wooster St.

• 14. Paulo d’Angola: Paulo d’Angola was among the very first shipload of Africans brought to New Amsterdam as a slave in 1626. On July 14, 1645, d’Angola was granted a six acre plot of farmland on what is now present day Washington Square Park. The location of d’Angola’s farm in a sense makes him the very first non-Native American settler in the area now known as Greenwich Village.

• 15. Anthony Portuguese: On September 5, 1645, Anthony Portuguese was granted a twelve acre parcel of land by the Council of New Amsterdam and began farming on his new settlement that spanned LaGuardia Pl, Thompson St, and Sullivan St in Greenwich Village. His farmland encompassed much of what is now modern-day Washington Square Park, with its southern boundary sitting just below West 3rd St and its northern boundary just before Waverly Pl.

• 16. Anna d’Angola: Widow Anna d’Angola was granted a six acre parcel of land by the Council of New Amsterdam on February 8, 1647. Sitting adjacent to that of Domingo Anthony, d’Angola’s land spanned the present-day blocks of Hester, Canal, Walker, and White Streets, between Centre and Mulbery Streets.

• 17. Francisco d’Angola: Francisco d’Angola was granted a six acre parcel of land by the Council of New Amsterdam on March 25, 1647. This land sat directly east of the Bowery on E Houston St and spanned downward to Stanton St.

• 18. Anthony Congo: Anthony Congo was granted six acres of land by the Council of New Amsterdam on March 26, 1647. His settlement sat directly east of the Bowery, starting at a point between present day Houston and Stanton Streets and stretching southward to Rivington Street.

• 19. Bastiaen Negro: On March 26, 1647, Bastiaen Negro was granted six acres of land east of the Bowery near his neighbor Anthony Congo. Bastiaen’s settlement encompassed the area from the Bowery and Rivington St eastward towards Allen St. and downward towards Broome St.

• 20. Jan Negro: On March 26, 1647, Jan Negro was granted a six acre parcel of land by the Council of New Amsterdam. His settlement sat directly west of the Bowery, stretching southward from Spring Street toward Broome and over to the Bowery from Lafayette Street.

• 21. Manuel the Spaniard: Manuel “the Spaniard” was granted four acres of land on January 18, 1651. His settlement, which sat directly across from that of Anthony Congo, stretched west of the Bowery and encompassed the area from Prince St to Spring St. While most slaves freed earlier were freed by the Dutch West India Co., he was freed by a private citizen, Philip Jansz Ringo. Still, Manuel had to pay and work extensively for his freedom.

• 22. Mathias Anthony: On December 1, 1655, Mathias Anthony was granted two acres of land by the Council of New Amsterdam. Though the exact location of Mathias’ settlement is unknown, the land likely sat close to the settlements of his fellow manumitted neighbors near the west side of the Bowery.

• 23. Domingo Angola: Domingo Angola was granted four acres of land on December 2, 1658. His settlement sat west of the Bowery directly above Houston St, stretching upward towards Bond St.

• 24. Claes Negro: Claes Negro was granted a two acre parcel of land west of the Bowery on December 2, 1658. His settlement stretched from W 4th down to W 2nd St, neighboring the land of Manuel Sanders and Manuel de Gerrit de Rues.

• 25. Assento Angola: Assento Angola was granted a two acre parcel of land on December 2, 1658. This settlement sat beneath that of Anthony the Blind Negro on the western boundary of the Bowery, stretching from near W 8th St down to W 6th St.

• 26. Francisco Cartagena: On December 2, 1658, Francisco Cartagena was granted two acres of land directly west of the Bowery. His settlement sat between that of Claes Negro and Assento Angola, spanning from W 6th St down to W 4th St.

• 27. Anthony of the Bowery: In 1658, Anthony of the Bowery was granted a two acre
parcel of land west of the Bowery, giving him this name. His settlement sat beneath Houston St, stretching downward toward Prince St.

• 28. Anthony the Blind Negro: In 1658, Anthony the Blind Negro was granted a two acre parcel of land on the west side of the Bowery, neighboring Manuel Trumpeter and Assento Angola near 8th St.

• 29. Manuel Sanders: In March of 1662, Manuel Sanders was granted a four acre parcel of land by the Council of New Amsterdam. His settlement neighbored Jan Fort Orange and Groot Manuel on the west side of the Bowery near Bleecker and Bond Streets.

Sources:
Sublette, Ned, and Constance Sublette. American Slave Coast: A History of the Slave-Breeding
Industry. Chicago Review, 2015.

Stokes, I. N. The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909. New York: Robert H. Dodd, 1915-1928 (v. 1-4). Columbia University Libraries, 2008.

Moore, Christopher. “A World of Possibilities: Slavery and Freedom in Dutch New Amsterdam”
in Ira Berlin and Leslie M. Harris, eds. Slavery in New York. The New Press, 2005.

Testimony for the Parks and Wildfires Hearing on January 30th and Hearing on Tree maintenance.

Issues:

1. Budget Cuts Have Increased Risks: The FY25 budget eliminated 51 forestry positions and the Citywide Trails Team, leaving our parks vulnerable to brush fires and slowing response times.
2. Restore Essential Staff: Restoring these positions ($4.9M total) is vital to managing overgrowth, invasive species, and recovery efforts.
3. Recovery Efforts Require Resources: Stabilizing erosion, replanting climate-adapted species, and monitoring long-term health are critical after fires.
4. Interagency Coordination Matters: A stronger plan is needed to improve emergency response and prevent future fires.
5. Develop criteria for prioritizing tree maintenance, the likelihood of harm to people or property, fallen trees or limbs that may pose a threat, proximity to buildings, etc. with these criteria posted on Parks website.

With thanks to Daniel Abram – Director of Policy & Programs

Parks uses artificial turf on many fields in NYC. With few staff for maintenance having real grass presents real challenges.

Here is some of what we are hearing from a group that has done a deep dive into the issues (with thanks to East River Park Action

And more from East River Action.

Let us know if you have other reputable sources? We heard from The Alliance that there was a NYT review in 2021 that talked about the materials continuing to evolve. (please send if you have it!).

AND…Our rally was hugely successful. Many Council Members spoke on behalf of a Parks Budget increase!

From our Congressperson Dan Goldman’s Office:

“The administration is likely planning a large-scale deportation operation in NYC this week. If you are worried about raids, here’s what you need to know about your rights, your options, and how to support your families and friends at this time.”

More info on Immigration from the Mayor’s Office on Immigrant Affairs:

Enforcement

Last updated January 9, 2025

MOIA’s Know Your Rights with ICE Booklets

If ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents approach you, you have rights! Download our Know Your Rights with Ice Booklet in multiple languages to learn more about what to do in an encounter with immigration enforcement.

Get Legal Help

All immigrant New Yorkers can access free and confidential immigration legal help in their preferred language.

The Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) provides the following information and services to support immigrant New Yorkers navigate the U.S. immigration system and build their lives and futures in New York.

You can call the City-funded, free, and safe MOIA Immigration Legal Support Hotline at 800-354-0365, between 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM, Monday to Friday or call 311 and say, “Immigration Legal.”

MOIA Legal Support Centers

The Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs has Legal Support Centers in immigrant neighborhoods that offers New Yorkers free, safe immigration legal help. These centers are housed in community sites, public health facilities, public schools, and libraries. Services are provided in your language. Your immigration status does not matter.

Visit our webpage on MOIA Legal Support Centers to learn more about legal services.

Video: Your Rights in an Encounter with ICE

If ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents approach you, you have rights! Watch this video to learn more about ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) by watching this video.

NYC Council Committee on Immigration: Chair Alexa Avilés 

Legislative Office 250 Broadway, Suite 1728 New York, NY 10007

Thanks all who met and wrangled and made this a better design.

Sara D. Roosevelt Park Reconstruction CB3 Approval

Located between Grand Street and Delancey Street in the Borough of Manhattan.

Community Board 3 is grateful for the efforts of multiple public funding sources obtained for this project (including from DOT to improve street/pedestrian safety):

Former CM Margaret Chin $15,000,000 ($15Million);

DOT – $15,100,000;

NYS Governor Hochul DRI funding (The Alliance’s application) – $3.285,000;

Former/current mayors $1,785,000;

Total 35,240,000  (according to Parks) to renovate Sara Roosevelt Park from Grand to Delancey;

Project Size: 3.2 acres

Shweta Patwardhan and Debra Jeffreys -Glass New Co-Chairs M’Finda Garden!

Thank you to new NYC Parks Manager Luc Alicea for organizing the drop off of compost for gardens south of Delancey and to Park workers for making it happen!

Thank you Rob Watson for the work in the front of BRC Gardens!!

From Debra Co-Chair of M’Finda Kalunga Garden:

A big thank you to everyone  who come out in below 40? weather on Saturday and Sunday (Carlos, Amadu, Jim, Ted, Juliana, Hideko, others?) to get this task taken care of. There were many hands who contributed, and sadly these pansies were a casualty of good intention, unintended negative  impact. Yes, going forward we’ll do our best to ensure that this doesn’t happen again. New gardeners, old gardeners, in between gardeners – reminders at the start of any task that involves the whole garden will be helpful.