News

– Revised December 18th 2022

(former draft proposals are kept on the website (below) – we get smarter and more informed as we talk and listen to our neighbors).

Specifically, on the proposal for Sara Roosevelt Park Hester to South Delancey:

We’ve listened to nearby residents, local organizations, gardeners, businesses, and sports users, we’ve sent out updates, used social media, and conducted one in-park tabling for ideas and to create awareness (not nearly enough).

Our proposals, as always, draft pending true community engagement.  “In-Park” outreach with no ties to gentrification histories needed.

For safety, for beauty, for public park uses, for maintaining our unique strengths and our diversity, while upgrading for even more positive use, for encouraging the neighborhood and public to see Parks as their backyards, get-away vacation spots, their air-conditioning, for for uses aligned with the needs of our neighborhoods, that do not encourage further displacement of the low-income communities of color here via gentrification:

• After a number of consultations with birders over the years: New wrought iron fence around the bird sanctuary 5-7’ tall -north end for safety, 4’ for south section with gate so there are two means of egress in an emergency. Consult birders for any changes.
• Grand St. entryway. Remove brick walls along Grand Str for maximum visibility from the street.
• South Delancey entryway Remove broken steps, create two wide accessible pathways.
• Retain community stewarded garden plots.
• Pipe a water source – for Bruckner box and water fountain.
• Remove low brick walls that front the two side plots – misused. Restore decorative gates.
• Attach two metal tables in the open walk-way areas. Visible from street to provide seating that doesn’t encourage harmful or unsanitary acts.
• Repair asphalt from Delancey to Grand, or as much as funding allows, for accessibility.
• New, brighter lighting, downward facing in the area.
• Less vital: Fix the benches along the Pit.
• Do in sections so most of the park can remain open.
• Fix drainage in Pit in southern end.
• Share the Broome Parkhouse with a local community organization or return it for full community activation.
• We are currently seeking information from those who would be most impacted but we do not have enough information on what the people of  Forsyth Hester to Grand section want/need. Such as, how would it affect their parking needs? Small businesses, the local schools, Parks Dept, and residents need to weigh in on this part of the proposal.
• We assume Parks Department will address and heed all of this.

We have a synthetic turf field in this section and are oversaturated with synthetic turf fields (used primarily by outside groups). Issues with carcinogenic materials.

More problematically, no one we spoke to, who lives (or plays) or has businesses here (for decades) had heard of this or, if they had, did not think it affected them.

In this area of SRP ‘The Pit’ is one of the only active, versatile, and well used space (by the community): The Burmese Water Festival, the New Museum, elected officials, ROAR, badminton, Tai Chi, Bike Polo, Soccer (the soccer ‘pitch’ recently painted as an East River Park mitigation), etc. As such, The Pit use makes the area safer, as does the gardening by SRPCC volunteers and the 5^th Pct’s Youth Explorers. City Relief also provides a safety on south Delancey on Thursdays.

– Revised December 18th 2022

(former draft proposals are kept on the website – we get smarter and more informed as we ask our neighbors).

revised since July 2022 SRPCC Update

Petition To Save “The Pit” and Draft Proposals for Delancey St. South to Grand St. North

Updated Draft Proposals for Upgrades & Safety Measures: Grand north to Delancey south

And Please Sign Our Petition: “Don’t Bury The Pit!” 

Draft proposal for upgrading Delancey/Broome Street/Grand section in Sara Roosevelt Park

Current Use: 4 large garden plots (one, the Hua Mei Bird Sanctuary, 3 main entryways, one Parkhouse (serving all five NYC boroughs), Park’s staff parking inside the park at Broome, a synthetic turf soccer field, and ‘The Pit’.

Entryways

-Grand Street: Open up for maximum visibility. Remove high brick walls alongside Grand to create maximum visibility from the street. Repair sloping entryway.

-Delancey Street: Renovate entryway for wheelchair accessibility. Redo plaza with permeable pavers.

Bird Sanctuary and three plots on Delancey

–Hua Mei Bird Garden: Install new 7’ wrought iron fence surrounding this garden for safety. Remove dilapidated temporary fencing to restore gate to original opening between ‘The Pit’ and the Garden to allow for two egresses in an emergency. Remove two benches nearest the Bird Garden that overlook the Pit.

–Three front gardens: remove broken low brick walls that front the side plots that are misused.

–Pipe a water source for all gardens – Bruckner boxes and water fountain.

-Seating in plaza: fasten 2 small metal tables with attached seating – close to street.

– Dept. of Sanitation install trash cans both sides of Delancey (ala ChinatownBID’s on Grand).

Preserve/Repair/Upgrade ‘The Pit’ Area: [See details of the Petition and Sign here!].

‘The Pit’ is a vital, flexible, shared and uniquely multi-use adaptive space. It’s the areas main anchor of positive use. 

Preserve the uniquely flexible Pit area – reimagined for even more flexibility.

Street soccer, ball hockey, bike polo, skateboarders, skaters, uni-cyclers. Children learn biking, Tai Chi, running track, Burmese Water Festival, New Museum, ROAR resource fair, Chinese Progressive Assoc., Stanton CSA, CB3, bike helmet giveaways, local children’s programming, movies under the stars, outdoor roller rink, with headphones piping music into participants’ ears.

1. Unclog and repair drainage in The Pit at the southern end, which has been a longstanding problem.

2. Addition of a community ceramic mural to the walls surrounding “The Pit” to emphasize it as an actively used space.

3. Installation of “Goalpher,” a 4 foot high and 6 foot wide subterranean goal system that can be opened when the community wants to play soccer, ball hockey, or bike polo, and put away underground when the community wants to use the space for any other purpose. When the goal is stored away, it is stored underground and the space can operate as if it isn’t there.

4. Return benches to the southern end and repaint benches surrounding the Pit.

5. End parking of Parks staff inside the park in the Broome area in front of the parkhouse.

6. Additional lighting to enhance late night play and all around safety.

As funding allows:

-Install permeable pavers Grand to Delancey – work in sections to allow some areas to remain open.

-Activate the Broome Parkhouse with a shared use that dynamically engages parkgoers here.

Don’t Bury “The Pit”!

With thanks to all our Park workers and volunteers.

To All the 5th Precinct’s Police Officers.

Thank you to Lee Elson for most of the Photographs (the good ones!

Chloe tying the ribbons

Part of University Settlement’s ROAR Festival:

We planted, picked up trash, brought water for new plants from the MKGarden, talked to everyone, encouraged people to write on a ribbon their thoughts and hopes for the Park, the World, their loved ones, themselves.

People were tremendous. Tourists, residents, park workers, homeless people, small business owners, beat cops: everyone and anyone who came by.

Marvin preparing the ground

The beautiful amazing crew: Chloe, Goundo, Devonne, Lee, Myles, K, Hank and more…

Thank you to all who wrote.

June 2022 Update: (June/July/August see our Twitter or Instagram sites). See @SaraRPCC and sararooseveltparkcc

ROAR FESTIVAL

and Sunflower Project (South of Delancey)

July 2022 Update:

August 2022 Update:

We were experiencing technical difficulties with our website. Columbia University Avery Library archives our website so we weren’t too worried about losing anything!

Here are the Updates from March – May 2022 that were emailed to those on our list.

June – August will be posted next.

March 2022

April 2022

May 2022

Adam Ganser ED of NYers For Parks

NYC Department of Parks and Recreation Budget Spurs Debates About Green Spaces and Their Role in the City

BY JULIETTE GAUDEMER

MARCH 31, 2022

Despite his commitment to increase the budget for parks, Mayor Eric Adams cut $63 million from the Department of Parks and Recreation.

During his campaign, Mayor Eric Adams committed to allocating one percent of the New York City Fiscal Year 2023 budget to the Department of Parks and Recreation. This would have marked a significant increase from the 0.5 percent that the city’s parks have worked with since the 1970s.

However, when the mayor released his $98.7 billion preliminary budget proposal in February, community advocates were disappointed to find only $557 million dedicated to NYC Parks, which is far from the promised $1 billion and a $63 million cut compared to the last budget adopted for 2022. During a press conference held on February 4th, Adams said that while he remains committed to reaching the one percent goal in the future, the end of federal stimulus forced him to implement budget cuts in every agency – except for the New York City Police Department.

In response, the nonprofit organization New Yorkers for Parks launched a petition and organized a rally on March 22nd to push the Adams administration for more funding. An hour before the New York City Council Committee on Parks and Recreation’s budget hearing that day, 200 participants gathered on the steps of City Hall to discuss the impact of the budget on green spaces, residents, and workers. Rally attendees included Committee members Shekar Krishnan, Julie Menin, Eric Dinowitz, and Marjorie Velázquez; Borough Presidents Mark Levine and Antonio Reynoso; and City Council members Sally Nurse and Althea Stevens.

Community advocates, residents and elected officials taking a stand for NYC parks. Adam Ganser, Executive Director for New Yorkers for Parks, said it was the biggest rally to take place on the City Hall’s steps since the beginning of the pandemic. Credits: New Yorkers for Parks.

“New Yorkers relied on public parks more than ever during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Henry Garrido, Executive Director of DC 37, the largest union in the country.  “The City cannot afford to make cuts that will reduce services and staff. It is unthinkable to ask our members who are frontline essential workers to sacrifice yet again and do more with less.”

The Department of Parks and Recreation manages over 2,000 parks and nearly 30,000 acres of land covering 14 percent of New York City. It also includes more than 5,000 individual properties, such as community gardens and Coney Island Beach. According to the Department, they also operate more than 800 athletic fields, 1,000 playgrounds, 65 public pools, and care for 1,200 monuments and 23 historic museums, among other facilities. But despite these numbers, New York City remains behind other major urban centers in the United States when it comes to amenities. In a 2020 report, the Trust for Public Land found Minneapolis had almost twice as many playgrounds per ten thousand residents as New York, and Chicago had twice as many public restrooms. 

The NYC Department of Parks and Recreation has been on a bumpy road when it comes to its budget: in the fiscal year 2019, the agency received $534 million, which was followed by $526 million in 2020  until the pandemic prompted a dramatic $47 million cut for the fiscal year 2021. As a result, 1,700 people from the seasonal workforce were not hired back last summer, and severe maintenance issues were observed by residents: safety hazards, rat infestation, garbage, fallen trees, and destroyed gardens were among the numerous complaints that the Department received.

The City’s green spaces are mostly funded by public money, but they also may receive special grants from the city’s other governmental bodies for specific projects, such as the creation of Little Island Park, which opened its doors in May 2021. They may also receive funds from private donors. While this can make up for some underfunding of the Department of Parks and Recreation, it can also create inequity in park maintenance.

…According to one of the group’s reports, the average park size in poor neighborhoods is 6.4 acres, compared with 14 acres in wealthy neighborhoods…

…Roughly 99 percent of New York residents currently have access to green spaces, but, according to The Trust for Public Land, creating 70 new parks in the Bronx, Queens, South Brooklyn, and Staten Island would close this gap for good…

In addition to a budget increase and better park equity, advocates also ask that Mayor Adams continue the work started by former mayors Bill de Blasio and Michael Bloomberg by planting another million trees by 2030, adding to the million trees planted by his predecessors. With five million trees, 22 percent of New York City is covered by a tree canopy. According to many of the 25 nonprofit organizations that collaborate with the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation to protect green spaces, trees play a key role in lowering temperatures and fighting global warming…parks can also reduce the effects of flooding and protect wild birds who use trees as a resting place during their migration.

Cohen said:…“More parks mean more ground to absorb the water, and more money means more maintenance to prevent the trees from falling on people during the storms.”

From 2014 to 2019, parks department staffing has seen less growth than nearly all other departments: while Parks staffing grew by two percent, for example, Corrections grew by 17 percent, and Homeless Services by 25 percent. In 2019, the Center for an Urban Future found that the parks department only had 39 plumbers for the entire parks system and just 400 Park Enforcement Patrol Officers. Currently, New York City only has one gardener for every 133 acres of parkland, while San Francisco has one gardener for every 20 acres. New Yorkers for Parks Executive Director Adam Ganser said that despite reports of burnout, the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation didn’t recognize their employee’s work during the pandemic. During the rally held in March, Henry Garrido said that visits to public parks, green spaces, and beaches were up 70 percent from pre-pandemic levels, which is much more people to manage for social distancing.

“250 workers have already been eliminated as part of the budget cut, and now we are about to lose 3,000 more positions in June,” said Ganser. “It is easy to blame the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, but they have been the victim of austerity measures for more than 40 years. Elected leaders are responsible for what’s happening in the parks, and we won’t stand aside.”

Park Workers, Park volunteers, Youth Explorers, ROAR, Sunflower Project, DOE children’s food truck, NYCHA Tenant Leaders, Old Friends, New Friends, Juneteenth, Sustaining All Life, and so much more…

We can make this place beautiful. We’ve done it before.

From Hester to Broome to Stanton Parked Cars Encroach on Parkland in a Park That Cannot Afford It.

This is not okay

Hester Street Park Area or Parking Lot Area:

Broome Street Park Area or Parking Lot Area:

Stanton Parking Lot or Park