Protecting and improving the community for the people who live and work here

Ted Glass, turtle wrangler, and Bud Shalala, Critter Committee, did the heavy lifting for the M’Finda Garden to the delight of all who came. More photos should be coming on M’Finda Kalunga website.

Red-eared Sliders

Thanks to Charles and LUNGS for the dirt for gardens in SDR Park!

Anyone wanting to pitch in to help redistribute the wealth please join gardeners this Saturday. Ask for Bob Humber or Kate or Carol!

From Daily News:

“A red-tailed hawk died after it ate rat poison that was likely left in a city park, according to a necropsy report the Daily News obtained Wednesday.

The majestic male was found ill inside Sarah Roosevelt Park in lower Manhattan and brought to the Animal Medical Center in Lenox Hill on Jan. 4.

The city’s Parks Department has agreed to use old-fashioned snap traps during the hawk breeding season, from April to August”

We’ve had juvenile Red Hawks die of eating poisoned rats before. We have asked the Dept of Health to allow dry ice to be used to stop rats (they have final say – not Parks). It works and is poison-free. Better for Hawks, People, Animals and Environment.

Wellington Chen and The Chinatown Partnership have worked for this for decades. Nice to see it coming to fruition!

One of the Structures is slated to be on Grand/Chrystie near Sara Roosevelt Park.

From DNAinfo‘s Allegra Hobbs:

“The city is now accepting applications from designers to craft a public art piece to signal the entrance to Chinatown — part of a larger initiative to create artistic markers for several points of entry to the neighborhood.”

From the Gateways to Chinatown website:

“The project will provide a new marker for Chinatown, Little Italy, and the surrounding neighborhoods in Lower Manhattan to engender pride of place, foster connectivity and cultural and social identity, and stimulate economic development. Straddling art and architecture, symbolism and function, the new structure and public space aims to become a vibrant place of exchange at the center of one of New York City’s most dynamic and historically-rich areas.

The project organizers ask prospective design teams to consider the following questions:

• How can the site serve as a “gateway” responding to tradition as well as adapting to ever-changing cultural and generational demographics and technology?
• How can the gateway connect and bring together existing communities and create new opportunities for both locals and visitors to experience the area in fresh ways?
• How can the gateway site link to other gateways within Chinatown, across the city and around the world?

This project was initiated by Chinatown Partnership and is made possible by a grant from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, which is funded through Community Development Block Grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Manhattan Borough President’s Office.”

From DNAinfo:

“American Sign Language interpreters and tablets with video-based interpreting will be provided to officers in the East Village, Jackson Heights and northwestern Staten Island as part of the program…

“This has been a long-standing issue. It’s been a long road to even get to this point,” Antony Gemmell with New York Lawyers for the Public Interest told DNAinfo New York….

Several DHH people have sued the NYPD in recent years.

If an interpreter is not available, police will be able access an interpreter service through a video program on their tablet…”

The mayor has admitted that we will not solve homelessness in NYC for many years. Homelessness in parks is here to stay – for a while. How do we make that current reality work as best we can? How do we keep parks safe and working for everyone to enjoy in this period and not pit people against one another – especially against already marginalized and vulnerable groups?

The reality is that the homeless use our parks as…home. All hours. And there aren’t enough PEP officers or police patrols to change that fact.

One issue that comes up repeatedly is the need for functional bathrooms for park users. For the homeless it becomes even more important. Desperate people will use the park as a bathroom if there isn’t another viable option.

We think that we need our Park bathrooms to be accessible 24/7  with security personnel there at all times and a maintenance crew that can be summoned quickly if needed.

The United Nations recognizes the right to sanitation. How will NYC, our ‘progressive’ city, meet that ‘right’. How do we help people who have no home and/or no safe shelter maintain their dignity?

And …having public bathrooms that are clean and working for all New Yorkers and park visitors is kind of a good idea anyway.

From The Lo-Down:

“An affordable housing lottery opened this morning for 99 senior apartments at 175 Delancey Street, part of the Essex Crossing project.

All of the apartments, located on site 6 of the large mixed-use development, are one-bedroom units. At least one applicant must be 55 years of age or older. There are various income bands for the apartments, ranging from no income up to 90% of Area Median Income (AMI). Monthly rent will be set from $396-$1254. The largest block of apartments (75 units) are available to households earning between $21,066-$43,500/year.”

Shadows of genocide and racism.

From the NYTimes: “The Ramapough vs The World”

“….for the Ramapoughs, a group of indigenous people native to the highlands around Mahwah, N.J., life has often been a series of excruciating struggles over rights and resources. The tribe has an embattled history marked by colonial occupation, environmental degradation, discrimination, and clashes with politicians and real estate developers. Over the years, they have been left greatly diminished, a proud tribe working to stave off eradication and invisibility.

But the Ramapoughs have experienced something of an awakening in recent months. After a developer proposed an oil pipeline that would run through their native land — and potentially threaten the region’s water supply — the tribe began a wave of protests that has drawn together its dwindling members. They were galvanized further by the election of President Trump, whom they see as an enemy to the environment and indigenous life at large — and an old foe of the tribe in particular. Now this small and beleaguered community is preparing for battle with forces both local and national. For Mr. Perry, the stakes are nothing short of the existence of the Ramapoughs.”

Here’s what we can do: go to the Coalition Against Pilgrim Pipeline website. A number of petitions are there. Sign. Send. Fight.