Martial Arts Practice (and a bit of tennis practice) Inside “The Pit”.
Gardeners removed dead branches, pruned, dug up weeds, organized the flower beds, planted bulbs, and collapsed rat burrows!
And our much loved “Sunflower” Garden of Hope:
A beautiful weekend Sunday, Halloween, bulb and tree stump removal and new tree planting, live gorgeous music by the Eric Paulin Quartet and the Judette Elliston Trio (thank you FABnyc), plans to move forward with activating the Stanton Parkhouse, Free Store Face-painting, Labyrinth-making, Halloween art-making, Stanton CSA info, neighbors and local non-profits meeting and working together to make the day go well.
And…
A warm and gracious welcome from our local neighborhood-raised Park advocate Council Member Chris Marte (or was that Julius Cesar?) and our local community to our vibrant, well-informed, new Manhattan Borough Park Commissioner Anthony Perez!
With words of encouragement, promise and excitement for a new phase of community partnership!
Favorite comment of the day: “This is so much fun”
Thank you to our Task Force members FABnyc and the Eric Paulin Quartet and the Judette Elliston Trio, University Settlement and their artist and crafts -maker, Sara Roosevelt Park Coalition, GreenMap, and Pratt. And the countless volunteer efforts of this community like Stanton CSA, Myles’ FreeStore face painting arts, Diane Carulli’s Labyrinth, Urban Park Ranger (off-duty volunteer), Steve Elson, Allen/Pike Volunteer Gardener Justen Ladda, M’Finda Kalunga Garden, Neighbors to Save Rivington House’ long-time activists Lisa Kaplan and Harriet Cohen, and Buro Happold, and Marvel our pro-bono architects and engineers vis a vis FABnyc!
We could have this here.
Take a look at what we got to do:
The day starts with NYCParks Staff dropping off supplies from Partnerships for Parks set up with our partners and volunteers.
The planting of a new tree in the Tree Pit here!
By the determination and energy of Keena Suh (Pratt Design School Professor) the steady hard labor and effort of Jake (volunteer-for-the-day) who broke through the cement-like tree pit surface (with the help of composer/musician Steve Elson), and the expertise and commitment of Daniel Tainow (off-duty Park Ranger volunteer) and help from our newest “volunteer” Park Commissioner Perez.
Check out that old busted tree stump!
and the ‘back’-story:
Long, long, long time Park advocates Bob Humber and Jim Pender
Beautiful days in Sara Roosevelt Park –
Fairy Homes, Bob at his post, Ganesh, flowers, Ken rushing off to Clean Up Forsyth Plaza, Free Store, Photography, Neighbors meeting, (trash on Houston could use a little work DOT)
Plant bulbs, beautify this area, build a labyrinth, music, Games, Halloween, learn about the Stanton Building, meet your neighbors!
It’s Time to Fight for Our Parks Budget!
“We’ve always relied on NYC’s parks and open spaces, but over the last two years they’ve been central to our city’s recovery and our collective wellbeing. Mayor Adams committed to funding NYC Parks with 1% of the NYC budget on the campaign trail: “We need to do everything we can to preserve the future generations of New Yorkers the right to these essential parks.”
However, his recently released preliminary budget sharply departs from these promises, cutting the NYC Parks budget by $60 million and potentially allowing 3,500 essential NYC Parks jobs (including PEP officers and maintenance staff) to expire on June 30.”
In attendance at the March 22 rally were City Council Parks Committee Chair Shekar Krishnan; Council Members Chris Marte, Erik Bottcher, Julie Menin, Eric Dinowitz, Marjorie Velázquez, Althea Stevens, Sandy Nurse and Selvena Brooks-Powers representing the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan; and Borough Presidents Mark Levine and Antonio Reynoso.
Mayor Adams had previously signed this commitment during his election campaign – then outlined in the New Yorkers for Parks’ Five Point Plan for Park Equity – however as Adams announced his Preliminary budget, the previously agreed upon amount was slashed in half.
This decision to allocate only 0.5% to the Park Department would cut $60 million from the proposed budget and potentially put 3,500 essential NYC Parks employees at risk of losing their jobs.
Columbus Park’s Karlin Chan, Sara Roosevelt Park’s K Webster and many members of the PlayFair Coalition ‘parkies’!
The $44 million broke down like this:
President of Sara Roosevelt Park Coalition K Webster Rally Talk:
Thank you to all who came to rally.
My name is K Webster and I am with the Sara Roosevelt Park Community and PlayFair for Parks Coalitions.
We have been a park coalition since the early 80’s when the neighborhood reclaimed this park from neglect, drug dealing and murder. Two unique gardens were built then: the M’Finda Kalunga Garden and the Hua Mei Bird Sanctuary.
Now, Once again, we face neglect and are the site of murders, assaults and drug dealing with both the housed and the unhoused as victims.
They were all tragic and senseless and none of them deserved to die or be harmed.
For the moment, thankfully, a PEP officer now sits inside our park’s senior center with its majority elderly Asian community.
Despite low staffing and a lack of water sources, in parts of our park, Park manager Jamil and his staff do all they can to support the many community members who maintain gardens throughout the park.
An incredible Park’s worker, a Latina grandmother, scrupulously cleans half of the park, working alone or with a volunteer. An 87 yr. old African American man sits guarding the playground. A volunteer for 40 years. Just had a stroke. He’s our homeless volunteer’s anchor.
A fully funded project to fix doors and windows in that senior center has waited 7 years.
A Parkhouse, promised 30+ years ago for neighborhood use, still sits, despite being in a troubled section that tries to serve 4 ELL high schools, a low -income charter school, NYCHA, Mitchel Lama, and Deaf housing across the street.
Our park is the air conditioning, summer home, vacation rental for families living in tenements.
During the pandemic, to avoid congregate shelters with no PPE, our park paths were lined with people who slept in the park.
Neighborhoods where there’s no money need a funded Parks and the collaborative efforts of its workforce and volunteers.
We need to invest in our essential paid Park workforce with good pay, job security, training, and benefits. You are the backbone of parks and should be treated that way.
Staffing is needed to lead on climate mitigation to build our oxygen infrastructure.
In an over-heated city, parks are safety valves in these over-heated times.
Sports, beauty, chances to garden or sit safely, a welcome to everyone, and importantly parks give us chances to meet people we otherwise never would.
