With thanks to Debra Jeffreys-Glass for photos!

Lion Dance!

ROAR with Jane Co-Chair of M’Finda Kalunga Community Garden! And Sunflower Project display!

And Sustaining All Life – Climate (Sweet)-Warriors!

From NYLCV  *

Prop #1   News 12 Brooklyn

NYLCV Mission: “New York State faces a wide range of sustainability challenges that differ from region to region. Jointly with NYLCV, the NYLCV Education Fund issues policy agendas that lay out specific legislative and budgetary remedies tailored to different levels of government or regions of the state. They serve as practical blueprints to help guide elected officials, policymakers, political candidates, voters and the general public toward a more sustainable future.”

New York City has a Capital Budget, separate from its annual operating (or expense) budget, which presents the funding plans for city construction and repair projects, and purchases of land, buildings, or equipment.

A “capital project” involves the construction, reconstruction, acquisition, or installation of a physical public improvement with a value of $35,000 or more and a “useful life” of at least five years. This may include everything from buying garbage trucks to reconstructing bridges to building housing.

The City Charter gives Community Boards a broad range of responsibilities for advising the City about local budget needs and priorities. The Charter mandates that the Community Boards consult with agencies on the district’s capital and expense budget needs, hold public hearings, prepare capital and expense budget priority lists annually, and react to the funding choices presented in the preliminary budget. To meet the Charter mandates a dynamic formal structure was created to enable the City’s communities to make their needs known to agency decision makers, the City Council, and the Mayor. The Office of Community Board Relations within the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) oversees procedures that assure the Community Board’s active and effective participation in forming the City’s budgets. The following outlines the essential features of this process.

The City’s Three Budgets

New York City’s budget year begins on July 1st and ends on June 30th. Its budget consists of three components:

• The Revenue Budget, which is the City’s best estimate of how much money will be available during the fiscal year to support operating expenditures and capital improvement projects. These include all tax, non-tax, and grant funds expected to be received during the fiscal year.
• The Expense Budget covers all the City’s day to day operations such as salaries and supplies as well as debt service. It is supported by City taxes, fees, and other local revenue as well as state and federal aid.
• The Capital Budget includes the cost of the City’s long term construction program and the purchase of land and large equipment. Reconstruction of streets, sewers, parks, and buildings are examples of capital projects. Capital budget items are financed by the sale of municipal bonds as well as by state and federal grants.

Additionally, the Community Development Program allocates federal money for long term physical improvements and related activities that chiefly benefit low and moderate income persons.

Overview of the Community Board Budget Process

As representatives of local communities, Community Boards are most concerned with City spending that affects the quality of life for residents and workers in their districts. The process by which the Community Boards participate in formulating the City’s budgets has six major elements.

1. Consultations between Community Boards and Local Service Delivery Agencies

From May through September, Community Boards have two formal opportunities to consult with agency officials about budget needs and the funding of programs and projects.

The agencies that formally consult with the Boards are the Department for the Aging, the Department of Buildings, Economic Development/Business Services, Environmental Protection, Fire, Housing Preservation and Development, Parks and Recreation, Police, Sanitation, Transportation, and the Human Resources. Budget consultations take place at two levels:

• District Consultations – In late spring, District Managers and committee members meet with agency local representatives to discuss the needs of the district, the current level of service delivery, and the resources needed to meet those needs.
• Borough Consultations – During the month of September, Boards meet with agency commissioners to discuss long range needs, important budget requests, operational issues, agency policy choices, and fiscal constraints. At the Borough consultations Community Boards present their needs and budget suggestions and agency decision makers explain the difficult spending choices they must make.

These formal meetings give both the agencies and the Boards an opportunity to openly discuss the criteria used in making spending choices.

2. September/October Public Hearings by the Community Board

Each September and October Community Boards hold committee meetings and a public budget hearing to help develop specific budget priorities. During the hearing the public and Board members have the opportunity to identify community district needs. At Queens Community Board 3, this hearing takes place during a Public Participation Session at the Board’s September monthly meeting. Additional opportunities for public participation in the budget process comes at meetings of its Capital & Expense Budget Committee during September and October.

3. Formal Budget Submissions

By the date announced by OMB, usually late October, Boards must formally submit their budget requests to City agencies and the Office of Management and Budget as the agencies begin to prepare their next year’s budget. Budget submissions consist of three components:

• Requests for funding in the Capital Budget for physical improvements to the City’s infrastructure and public facilities, for land acquisition and major equipment.
• Requests for funding in the Expense Budget for programs, supplies, and personnel.
• Community Board Service Program Rankings wherein Boards indicate the importance of service to their community by ranking as many as 80 programs provided by 23 agencies.

4. Review of Agency Responses to Board Budget Requests

After Community Boards submit their requests in October, City agencies review them and make funding recommendations in the City’s Preliminary Budget and Departmental Estimates, published about January 16th. Agency responses to Community Board budget request are published by OMB in the Register of Community Board Budget Requests for the Preliminary Budget each January. The Boards then have an opportunity to respond to the agency decisions in their Statement on the Preliminary Budget, due in February.

5. OMB Review of Board Budget Requests

For the Mayor’s Executive Budget, published on April 26th, these same budget requests are evaluated by OMB with funding recommendations published in the Register of Community Board Budget Requests for the Executive Budget.

6. Public Hearings at which the Boards Testify

Community Boards may testify in February at Borough Board hearings prior to submitting the Borough Board Budget Priorities and Borough President submissions to the Executive Budget. Again in March and May Boards may testify at City Council hearings on the Preliminary and Executive Budgets.

The Community Board’s participation in the budget process is a year round activity. Even before one budget is adopted, a new process of considering budget requests for the next cycle begins.

Assessing Community District Needs

Assessing community needs is one of the most important and useful activities performed by Community Boards in determining the district’s service and budget requests. This is an ongoing activity that involves each Board member and committee. Personal observations, published surveys, public hearings, discussions with local service chiefs, and the use of such community records as minutes from the District Service Cabinet and the district office complaint log can all help in identifying patterns or areas of problems within the community.

The Board determines if an identified problem can be addressed by reallocating existing resources or through a request for capital or expense budget funds. Throughout this process, an understanding of overall City and agency funding priorities and constraints helps the Board match its budget proposals to available funds.

The Board’s long range needs are presented to City decision makers in the Statement of Community District Needs which is published by the Department of City Planning within a framework of information detailing demographics and community facilities.

Geographic Information for Community Boards

The more a Board knows, the more effectively it can participate in developing the City’s budgets. To this end, OMB publishes expense budget and service information sorted two ways: by agency and by local service district. The first gives the Citywide picture for the agency and the second shows community and borough allocations of money, personnel and equipment. Boards can find out how many people are assigned to their district, what they do, how much they are paid, the equipment assigned to the district and contract services for agencies which provide local level services. Indicators of agency performance are also published in the District Resource Statement and the Geographic Reports for the Expense Budget.

OMB also publishes capital information on a geographic basis so that Community Boards know which projects are being funded in their districts, how much they will cost, and when implementation is planned for each project phase. Geographic Reports for the Capital Budget are published with the release of each budget phase.

The Capital Commitment Plan details projects planned for the next four years. The planned timing and the cost of each phase of a project is available to the Community Boards. Combining formal budget participation mechanisms with increased availability of geographic information gives the Community Boards the opportunity to influence agency and OMB budget decisions about the allocation of city resources.

Budget Process Timetable for Community Boards

New York City’s fiscal or budget year runs from July 1 of one calendar year through June 30 of the next. The following describes the steps in the budget adoption process. The deadlines shown are mandated by the City Charter but are subject to slight annual changes by the City Council and Mayor.

• June/July – The budget process begins with District Consultations between agency district service chiefs (Police Precinct Commanders, Sanitation Superintendents, Parks Supervisors, etc.) and Community Boards (CBs) to discuss local needs.
• June – CBs assess district needs and prepare District Needs Statements (a narrative description of their communities and their needs). CBs’ District Needs Statements are submitted to the Department of City Planning.
• By August 15 – Eleven major agencies submit a policy statement describing major goals and priority programs for the coming year to the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Community Board Relations.
• September/October – CBs hold public hearings on district needs and budget priorities. In each borough, consultations are held between CBs and top managers of eleven major agencies.
• By Late October – CBs submit their budget requests to OMB.
• By Early November – OMB sends CBs’ budget requests to agencies for evaluation in preparing departmental estimates of agency budget requests for the coming year.
• By January 16 – Every two years the Mayor submits a draft of the Ten Year Capital Strategy outlining how the capital budget will be used. The City Planning Commission holds a public hearing on the draft Year Capital Strategy in odd numbered years.
• By January 16 – Release of the Mayor’s Financial Plan and Preliminary Budget, which includes the departmental estimates. OMB sends the CBs the Register of CB Budget Requests, a list of Board requests with agency funding recommendations.
• By January 30 – The Mayor released the Preliminary Mayor’s Management Report detailing agency performance during the first four months of the budget year.
• By February 15 – CBs hold public hearings on the Preliminary Budget and send a Statement on the Preliminary Budget reflecting CB reaction and public testimony to the Mayor, City Council, Borough President and Borough Board.
• By February 25 – Borough Boards hold public hearings as input for their comments on the Preliminary Budget and for the Borough Presidents’ recommended modifications to Preliminary Budget.
• By First Week in March – OMB holds public hearing on the Community Development Program, dealing with Federal funds that are given to the City.
• By March 10 – Borough Presidents submit capital and expense budget allocations and modifications to Mayor for inclusion in Executive Budget.
• By March 25 – City Council holds public hearings on Preliminary Budget.
• By April 26 – Release of the Mayor’s Executive Budget. OMB sends the CBs the Register of CB Budget Requests with OMB funding recommendations, and the proposed Community Development Statements of Objectives and Budget.
• By May 6 – Borough Presidents modify Executive Budget submissions when necessary.
• By May 25 – City Council holds public hearings on Executive Budget.
• By June 5 – City Council adopts budget.
• By June 21 – Mayor, Comptroller, and City Clerk certify budget.
• July 1 – New Budget Year Begins.
• After July 1 – OMB sends the CBs the Register of CB Budget Requests with the final disposition of requests.

By one month after Budget Adoption, Borough agency service chiefs submit plans for allocation of personnel and resources to the Borough President. Within 30 days of receiving such plans, the Borough President may propose a reallocation of staff and resources, providing the modification does not increase or decrease personnel or resources for any Community District by more than 5 percent.

and composting, raking, working, meeting, chickens, and more…

and a bit of soccer in the park…

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

(And…”Don’t Bury the Pit” Info Below)

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: remove dilapidated fencing. Install new wrought iron fence around the bird sanctuary for safety (check with birders). Return gate to original opening to allow two means of egress in an emergency.

–Three front gardens: remove broken low brick walls that front the side plots and invite misuse.

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

-For seating in plaza: fasten two round metal tables/attached seating – visible from street.

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

Preserve/Repair/Upgrade ‘The Pit’ Area: [see petition].

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

-Unclog/repair drainage- southern end of Pit. Lighting: more/brighter/downward facing. Return benches outside of the Pit on the southern end.

-A mural on all Pit side walls.

-Install low in-ground pieces apertures to attach volleyball net rig as requested by girls in schools here for years to return this sport to SRP.

-Preserve the uniquely flexible Pit area – reimagined for even more flexibility [see petition].

Community Organizations and the Mult-Use Pit:

Street soccer, ball hockey, bike polo, skateboarders, skaters. 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.

As funding allows:

-Install permeable pavers Grand to Delancey. In sections to allow some areas to stay open.

-Fix benches along east/west sides of The Pit.

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

Don’t Bury The Pit!!!

From NYC Parks website Rules and Regulations

§1-04 Prohibited Uses

Violation of any paragraph or subparagraph of this section shall subject the violator to a civil penalty, as specified in the Department’s penalty schedule. See 56 RCNY §1-07. In addition, except as otherwise provided below, such violation shall also constitute an offense (classified as a “violation” under the Penal Law), which can be punished by imprisonment of up to one day or a fine of not more than $200. As specified in this section, certain violations of specified paragraphs or subparagraphs of this section are classified by the Administrative Code as misdemeanors. Except as otherwise provided in this section, a misdemeanor can be punished by imprisonment of up to 20 days or a fine of not more than $1,000. Note that other laws, including but not limited to the Penal Law, may also apply to the conduct described below.

1. Destruction or Abuse of Property and Equipment
   1. No person shall destroy or abuse any public property under the charge and control of the Department in a manner that causes significant damage or expense. Significant damage or expense includes, but is not limited to, damage that will require the replacement of a Department attachment, fixture, piece of equipment, or structure; major landscaping or planting; construction; or excavation. Violation of this paragraph constitutes a misdemeanor punishable by not more than six months imprisonment or by a fine of not more than $15,000, or by both.
   2. No person shall injure, deface, alter, write upon, destroy, remove or tamper with in any way, any real or personal property or equipment owned by or under the jurisdiction or control of the Department.
2. Destruction or Abuse of Trees, Plants, Flowers, Shrubs and Grass
   1. 1. No person shall cut, remove, or destroy any trees under the jurisdiction of the Department without permission of the Commissioner. Violation of this subparagraph constitutes a misdemeanor punishable by not more than six months imprisonment or by a fine of not more than $15,000, or by both. For purposes of this subparagraph, “destroy” shall include, but not be limited to, kill, carve, prune, or inflict other physical damage to the tree.
      2. No person shall deface or write upon any trees under the jurisdiction of the Department.
      3. No person shall deface, write upon, sever, mutilate, kill or remove from the ground any plants, flowers, shrubs or other vegetation under the jurisdiction of the Department without permission of the Commissioner.
   2. No person shall go upon or allow any animal or child in his or her custody to go upon any newly-seeded lawn or grass plot.
   3. No person shall go upon or allow any animal or child in his or her custody to go upon any area enclosed by fencing, temporary or permanent, where such fencing or signs posted thereon reasonably indicate that entry into such area is forbidden.
   4. No person shall possess any tools commonly used for gardening, or any plant, tree, shrub or other vegetation, in any park except where such possession is specifically designated to be permissible by the Commissioner.
   5. No person shall use a metal detector in any park, except in unvegetated beach areas. Use of metal detectors in other park areas will be permitted if the prior written consent of the Commissioner is obtained.
3. Littering, Polluting, Dumping, and Unattended Property
   1. No person shall litter in any park. All persons shall use receptacles provided for the disposal of refuse. No person shall deposit household or commercial refuse in any park receptacle.
   2. No person shall throw, drop, allow to fall, discharge into or leave in, or otherwise introduce into Parks waters any substance, liquid or solid, gas, or other item which may or will result in the pollution of said waters. Violation of this paragraph constitutes a misdemeanor.
   3. No person shall engage in unlawful dumping in any park. Violation of this paragraph constitutes a misdemeanor.
   4. No person shall, within or adjacent to any park, store or leave unattended personal belongings.
4. Prohibition on Glass
   Glass bottles or other glass containers are prohibited in parks. The Commissioner may, in his discretion, designate certain parks, or portions thereof, as areas wherein glass bottles or other glass containers will be permitted. Failure to comply with such prohibition on glass bottles or containers shall constitute a violation of these rules. This subdivision (d) shall not apply to glass bottles or containers used in the care and feeding of infant children.
5. Aviation
   1. No person shall voluntarily bring, land or cause to alight within or upon any park, any airplane, hot air balloon, parachute, hang glider, or other aerial craft or device that endangers any person or property, except that certain areas may be designated appropriate landing places for medical evacuation helicopters. Violation of this paragraph constitutes a misdemeanor.
   2. No person shall voluntarily bring, land or cause to alight within or upon any park, any airplane, hot air balloon, parachute, hang glider, or other aerial craft or device, except that certain areas may be designated appropriate landing places for medical evacuation helicopters.
   3. For the purposes of this subdivision (e), voluntarily shall mean anything other than a forced landing caused by mechanical or structural failure of the aircraft or other aerial device.
6. Explosives, Firearms and Weapons
   1. No person shall bring into or have in his or her possession in any park, any firearms, slingshots, firecrackers, missile propelling instruments or explosives, including any substance, compound, or mixture having properties of such a character that alone or in combination with other substances, compounds or mixtures, propel missiles, explode or decompose to produce flames, combustion, noise, or noxious or dangerous odors. Violation of this paragraph constitutes a misdemeanor.
   2. Paragraph (1) of this subdivision shall not apply to: a sworn member of the uniformed force of the Police Department, whether on or off-duty; persons in the military or other service of the United States who are in pursuit of official duty or duly authorized by federal law, regulation, or order to possess the relevant firearm or other item; persons in the military service of the state of New York when on duty and duly authorized by applicable regulations to possess the relevant firearm or other item; police officers as defined by subdivision 34 of section 1.20 of the criminal procedure law, if not otherwise specified by this subdivision, when on duty; or peace officers as defined by section 2.10 of the criminal procedure law, when on duty.
   3. Paragraph (1) of this subdivision shall not be construed to prohibit the proper use of cigarette lighters, matches or of charcoal lighter fluid in proper containers in picnic grills where permissible pursuant to the provisions of these rules.
7. Abuse of Park Animals
   1. Except pursuant to a permit for trapping issued by the Department, no person shall molest, chase, harass, injure, wound, trap, hunt, shoot, throw missiles at, kill or remove any animal, any nest, or the eggs of any amphibian, reptile or bird, or otherwise harm or intentionally take actions that could reasonably harm any animal, nest, or such eggs. Further, no person shall knowingly buy, receive, have in his or her possession, sell or give away any such animal or egg taken from or killed within the jurisdiction of the Department, including any zoo area. Violation of this paragraph constitutes a misdemeanor.
   2. No person shall feed animals in any park (including any zoo area) except unconfined squirrels and birds, and where specifically authorized by the Commissioner. The Commissioner may also designate certain areas where all feeding of animals is prohibited. It shall be a violation of these rules to feed animals in any area where such feeding is prohibited.
8. Reserved
9. Failure to Control Animals
   1. Except as specified in § 1-05(s)(3) or in paragraph three of this subdivision, no person owning, possessing or controlling any animal shall cause or allow such animal to be unleashed or unrestrained in any park unless permitted by the Commissioner or authorized by law. No person owning, possessing or controlling any animal shall cause or allow such animal to be out of control in any park under any circumstances. Animals that are out of control may be seized and impounded. Violation of this paragraph constitutes a misdemeanor.
   2. Properly licensed dogs, wearing a license tag and vaccinated against rabies pursuant to the laws of the State of New York and City of New York and restrained by a leash or other restraint not exceeding six feet in length, may be brought into a park, except in no event shall dogs or other animals be allowed to enter any playground, zoo, swimming pool and swimming pool facility, bathing area and adjacent bathing beach (unless otherwise permitted by the Commissioner), bridle path (unless permitted therein by the Commissioner), fountain, ballfield, basketball court, handball court, tennis court, or other area prohibited by the Commissioner. Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to prohibit persons with disabilities from bringing  service animals into areas under the Department’s jurisdiction as authorized by federal, state, or city law. Nothing herein shall prohibit horses from entering or being within a park as provided in § 1-05(q).
   3. Unless specifically prohibited herein or by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (“DOHMH”), properly licensed dogs wearing a license tag and vaccinated against rabies pursuant to the laws of the State of New York and City of New York may be unleashed within a designated park or designated portions of a park from the park’s opening until 9:00 a.m. and from 9:00 p.m. until the park closes under the following conditions:
      1. such dogs shall, except for being unleashed, be kept under the control of their owner and shall not at any time harass or injure any park patron and/or, harass, injure, damage, sever, mutilate, or kill any animal, tree, planting, flower, shrub or other vegetation;
      2. such dogs shall not at any time enter any playground, zoo, swimming pool and swimming pool facility, bathing area and adjacent bathing beach (unless otherwise permitted by the Commissioner), bridle path (unless permitted therein by the Commissioner), fountain, ballfield, basketball court, handball court, tennis court, or other area prohibited by the Commissioner;
      3. such dogs shall be immediately leashed by their owners upon any direction or command of any Police Officer, Urban Park Ranger, Parks Enforcement Patrol Officer or other Department employee or employee of the DOHMH, the refusal of which direction or command shall constitute a violation of § 1-03(c); and
      4. owners of such dogs shall provide proof of current vaccination against rabies and proof of current licensing upon the request of any Police Officer, Urban Park Ranger, Parks Enforcement Patrol Officer or other Department employee or employee of the DOHMH, the refusal of which shall constitute a violation of § 1-03(c), § 1-05(s)(3) and of this subdivision.
10. Control and Removal of Animal Waste
    1. No person shall allow any dog in his custody or control to discharge any fecal matter in any park unless he promptly removes and disposes of same.
    2. Anyone who drives a horse-drawn carriage into or within a park is required to equip it with horse hampers, horse diapers or some other similar manure catching device which is effective in preventing manure from being deposited on any park street, road or way.
11. Urination and Defecation in Parks
    No person shall urinate or defecate in any Park, or in or upon any park building, monument or structure, except in a facility which is specifically designed for such purpose.
12. Disorderly Behavior
    No person shall engage in disorderly behavior in a park. Disorderly behavior includes violating the following rules:
    1. No person, unless authorized to do so, shall knowingly enter or remain in a building or other structure, or upon real property, which is fenced, barricaded or otherwise enclosed in a manner designed to exclude or otherwise discourage entrance by any unauthorized individual, or shall enter or leave the jurisdiction of the Department except by designated entrance ways or exits. Violation of this paragraph constitutes a misdemeanor.
    2. 1. No person shall climb upon any wall, fence, shelter, tree, shrub, fountain or other vegetation, or any structure or statue not specifically intended for climbing purposes.
       2. No person shall climb upon any statue or artwork not specifically intended for climbing purposes in a manner that damages or could reasonably damage such statue or artwork. Violation of this subparagraph constitutes a misdemeanor.
    3. No person shall gain or attempt to gain admittance to Department facilities or structures for the use of which charge is made without paying such charge. Violation of this paragraph constitutes a misdemeanor.
    4. No person shall engage in any form of gambling or game of chance for money.
    5. 1. No person shall render dangerous any part of a park road. Violation of this paragraph constitutes a misdemeanor.
       2. No person shall render dangerous any part of a park.
       3. No person shall obstruct vehicular or pedestrian traffic.
    6. No person shall engage in fighting or shall assault any person.
    7. No person shall engage in any form of sexual activity.
    8. No person shall engage in a course of conduct or commit acts that endanger the safety of others.
    9. No person shall operate a bicycle, motor vehicle, or similar vehicle in a manner that endangers any other person or property. Violation of this paragraph constitutes a misdemeanor.
13. Reserved
14. Unlawful exposure
    No person shall appear in public in such a manner that one’s genitalia are unclothed or exposed. Violation of this subdivision constitutes a misdemeanor.
15. Obstruction of sitting areas
    No person shall use a bench or other sitting area so as to interfere with its use by other persons, including storing any materials thereon.
16. Unlawful camping
    No person shall engage in camping, or erect or maintain a tent, shelter, or camp in any park without a permit.
17. Unlawful spitting
    It shall be unlawful for any person to spit or expectorate in or upon any park building, monument or structure.
18. Unhygienic use of fountains, pools, and water
    No person shall use, or permit any animal under his or her control to use, any fountain, drinking fountain, pool, sprinklers, reservoir, lake or any other water contained in the park for the purpose of washing or cleaning himself or herself, his or her clothing or other personal belongings. This subdivision shall not apply to those areas within the parks which are specifically designated for personal hygiene purposes (i.e., bathroom, shower room, etc.), provided, however, that no person shall wash his or her clothes or personal belongings in such areas.
19. Unlawful solicitation
    1. No person shall engage in any commercial activity or commercial speech in any park, except pursuant to a permit issued under § 1-03(b) and/or § 2-08 of these rules. Violation of this paragraph constitutes a misdemeanor.
    2. No person shall solicit money or other property from persons not known to such person in any park, unless such person possesses a permit for noncommercial solicitation issued by the Commissioner.

A decades-long fight to reopen a park house, once a thriving community center in a working-class neighborhood, has taken on new urgency during the pandemic.

By Winnie Hu

The neighborhood speaks:

“It gets neglected,” said Alysha Lewis, a former chairwoman of the local community board. “The parks department really treats it like it’s a stepchild.”

Sandra Dupal, who owns a bakery, offered in 2017 to pay for a kiosk to sell sandwiches and snacks so that more people could enjoy the park. She never got an answer from park officials. “The park has untapped potential,” she said.

Reynaldo Belen, 20, who recently graduated from a high school across from the park, said it should be used to bring people together. “That could kind of stop some of the violence in the area,”

Spotted lanternfly adult (Lycorma delicatula) next to a standard 12-inch ruler

Spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula–SLF) is an invasive planthopper, first discovered in New York City in July 2020. While it can infest trees, it is not considered a widespread threat to our city’s forests. However, it is a significant threat to a wide range of agricultural crops including walnut, grapes, hops, apples, blueberries, and stone fruits. The Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) is its preferred host tree and is required for its reproduction. SLF has the potential of damaging natural areas and becoming a nuisance in landscapes.

What does a spotted lanternfly infestation look like?

The spotted lanternfly does not typically kill trees, it infests. Although it can weaken a tree’s natural defenses (making it vulnerable to other pests and diseases), spotted lanternflies are mostly a threat to agricultural crops.

What is NYC Parks Doing About Spotted Lanternflies?

• Caring for infested trees will follow Parks’ Tree Risk Management program — pruning and removing trees as they pose a risk to the public.
• Parks is participating in an interagency work group with federal, state, and local agencies to coordinate surveying and treatment approaches.
• Parks is not currently considering widespread treatment due to uncertainty of the success of chemical treatments and the prohibitive cost; however, we may treat limited high-value trees at risk of infection if it is deemed necessary.

How You Can Help

• Harming our city’s wildlife is prohibited, but in an effort to slow the spread of this troublesome species, we are putting out a one-time call: if you see a spotted lanternfly, please squish and dispose of this invasive pest.
• You can help prevent the spread of spotted lanternflies by refraining from moving firewood, outdoor furniture, and other outdoor items that may contain SLF egg masses.