Armed with gardening tools and gloves, residents of all ages braved the cold to plant the seeds of Spring. Bruce Brodoff, Assistant Vice President of Marketing and Communications for the Alliance said that the event was, an opportunity to offer an environmentally friendly, fun and recreational activity for residents.
“Lower Manhattan’s residential community has tripled since September 11,” he said. “It used to be an all business community, but now with so many more people living here, we have a real opportunity to introduce residents to Lower Manhattan.”

According to the Department of Parks and Recreation website, “Bowling Green is New York City’s oldest park. According to tradition, this spot served as the council ground for Native American tribes and was the site of the legendary sale of Manhattan to Peter Minuit in 1626. The Dutch called the area “the Plain” and used it for several purposes. It was the beginning of Heere Staat (High Street, now Broadway)—a trade route which extended north through Manhattan and the Bronx. It was also the site of a parade ground, meeting place, and cattle market. In 1686 the site became public property, when the City Charter put all “waste, vacant, unpatented and unappropriated lands” under municipal domain.”

Bowling Green was first designated as a park in 1733. That was more than 200 years ago. Today, it’s still a communal space in the heart of the financial district which suffered tremendous losses after 911, but local area residents continue to see value in maintaining their community and in preserving the park.

In their first victory, parents of Jackson Heights Green organized the 78th Street Play Street

The owners of the parcel, which is occupied by a Toyota dealership, are unwilling to sell to make way for a larger park. JH Green estimates that the land is worth about $4 million, said Ed Westley, a member who met with local politicians.   State Senator Hiram Monserrate has pledged $2 million, Westley said, and Councilwoman Helen Sears may commit funds if the group is successful.

Barbed wire separates Travers Park from a Toyota dealership. Parents have targeted the dealership for eminent domain.

In the meantime, the city is planning to convert a nearby schoolyard into a playground, part of May Bloomberg’s planNYC. This should also relieve some of the tension in this park-deprived community.

Jackson Heights, Queens, ranks second to last among New York City neighborhoods for the number of parks per resident.  It has recently seen an influx of young families, creating tension on the neighborhood’s one public park.

Dudley Stewart and a group of his young neighbors took action. They organized and won enough seats on their co-op board to change the rules.

It was fall when Dudley and Laura Stewart moved to Jackson Heights. Spike, their three-year-old son, could bounce around the jungle gym at the local public park. They lived in one of these historic co-ops with a beautiful central garden. Rent was much less than what the young couple had paid in Manhattan. The Stewarts had found a great spot.

After winter rolled around the neighborhood kids emerged with the spring thaw. Travers Park became so crowded that Dudley couldn’t keep track of Spike. He figured out why his community ranks second to last (pdf) in New York City for the number of parks per resident. “It was almost to the point of danger,” Stewart said.

Danger at the public park and pressure to use the private gardens was not always a problem. When Edward MacDougall originally developed Jackson Heights, beginning in the early 1920s, there was plenty of open space. The ends of blocks were covered with grass. Fields and farmlands abounded.

“Then after World War II the original developer died and his children basically sold off the land,” said Daniel Karatzas, author of “Jackson Heights – A Garden in the City.” “By 1954 or thereabouts the whole neighborhood had been covered over with the exception of one block for Travers Park.”

Today, children play in the park as the private gardens sit serenely.

Some older residents fear that their tranquil gardens, which they have tended over many years, will be ruined. Many have lived in Jackson Heights since the 1960s, or even before. They watched the neighborhood decline in the 1970s and 1980s, when the cocaine trade flooded nearby Roosevelt Avenue. Their lawns leached into mud patches. Everything was in disrepair. Then, a few residents decided to clean up the gardens and formed committees. With their dedication and the assistance of professionals, they nursed their private parks back to life. Today, they see the results of their dedication threatened by little feet and plastic shovels.

Prior to 1997, the Brownsville Recreation Center was plagued by violence. However, after the arrival of Greg “Jocko” Jackson, former NBA player and Brownsville, Brooklyn native, the rec center became a safe haven in the community.

Fauzia Rahman, a local food vendor, makes some of the best jerk chicken I have ever tasted. She cooks it on the spot at her food cart on the corner of Sheridan Avenue and 161st in the Bronx where she’s been stationed since 1996. Fauzia told me today that a few years ago she was bullied by police to move her cart further away from the old Yankee Stadium. She kept asking them why. To which the cops supplied no answer. Well I have come to the conclusion this happened because her cooking skills outmatch the over priced hotdogs and pretzels sold a few blocks away. Like so many other people I have spoken to over the past couple weeks she resented the fact that the new Yankee Stadium has taken away much needed park land. Built right on top of Macomb’s Dam Park, the new stadium has taken the place of tennis courts and a running track.

As I was walking back towards the subway I happened to over hear a converstation between three high school students. My ears perked when I heard, “Man I hate the Yankees.” Then the other girl replied, “Yeah now we can’t play tennis.” Hmmmm……. this sounds spicy. I didn’t want to appear like a nosy pervert leering over them, so I said,”Hi I’m a writer, tell me why do you hate the Yankees so much?” The girls had just gotten out of school and their social studies teacher, Mr. Murphy, had them thinking. “Well our tax payer money is going into building the stadium, but it takes it out of education.” I apologize for my poor reporting kids, I will verify this, but I heard this info today, I’m on a roll, and the blog is due tomorrow. What I do know is that YES the Yankees association has dipped into public funds to roll ahead with construction. Antoinette (a.k.a Candace), Jennifer and Shadyea, said that today they had to leave their textbooks at South Bronx Prep school because there aren’t enough to go around. It’s pretty amazing that there isn’t enough money to fund the purchase of more textbooks for local schools and yet there was more than enough to construct a whole new ball park. I also found this following article written by Juan Gonzalez of the NY Daily News particularly interesting. He goes on to explain that in 2007 the city assesed that the land under the new Yankee Stadium was valued at 10 times the market value of the adjacent land in this South Bronx neighborhood. The article reveals the disparities between land values of the old stadium and the new, even though they’re only a few blocks apart.

Now that the stadium is due to open in April of next year, the Yankees association better take the time to give back to the community that has hosted their team for the past century.

Here’s Babe Ruth’s 60th home run and Queen.