Thursday, March 02, 2006
Once more, Stuyvesant Park residents reject the proposed food kiosk
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
Four times since 2000 the NYC Parks and Recreation Dept. has attempted to convert the bathroom structure in the Stuyvesant Square Park East to an outdoors café. The last request for a Proposal or Renovation, from David Langlieb of the Revenue Division of the NYCDP&R, was referred by the Parks & Landmarks Committee of Community Board #6 to the full Board, with a recommendation to deny, as being against the regulations and the local residents’ wishes. This recommendation was unanimously backed by the Board, which does not mean that the Parks Department will not invite potential concessionaires to bid.
The park is landmarked, being part of the Stuyvesant Square Historic District, meaning that any modifications need approval of the Landmarks Preservation Commission. The Department has not sought such approval, although in 2004, their third effort, at least they acknowledged the regulations, and specified, in a revised RFP, that the accepted vendor will have to seek approval for building and landscape modifications from the Arts Commission and the LPC.The Stuyvesant Park community has for years tried to stem any encroachments on this relic of old New York, an 1836 gift to the neighborhood by Petrus Gerardus Stuyvesant, great-great grandson of the peg-legged Governor General. Even then, it took NYS Governor Hamilton Fish, a Stuyvesant in-law, until 1848 to persuade the city to allocate funds for fencing in and maintaining this green refuge for local inhabitants, displacing the pigs and squatters who had taken possession of the neglected property.The Stuyvesant Park Neighborhood Association (SPNA), established in the 1970s for the purpose of protecting and maintaining its heritage, had been active, along with other concerned citizens and NYC officials, in securing ISTEA (Intermodal surface Transportation Efficiency Act, pronounced as ice tea) funds for recasting of the West Park’s half of its unique free-standing fences, starting in 1989. The name of Rex Wassermann, a landscape architect of the Parks and Recreation Department who put a huge personal effort into the renovation, is remembered and revered by the local activists. The East Park’s fence, alas, still needs funding, although partial funds are held for it by the Borough President’s office. Two million dollars plus will be needed, due to inflation. If you care, have ideas, and/or access to the moneyed classes, join in. SPNA membership; dues are low, inquire at POBox 1320, Cooper Station, 10276.SPNA does raise several thousand dollars every year for maintenance of the park and its gardens, to support the meager Department of Parks funds, and to aid other neighborhood activist institutions around the park. It has also paid some $50,000 into an endowment fund to maintain the statue of its famous inhabitant, Antonin Dvorak. The monies were raised jointly with the Dvorak American Heritage Association. The composer lived at 327 East 17th Street (now the Beth Israel’s Maplethorpe facility), while working at the National Conservatory of Music (now the site of Washington Irving High School) in 1892-95. The New World Symphony was composed here. Go look at the Dvorak statue, by Ivan Mestrovic, our neighborhood’s pride, equivalent to a Rodin or Picasso - and don’t forget the Stuyvesant statue by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1936) looking southwards to check out his estates, from the West Park.The Stuyvesant Square activists feel that the Parks Department is once more encroaching, with inappropriate changes, to alter a historic landmark. It is an effort of commercialization, in direct contravention of the restrictive deed given to the city by the Stuyvesant family, specifying that this should be a “sitting park.” “ Passive” and “contemplative” are some of the terms used in discoursing the park’s purposes. There have been earlier attempts to convert and commercialize the park that have been successfully defeated in court. In 1936 Commissioner Robert Moses installed a children’s playground facility, the noise of which disturbed the neighborhood, particularly the sick in the hospitals. It was defeated, and the playground had to vacate. In anger Moses paved over the East Park area with cobblestones, dubbed “Moses’s revenge” by some of the local history fans.The support for the residents’ protest comes from various sources. There have been, over the years, letters from the Historic Districts Council, Community Board Six, State Senator Thomas K. Duane, ex-State Assemblyman Steven Sanders and City Councilwoman Margarita Lopez, and former Borough President C. Virginia Fields. This is not just political reach-out for the constituents; a lot of people feel that a peaceful undisturbed oasis in the big city should be left alone. Wally Dobelis thanks Jack Taylor of the SPNA.
Four times since 2000 the NYC Parks and Recreation Dept. has attempted to convert the bathroom structure in the Stuyvesant Square Park East to an outdoors café. The last request for a Proposal or Renovation, from David Langlieb of the Revenue Division of the NYCDP&R, was referred by the Parks & Landmarks Committee of Community Board #6 to the full Board, with a recommendation to deny, as being against the regulations and the local residents’ wishes. This recommendation was unanimously backed by the Board, which does not mean that the Parks Department will not invite potential concessionaires to bid.
The park is landmarked, being part of the Stuyvesant Square Historic District, meaning that any modifications need approval of the Landmarks Preservation Commission. The Department has not sought such approval, although in 2004, their third effort, at least they acknowledged the regulations, and specified, in a revised RFP, that the accepted vendor will have to seek approval for building and landscape modifications from the Arts Commission and the LPC.The Stuyvesant Park community has for years tried to stem any encroachments on this relic of old New York, an 1836 gift to the neighborhood by Petrus Gerardus Stuyvesant, great-great grandson of the peg-legged Governor General. Even then, it took NYS Governor Hamilton Fish, a Stuyvesant in-law, until 1848 to persuade the city to allocate funds for fencing in and maintaining this green refuge for local inhabitants, displacing the pigs and squatters who had taken possession of the neglected property.The Stuyvesant Park Neighborhood Association (SPNA), established in the 1970s for the purpose of protecting and maintaining its heritage, had been active, along with other concerned citizens and NYC officials, in securing ISTEA (Intermodal surface Transportation Efficiency Act, pronounced as ice tea) funds for recasting of the West Park’s half of its unique free-standing fences, starting in 1989. The name of Rex Wassermann, a landscape architect of the Parks and Recreation Department who put a huge personal effort into the renovation, is remembered and revered by the local activists. The East Park’s fence, alas, still needs funding, although partial funds are held for it by the Borough President’s office. Two million dollars plus will be needed, due to inflation. If you care, have ideas, and/or access to the moneyed classes, join in. SPNA membership; dues are low, inquire at POBox 1320, Cooper Station, 10276.SPNA does raise several thousand dollars every year for maintenance of the park and its gardens, to support the meager Department of Parks funds, and to aid other neighborhood activist institutions around the park. It has also paid some $50,000 into an endowment fund to maintain the statue of its famous inhabitant, Antonin Dvorak. The monies were raised jointly with the Dvorak American Heritage Association. The composer lived at 327 East 17th Street (now the Beth Israel’s Maplethorpe facility), while working at the National Conservatory of Music (now the site of Washington Irving High School) in 1892-95. The New World Symphony was composed here. Go look at the Dvorak statue, by Ivan Mestrovic, our neighborhood’s pride, equivalent to a Rodin or Picasso - and don’t forget the Stuyvesant statue by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1936) looking southwards to check out his estates, from the West Park.The Stuyvesant Square activists feel that the Parks Department is once more encroaching, with inappropriate changes, to alter a historic landmark. It is an effort of commercialization, in direct contravention of the restrictive deed given to the city by the Stuyvesant family, specifying that this should be a “sitting park.” “ Passive” and “contemplative” are some of the terms used in discoursing the park’s purposes. There have been earlier attempts to convert and commercialize the park that have been successfully defeated in court. In 1936 Commissioner Robert Moses installed a children’s playground facility, the noise of which disturbed the neighborhood, particularly the sick in the hospitals. It was defeated, and the playground had to vacate. In anger Moses paved over the East Park area with cobblestones, dubbed “Moses’s revenge” by some of the local history fans.The support for the residents’ protest comes from various sources. There have been, over the years, letters from the Historic Districts Council, Community Board Six, State Senator Thomas K. Duane, ex-State Assemblyman Steven Sanders and City Councilwoman Margarita Lopez, and former Borough President C. Virginia Fields. This is not just political reach-out for the constituents; a lot of people feel that a peaceful undisturbed oasis in the big city should be left alone. Wally Dobelis thanks Jack Taylor of the SPNA.
# posted by Wally Dobelis @ 5:50 PM 
