Thursday, May 15, 2008
Union Square Park – restaurant stopped
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
On April 17 this column bid a fond farewell to the Union Square Greenmarket, as we knew and loved it, in view of its displacement to the periphery of the Park. We also noted that the Union Square Community Council might soon take the matter of the conversion of the Pavilion into a restaurant to court, along with the other desecrations of the landmarked North Plaza and its adjacent areas.
It so happened, a week or so later, that, with the aid of a “green-minded” lawyer, the USCC, Carol Greitzer, a the former local city council person and others, spearheaded by the New York Parks Association, presided by Geoffrey Croft, sued the Parks Department and Union Square Partnership to cease renovation operations. A temporary injunction was granted by Judge John E. H. Stackhouse of the NYS Supreme Court, prohibiting the city to engage in any physical destruction, site preparation and/or construction pertaining to the renovation... Alas, it was too late for stopping the destruction of the North End pavement and its colorful painted maze, it had begun, as though the injunction had been expected, and a backhoe had already dug up the east part of the North Plaza, fenced in with heavy 8-ft cyclone wire, with only a walking path left in the center. Thus, Union Square greeted the sunny May Day, its customary day of celebration of 1st Amendment rights, with no lectern and no place for the population to gather.
On Wednesday, May 7, Supreme Court Justice Jane Solomon reached a truly Solomonic “split the baby” verdict (reported only in Metro and minor media, NYTimes where were you?), declaring that the restaurant planned for the Pavilion is inappropriate, but the balance of the playground, North End and adjacent restoration may go on. This leaves the parties of the lawsuit in a quandary, as of this, my deadline date. The $21M restoration product would have been the 120-seat seasonal restaurant, a bathroom and some other facilities in the Pavilion, a tree shaded Plaza, partly funded by a $5M anonymous donation (suspected as coming from the public-minded restaurateurs and Union Square Partnership co-chairman Danny Meyers, who has subsequently sworn an affidavit certifying that it is not his gift) and a highly desirable improved though tri-sected children’s playground, the latter funded by a $2.2M City Council grant. Barry Benepe of the USCC, the funding father of the Greenmarket system, has been heard to forecast that the US renewal project rests on all of the above legs, and pulling out the restaurant, no matter how distasteful that feature was to him and the other preservationists may endanger the beneficial parts of the project, such as the playgrounds renewal. Let us hope that it does not happen.
Meanwhile, the USP /Parks Department people have been reported to say that the restaurant project was not cast in stone, and they will reconsider (which may include appealing the NYSSC verdict). USCC people speak of pursuing their rights under the doctrine of parkland alienation, which may not permit certain significant changes in parks without approval of the NYS legislature. Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe, a parks-pay-for-themselves restoration advocate (this classic father and son clash sadly highlights the profundity of the confrontation of generations and cultures) has further identified the need to trim out some 14 trees on the North Plaza/ Pavilion periphery, as dead or dying. It is reported that this part of the project - already named Treegate by some quick minds - will be stopped, at least partially. Only two of the five Siberian elms will be removed. Meanwhile Team Bloomberg is looking forward to successful completion of the full renovation. Given their rate of success, that alone should scare the proponents of the project.
Walking through the Greenmarket on Saturday, May 10, was an encouraging experience. The Greenmarket is still there, mostly along Union Square West, and so were the crowds. The mild weather had brought out good-natured neighbors in thousands, smiling, sneezing and coughing. I would certainly wash all the produce after purchase, and one’s hands. The cut flower and plant vendors were everywhere, and the soft aroma of lilacs permeated the area. The rarely seen Lilies of the Valley were offered by two vendors, just in time for our Mothers’ Day bouquets, one each at the south end and the less noticeable eastern path of the park, where t-shirt and art goods sellers are more interspersed with the market.
Later in mid-day, about 40 lithe-bodied young women and men had brought their mats to the South Plaza, and did their Hatha Yoga excursuses in unison, under the guidance of an instructor whose hand-printed t-shirt proclaimed the event to be free, while his photographer assistant guarded a pile of the participants’ back-packs and street clothes. These smiling kids could hold the rocking bear figure for minutes, while the instructor corrected some individual kinks. The sight was certainly more impressive as those of stone-faced Chinese masses doing regimented exercises in Beijing parks.
..
On April 17 this column bid a fond farewell to the Union Square Greenmarket, as we knew and loved it, in view of its displacement to the periphery of the Park. We also noted that the Union Square Community Council might soon take the matter of the conversion of the Pavilion into a restaurant to court, along with the other desecrations of the landmarked North Plaza and its adjacent areas.
It so happened, a week or so later, that, with the aid of a “green-minded” lawyer, the USCC, Carol Greitzer, a the former local city council person and others, spearheaded by the New York Parks Association, presided by Geoffrey Croft, sued the Parks Department and Union Square Partnership to cease renovation operations. A temporary injunction was granted by Judge John E. H. Stackhouse of the NYS Supreme Court, prohibiting the city to engage in any physical destruction, site preparation and/or construction pertaining to the renovation... Alas, it was too late for stopping the destruction of the North End pavement and its colorful painted maze, it had begun, as though the injunction had been expected, and a backhoe had already dug up the east part of the North Plaza, fenced in with heavy 8-ft cyclone wire, with only a walking path left in the center. Thus, Union Square greeted the sunny May Day, its customary day of celebration of 1st Amendment rights, with no lectern and no place for the population to gather.
On Wednesday, May 7, Supreme Court Justice Jane Solomon reached a truly Solomonic “split the baby” verdict (reported only in Metro and minor media, NYTimes where were you?), declaring that the restaurant planned for the Pavilion is inappropriate, but the balance of the playground, North End and adjacent restoration may go on. This leaves the parties of the lawsuit in a quandary, as of this, my deadline date. The $21M restoration product would have been the 120-seat seasonal restaurant, a bathroom and some other facilities in the Pavilion, a tree shaded Plaza, partly funded by a $5M anonymous donation (suspected as coming from the public-minded restaurateurs and Union Square Partnership co-chairman Danny Meyers, who has subsequently sworn an affidavit certifying that it is not his gift) and a highly desirable improved though tri-sected children’s playground, the latter funded by a $2.2M City Council grant. Barry Benepe of the USCC, the funding father of the Greenmarket system, has been heard to forecast that the US renewal project rests on all of the above legs, and pulling out the restaurant, no matter how distasteful that feature was to him and the other preservationists may endanger the beneficial parts of the project, such as the playgrounds renewal. Let us hope that it does not happen.
Meanwhile, the USP /Parks Department people have been reported to say that the restaurant project was not cast in stone, and they will reconsider (which may include appealing the NYSSC verdict). USCC people speak of pursuing their rights under the doctrine of parkland alienation, which may not permit certain significant changes in parks without approval of the NYS legislature. Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe, a parks-pay-for-themselves restoration advocate (this classic father and son clash sadly highlights the profundity of the confrontation of generations and cultures) has further identified the need to trim out some 14 trees on the North Plaza/ Pavilion periphery, as dead or dying. It is reported that this part of the project - already named Treegate by some quick minds - will be stopped, at least partially. Only two of the five Siberian elms will be removed. Meanwhile Team Bloomberg is looking forward to successful completion of the full renovation. Given their rate of success, that alone should scare the proponents of the project.
Walking through the Greenmarket on Saturday, May 10, was an encouraging experience. The Greenmarket is still there, mostly along Union Square West, and so were the crowds. The mild weather had brought out good-natured neighbors in thousands, smiling, sneezing and coughing. I would certainly wash all the produce after purchase, and one’s hands. The cut flower and plant vendors were everywhere, and the soft aroma of lilacs permeated the area. The rarely seen Lilies of the Valley were offered by two vendors, just in time for our Mothers’ Day bouquets, one each at the south end and the less noticeable eastern path of the park, where t-shirt and art goods sellers are more interspersed with the market.
Later in mid-day, about 40 lithe-bodied young women and men had brought their mats to the South Plaza, and did their Hatha Yoga excursuses in unison, under the guidance of an instructor whose hand-printed t-shirt proclaimed the event to be free, while his photographer assistant guarded a pile of the participants’ back-packs and street clothes. These smiling kids could hold the rocking bear figure for minutes, while the instructor corrected some individual kinks. The sight was certainly more impressive as those of stone-faced Chinese masses doing regimented exercises in Beijing parks.
..
# posted by Wally Dobelis @ 8:53 AM 
