Jackson Heights Life

Maybe I missed this on Facebook but where will the meeting be held?

 Can we name part of the park for Miguel Torres from IS145, another middle schooler from Jackson Heights, who
was tragically taken from us crossing Northern Blvd in March? The other play area in the schools yard would seem
like a good candidate. Both of these boys are really missed.

  This date is very problematic with anyone who has a 8th grade student (maybe from IS145) who is taking the
once yearly Specialized High School entrance exam. It's very stressful for families and might be too much to do
in one day. Or the many teachers and administrators that work overtime this day.
   Any flexibility for this date? Some students in this neighborhood study for years for this one test...

Today was the first visioning session and, although I did not count, I think there were about one hundred people present.

Each person was given a paper with three questions. What are the top three things you'd like to see; your top concerns; and your hopes for what the park can be for future generations.

People were sitting at tables in the school's cafeteria. Each table became a group and had an easel board. Each group's ideas was consolidated on the board and presented to everyone else at the end.

Most people, maybe all, agreed that the park needs "more green space."

There were many interesting suggestions, like building a bridge or elevated area, that could create an area protected from the elements below, and increase the park space above. Other interesting suggestions included area for performance, artificial hills (that could serve for sledding in the winter and sun bathing in the summer), an astro turf soccer field, and a walking path all around.

There will be other envisioning sessions, but no date has been announced yet. It will probably be at evening time. There is a budget of $5 million to remake the park. There is no date for construction to start, but an official present said that they plan to finish the design next year.

Just in from the Department of Parks' (and JH's friend) JoAnne Amagrande.
Hot off the press, we will be holding the next visioning session for Travers on Tuesday, March 18th, from 6:00 to 8:00pm at the Garden School. Danny Dromm’s office will be working to get the word out. Tx JoAnne

Yessika A. Giraldo
Deputy Chief of Staff
NYC Council Member Daniel Dromm, 25th District
Community Office:
37-32 75th Street, Jackson Heights, NY 11372
Phone: (718) 803-6373 x 205 | Fax: (718) 803-9832
http://council.nyc.gov/d25/html/members/home.shtml

 These events are really great for seeing who cares about the park. I would like to point out though that there
could be a lot more involvement of those who actually use the park and a presence of youth in these meetings.
 Also, more disclosure about what is off the table- like no work on the area that includes the kids
playgrounds (were recently renovated 2x) or the handball/full sloping basketball courts. Also no new comfort
stations, possibly renovations but not with any certainty. And what about relative prices for certain improvements compared to funds available. If a plan such as seating and greenery on 78th street eats all of the budget, is
this the single thing that the community wants the most?
  Something really odd was the little scale models that were supposed to give an idea of placement. Clearly no
soccer fans in who made these as the huge size of the field made people toss this idea instantly. Am not sure
this is so smart as one of our Jackson Heights playgrounds that is, in my opinion, really works and well-loved
by the community IS a soccer field between Northern and 34th Ave. behind the elementary school on 89th?
and with a great amount of seating on the Northern side. Is it regulation size? But it works and I think soccer
was discarded way too quickly as an option because of the models
  Also safety and maintenance issues were really glossed over. Why? Enclosing the park creates a number of
safety hazards but I would think the surrounding residents would be scared of having a deeply enclosed area
that would potentially attract problems at night. Were residents of the New Salem apts who will be majorly
affected consulted here? They should have a big say. Officers were there in the back for awhile and their
input would've been nice as I know that they drive right through the playground occasionally to make their
presence known.
 I know that there is one more spring summer session planned and if some Google data could be used on
who uses the park for what and when, we could do a more accurate job of planning real use activity. The
running track for example at IS230 is barely used. It's skateboard heaven (wonderful) most of the time but
another track seems redundant. Hope somewhere between the renovation behind PS69 that Councilman
Dromm mentioned and the park behind the school on 89th?st are close to what we ultimately get as they
both work in our heavily trafficked parks in our lovely neighborhood with lots of private, beautiful gardens.