The sports that are currently played most days of the year in the area that would now be the grassy hill are volleyball,
cricket and soccer, none of which I believe are using regulation size courts. There was a choice to give tennis and baseball
their regulation courts. This disperses an evening crowd of JH's looking for recreation and athletics to where exactly?
Every other local area is full to capacity too. The smaller soccer field in the 90's is always packed. If you Google mapped
the activities in the park for a length of time to analyze use, I believe the numbers would skew towards excessive use
of the asphalted areas. IMHO a better way would be to take the fences down of course but put in lot's of green planting
of the shrub, small trees and perennial types which have gone a long way in the also busy parks of Manhattan to create
green space. Try walking around the park anytime after 5:00 and see what is being used and by whom. I feel certain
the planners did not do this.
We need to be realistic and I think, progressive, about what this community is and installing a big green hill is questionable
in this time of climate change from an environmental perspective. Most areas are moving away from the green lawn-
even golf is looking for alternatives- and given the acute need for recreation and our limited budget is this the best choice?
I believe there should be a time factor imposed on the lawn if it becomes a reality. So that if it ends up being mostly mud
and taking a disproportionate amount of the park maintainence budget, there is a plan B. Or establish a conservancy
like the big parks have that make the staffing of the lawns a reality?