Harvest Festival Postponed...

POSTPONED until OCT 24th!

I just wanted to mention that the Harvest Festival in Bennett Park which was scheduled for last weekend was moved to this Saturday, the 24th. Hopefully the weather will cooperate this time or they'll end up having it on Halloween! Bummer that I'll be out of town, we trekked over last Saturday with my mouth watering for pie and man was that a disappointment.

Around the hood

Big weekend ahead for Hudson Heights! In case you missed the flyers plastered all over town:

mmmm I remember the gorgeous looking pies sitting out there teasing me last year but we were there too early and the pies hadn't been judged yet so I couldn't have a slice... so sad. It makes my mouth water just thinking about it. Anyway, its a great, fun-filled day for those with kids and those of us without. Head over to Bennett Park (Ft Washington between 183rd and 185th Sts) between 1-4pm to join the fun.

Change is in the air for Bennett Park

A design plan has been made for Bennett Park Capital Reconstruction that I think sounds great! The fact that the lawn and rocks are fenced off merely makes them more appealing to the kids and many of the improvements mentioned will make it a more community friendly place to hang out. This is from the parent and me yahoo group:

About six weeks ago I wrote to this list about the scoping meeting for Bennett Park. The designer has since come up with a draft plan. It won't be possible to do everything needed within the budget currently allocated, so the first phase includes the following:

- paving over the asphalt on the south end with a soft poured surface, so that it's conducive to ball play and bike riding. The outline of the original fort will be re-emphasized. This would also be the area where performances could be held.

- reformatting the lawn so that the big rocks become a natural play feature, and are not fenced off.

- installing a small sprinker in the area behind the field house

- inclusion of a dog pit (not a dog run) in the southwest corner. (Parks is open to discussion of a dog run, but would need an organized dog assn that would be willing to maintain it *and* do the leg work to get buy-in from the surrounding buildings. So far no such group exists.)

The plans for this phase will be presented at the CB12 parks meeting on Tuesday.

Future plans call for re-doing the field house so that there's storage for things like Harvest Fest supplies, and locating it where it will provide bathroom access for seniors *and* improve sight lines within the playground. The playground area will be enlarged, and the hope is to get funding to have unique play euqipment installed (preferably with a fort theme, in keeping with the historic nature of the park).

For those who have a keen interest in how this all unfolds, perhaps it is time to revive Friends of Bennett Park. The equipment at Bennett is in relatively good shape, so that's not going to be the #1 priority for Parks (nor should it be, given the sad shape of some other parks). However, if we want to keep this *a* priority and moving along in the capital queue, we'll need to advocate for it. I've done Friends groups before, so if there are folks who want to work on this, email me. I'd be glad to facilitate an initial meeting, and introduce you to the people you need to know.

Julia

ajattaway@...


Does anyone know what a dog pit is? If so, please enlighten me! (I have cats.... we don't play in parks... and here's why: Cat Run )

Have a great Labor Day weekend!

Bennett Park Facilities

A month or two ago I stopped in Bennett Park (located between 183rd and 185th streets along Fort Washington Ave) for a quick drink while out for a run and I was disappointed to find that the water fountains were off. It was especially surprising because it was during one of the really warm days last month and the park was full of kids. I thought "hmm they must be doing some work or something" and it slipped my mind until I made another stop yesterday and found that they were STILL off. Not only are the fountains in this busy park off, but I noticed a sign that the bathrooms have been closed since November! The sign (see the picture below) mentions that kids are using the park as their bathroom instead (oh parents, why?) which is of course unacceptable and unsanitary. The sign on the bathroom door mentions something about maintenance, but offers no end point or contact person. I didn't take a picture because its creepy when an adult enters a playground with a camera and no child of her own. :0)

Anyhow, I noticed that there were port-o-potties placed on the other side of the park and snapped a picture from across the sidewalk, but didn't dare get any closer because of the stench and the flies. Wow, this is a serious problem.

The parks dept last inspection was April 30th and it was deemed "Acceptable" but nowhere is there mention of the lack of facilities, fountains and handwashing sinks!

If you live and play in the area, please call 311 and report this issue ASAP. I submitted a

complaint to the parks commissioner and 311 and will keep on this! Til then... pack some water and plan on a trip to Starbucks to pee if you don't live close enough to run home.

yuck.