When Morningside Park Looks Like the Town Dump

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

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Morningside Park is a great park. It was long ago that it was known as “Muggerside” Park. That has changed. Now there are egg hunts at Easter, pony rides during the summer and even two lit Christmas trees during the holidays. More and more families use the park, as do dog-walkers.

Yes, the park still has its pockets of drug use, prostitution, and areas where the homeless store their daily haul of broken goodies, but as long as one stays on the lower path in this two level park, things look fine.

That is, until some holiday weekends in the summer. The park be comes a madhouse. The Parks Department spokesman, Warner Johnston proudly points out many good rules and ideas that are in place, such as “greeters,” who hand out garbage bags and designated BBQ areas with red garbage cans for the used coal. But in reality, all rules and regulations are completely ignored, directly under the eyes of park rangers and the NYPD.

Why? Why does Morningside Park the morning after the Fourth of July cook-outs look like a pig sty? Why does the woman who set up a spot for her family barbecue in the middle of a recently planted garden refuse to move when repeatedly approached by a park employee? Why can people not put garbage into garbage cans? Is it a “class thing,” as one park employee said? Is it a lack of education, or a lack of law enforcement? The rules and great ideas for everyone to enjoy the park are in place, why are they not being enforced properly?

It is great to see that so many local residents use the park, and that New York City allows for barbecuing in some areas. But why do children get chased away in Central Park when they play soccer outside “designated areas,” but absolutely nothing is done to stop people from abusing Morningside Park? Unfinished dinners, empty beer and hard liquor bottles, and enough Styrofoam plates to serve the whole of New York are everywhere except in the provided garbage cans. Nothing gives the impression that civilized people were celebrating, enjoying, and respecting the park.

The sad thing is that police officers seem afraid to act. For the past six years we talked to the 26th precinct, which is responsible for Morningside Park, and for the past six years we have gotten the same answers: “How long have you been living in Harlem?” As if to suggest that a person who lived in Harlem for just a short time has no right to certain quality of life complaints? The best excuse I ever received was from a police officer at the 26th precinct who said, “We will not write any tickets, because we are afraid of a riot.”

Now that Harlem is slowly changing, wouldn’t it be time for the police also to slowly implement the law the same way it is being done in the rest of the city? Why is it that in Harlem a few hundred residents can leave more garbage behind than 20,000 music fans after a concert in Central Park?

And why is it being accepted? Why does Al Sharpton not with one of his energetic speeches complain about the disrespect of the park by its own community? Wouldn’t a clean park be good for everyone?

Shouldn’t park employees concentrate on maintaining the park instead of cleaning up a mess?

Harlem is changing, and while block associations are being formed and flower plantings are organized, the park gets treated like a garbage dump. It just costs the taxpayers extra money to clean up afterward.

I love Harlem and my neighbors. I hope that through education from the Parks Department and from our community leaders everyone will come to understand the benefits of a clean park. In addition, I hope that the NYPD will also take a more active role in enforcing quality of life issues in our community.

Sitting back and accepting these conditions as “well, that is Harlem” is the wrong approach. Harlem deserves better.

Mr. Egnath is the pen name of a Harlem resident.


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