‘Benepe’s Backhoes’

I had to chuckle when I read New York City Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe’s pronouncements that the artificial turf at Cadman Plaza, in Brooklyn, was “designed in consultation with the community” and “approved by the Community Board and the Art Commission” [“Benepe’s Backhoes,” Letters, May 8, 2006].

As one who has been actively opposed to the Parks Department’s radical redesign of Washington Square Park, I am well aware of their tactics.

In the face of massive opposition, our Community Board (CB2, Manhattan) also “approved” Parks’ plans, not once but twice. The first approval occurred only weeks after the redesign was presented to the community. This design, by the way, was completely devised by Parks without any community input. Then, six months later, they approved it again when a new CB2 Parks Committee resolution, hard fought for and supported by the community, was quashed in a famous “bait and switch” at the full board meeting.

As for Art Commission approval, we have the support of the Fine Arts Federation of New York, which also opposes Parks’ scheme to move the fountain 22 feet east to align with the arch – a frivolous, expensive, anti-historical, unnecessary and unwanted feature of the redesign. Seven of the 11 art commissioners are appointed by the Fine Arts Federation, and yet – at a hearing in January overflowing with opponents to the redesign and with support from most of our elected officials (Thomas Duane, Deborah Glick, Alan Gerson, Scott Stringer, and more) – the Art Commission still voted unanimously to move the fountain.

I suspect that the Community Board and Art Commission approvals for AstroTurf in Cadman Plaza had a very similar scenario to the one we are experiencing with Washington Square Park.

Fortunately, our fight, approvals or not, is still alive. Our new Borough President, Mr. Stringer, has listened to us and already made some significant changes to the character of our community board. Also, we have several lawsuits in the works, including one calling for a new Art Commission hearing. Oral arguments in that case will be heard on May 18, 2006 (60 Centre St., Courtroom 422, 3:30 p.m) and are open to the public.

The Parks Department, in the tradition of Robert Moses, has been acting as a unilateral force and totally ignoring the wishes of the people. But Greenwich Village residents, in the tradition of Jane Jacobs, will do everything we can to not let them get away with it.

GLORIA SYLVESTRO
Manhattan