This is the story of a new turf field in Park Slope primarily designated for team sport usage. It seems that some community members are dismayed at how little time is allotted for free use by the community. A concerned citizen took the matter to the Parks Department and change may be afoot.
Yesterday I got an email from Judy Schneier, the aforementioned "concerned citizen" and Park Slope resident, who is disappointed that the lovely new turf field in Washington Park (between 3rd and 4th Streets near Fourth Avenue) is a "permitted field."
That means that those who want to use the field must get a permit from the Park Department. According to Kim Maier, Director of the Old Stone House "there are set community hours for the Washington Park ball field from 8-10 am on Saturday and 4-6 pm on Sunday. The rest of the time, permitted games/groups will have precedence," she told me.
The permitting requirement begins next week. Schneier writes;
save 4 hours of community use. We want to keep this from happening.
Kids and families are using the field like crazy. Why should 95% of the
time be for teams? Where was the consult with the community before
such a decision was reached? It may be that we were better off with
the old cracked blacktop which we were at least allowed to use.
Yesterday Schneier wrote to say that she got in touch with the Parks Department and spoke with a Mr. Greene and a Mr
Martin Maher over there. They confirmed that the field is to be permitted and told her that it was built for that purpose.
community time Mr. Maher said they had permitted some of that too but
didn't know how much. My request of 50% was way out of the realm of
possibility according to him. Kim Maier, who runs the Old Stone House, had told
me that community time was four hours a week and I believe her. I told him
parents were furious about losing the field for free child and family
play. I told him we were getting petitions together and would fight
for the play space. We said goodbye and an hour later Mr. Greene
called me back. It seemed he and Mr.Maher had spoken and Mr. Greene
said he also spoken to the Commissioner. He told me that actually 50%
was probably doable since most of the league play was on the weekend.
Afterschool time may be open to the community. I asked if he could put
that in writing and he told me that these discussions were just
beginning and nothing was decided. He said he'd get back to me.
Ms. Schneier believes that the next step is to circulate petitions and make a reasonable proposal. She plans to reach out to Craig Hammeman, District Manager of Community Board 6 and City Council member Bill deBlasio.
She says that when she mentions this to other parents, many are very upset that the field "is to be taken away and they want as much community time as possible. Most
people seem to think 50% is a reasonable compromise."
team play is on the weekend though of course families are also around
then. I don't feel we can be rigid, we just have to see that free play
time is a big part of the plan
If Dave had kids, he’d know that anyone in Park Slope with the name of Melissa would almost certainly be over drinking age.
Oh, boy. Now it’s time for the parents of little Jared and Melissa to get their knickers in a knot. Long-time residents of that part of the Slope and Gowanus have litle access to athletic fields. It was an ashphalt softtball field. Now it’s a nice artificial turf softball field. If one wants unrestricted play for their kids just go uphill a few blocks – nice, green, natural park with grass and trees there.