City and state authorities are deciding to burn tree debris and other wood litter at Floyd Bennett Field which would affect the air quality immensely. Some of the wood is contaminated with chemicals.
see the link from the American Lung Association of Northeast that is urging the mayor and Governor rejection of wood burn, pleading for safer to environment mulching.
http://www.lung.org/associations/charters/northeast/press-room/news-releases/rel-proposed-burning-floyd-bennett-field.html
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Profile of a courageous environmentalist
The following NY Times article profiles Rachel Carson, whose book Silent Spring, detailing the dangers of pesticides, came out 50 years ago this year.
Click on the link
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/28/business/rachel-carsons-lessons-50-years-after-silent-spring.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0
Click on the link
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/28/business/rachel-carsons-lessons-50-years-after-silent-spring.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
A meadow in Pelham Bay Park article
The author is a reknown butterfly expert and brother of a birder ( I know ) who now lives in New Jersey.
http://petslady.com/articles/meadow_park_59214
********
********
http://petslady.com/articles/meadow_park_59214
********
********
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Ridgewood Reservoir latest news
http://www.qchron.com/editions/central/reservoir-revs-up-renovation-effort/article_cb67f06b-0727-5e00-98e5-44ed51ea0b98.html
Reservoir revs up renovation effort
By Michael Gannon, Queens Chronicle, 10/11/12
New features are looking good at Highland Park project in Ridgewood
City officials still are not commenting as to whether they will pursue the construction of athletic fields on the site of the old Ridgewood Reservoir. But upgrades visible from the street appear to be progressing nicely.
Phase 1 consists of new fencing, new staircases and the installation of ramps to allow handicapped accessibility to the newly repaved walking trail around the old basins. New fencing is being added and a brand-new wiring and electrical system is being installed to accommodate new lights atop classic-style lampposts
Phase 1 was scheduled to be completed this past spring, until work began and contractors discovered walls and paths that were structurally unstable.
But Gary Giordano, district manager for Community Board 5, was upbeat on Monday.
“It should be done sometime this coming spring, which is better than I was expecting,” he said.
Still at issue is whether or not the city will allow one of the three basins to be filled in for the construction of athletic fields.
Officials from the Department of Parks and Recreation did not respond to requests for comment this week.
But Giordano said members of Community Board 5 remain steadfastly opposed to any plan that does not turn the former reservoir into a nature preserve for passive recreation, academic and scientific uses.
“With all the bird species there, you certainly have a reason for that,” he said. “We’ve been opposed to any of those basins being developed for active recreation, and the thought of thousands and thousands of truckloads of fill having to be brought in to fill one of those basins. It would be damaging to the surrounding community.”
He said there are plenty of ballfields of all kinds both in Highland Park and surrounding areas in both Queens and Brooklyn that would only need to be refurbished to serve the needs of all athletes.
The reservoir was built in 1858, and served as a water supply for Brooklyn for 101 years until two of the basins were drained.
Basin 2 served as a backup water supply for Brooklyn from 1960 to 1989, and was decommissioned in 1990.
It was transferred to the custody of the Parks Department in 2004 with the intention of turning it into a public park.
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Highland Park-Ridgewood Reservoir Alliance" group.
To post to this group, send email to ridgewoodreservoir@googlegroups.com.
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to ridgewoodreservoir+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/ridgewoodreservoir?hl=en.
Reservoir revs up renovation effort
By Michael Gannon, Queens Chronicle, 10/11/12
New features are looking good at Highland Park project in Ridgewood
City officials still are not commenting as to whether they will pursue the construction of athletic fields on the site of the old Ridgewood Reservoir. But upgrades visible from the street appear to be progressing nicely.
Phase 1 consists of new fencing, new staircases and the installation of ramps to allow handicapped accessibility to the newly repaved walking trail around the old basins. New fencing is being added and a brand-new wiring and electrical system is being installed to accommodate new lights atop classic-style lampposts
Phase 1 was scheduled to be completed this past spring, until work began and contractors discovered walls and paths that were structurally unstable.
But Gary Giordano, district manager for Community Board 5, was upbeat on Monday.
“It should be done sometime this coming spring, which is better than I was expecting,” he said.
Still at issue is whether or not the city will allow one of the three basins to be filled in for the construction of athletic fields.
Officials from the Department of Parks and Recreation did not respond to requests for comment this week.
But Giordano said members of Community Board 5 remain steadfastly opposed to any plan that does not turn the former reservoir into a nature preserve for passive recreation, academic and scientific uses.
“With all the bird species there, you certainly have a reason for that,” he said. “We’ve been opposed to any of those basins being developed for active recreation, and the thought of thousands and thousands of truckloads of fill having to be brought in to fill one of those basins. It would be damaging to the surrounding community.”
He said there are plenty of ballfields of all kinds both in Highland Park and surrounding areas in both Queens and Brooklyn that would only need to be refurbished to serve the needs of all athletes.
The reservoir was built in 1858, and served as a water supply for Brooklyn for 101 years until two of the basins were drained.
Basin 2 served as a backup water supply for Brooklyn from 1960 to 1989, and was decommissioned in 1990.
It was transferred to the custody of the Parks Department in 2004 with the intention of turning it into a public park.
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Highland Park-Ridgewood Reservoir Alliance" group.
To post to this group, send email to ridgewoodreservoir@googlegroups.com.
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to ridgewoodreservoir+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/ridgewoodreservoir?hl=en.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Park sellout proposal a new trend
This issue regards Flushing Meadows Park which may be sold off in parts for private developers. For more, see the link
http://awalkintheparknyc.blogspot.com/2012/10/flushing-meadows-corona-park-neglected.html
http://awalkintheparknyc.blogspot.com/2012/10/flushing-meadows-corona-park-neglected.html
Friday, September 28, 2012
Floyd Bennett Petition
From: Barbara Pearson
Subject: National park land being given over to industrial use
Date: September 28, 2012 1:54:19 PM EDT
To: info@brooklynbirdclub.org
Hello
I recently read an article by Peter Dorosh in your newsletter about the Rockaway pipeline. I am a gardener at Floyd Bennett Field and worked a bit with Peter this past year at Prospect Park. Peter's article was written before the Senate approved the legislation that will make this all possible so the situation is even more dire now. The link below is to sign the petition. The text on the White House petition website is an abbreviated version of the petition below. If you could promote this on your website and/or send an email to your members it would be most appreciated.
Thanks.
Barbara Pearson
PETITION LINK
http://wh.gov/BRZ1
WE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO:
VETO H.R. 2606 and NOT Allow Congress to Give National Park Land Over to Industrial Uses
In February of this year, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2606, the purpose of which is “to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to allow the construction and operation of natural gas pipeline facilities in the Gateway National Recreation Area". On September 22nd, as one of their last acts before Election Day, the Senate approved this bill and sent it back to the House with insignificant amendment that the House will surely vote to approve. That this bill was even being considered was virtually unknown by the users of the park and the constituents of those sponsoring the bill.
The National Park Service (NPS) giving over historic hangars at Floyd Bennett Field, NYC’s first municipal airport, to the Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Company for an industrial metering and regulating station is such an egregiously inappropriate use of national park land that this legislation was needed to specifically allow what would otherwise be prohibited by the law that created Gateway National Recreation Area and by NPS’s own management policies. NPS management policy deems a use inappropriate if any of the criteria below are met:
· causes an unacceptable impact
· is inconsistent with the park purposes or values
· creates an unsafe or unhealthful environment for visitors or employees
· results in significant conflict with other appropriate uses
· diminishes opportunities for current or future generations to enjoy park resources or values
The installation of an industrial metering and regulating station at Gateway meets all of those criteria; it is also as far removed from what NPS calls the most important type of use of a national park - “the enjoyment of unimpaired park resources and values by present and future generations” - as any use of the park could possibly be.
In addition, we feel the risk this legislation poses to ALL national parks being given over to inappropriate uses cannot be overstated when one considers that NPS is increasingly motivated to solve its maintenance backlog by entering into private “partnerships” as a source of financing. In fact, the “rehabilitation” of the hangars at Floyd Bennett Field at no cost to NPS is openly cited as a reason this inappropriate use will be implemented if H.R. 2606 becomes law.
Subject: National park land being given over to industrial use
Date: September 28, 2012 1:54:19 PM EDT
To: info@brooklynbirdclub.org
Hello
I recently read an article by Peter Dorosh in your newsletter about the Rockaway pipeline. I am a gardener at Floyd Bennett Field and worked a bit with Peter this past year at Prospect Park. Peter's article was written before the Senate approved the legislation that will make this all possible so the situation is even more dire now. The link below is to sign the petition. The text on the White House petition website is an abbreviated version of the petition below. If you could promote this on your website and/or send an email to your members it would be most appreciated.
Thanks.
Barbara Pearson
PETITION LINK
http://wh.gov/BRZ1
WE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO:
VETO H.R. 2606 and NOT Allow Congress to Give National Park Land Over to Industrial Uses
In February of this year, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2606, the purpose of which is “to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to allow the construction and operation of natural gas pipeline facilities in the Gateway National Recreation Area". On September 22nd, as one of their last acts before Election Day, the Senate approved this bill and sent it back to the House with insignificant amendment that the House will surely vote to approve. That this bill was even being considered was virtually unknown by the users of the park and the constituents of those sponsoring the bill.
The National Park Service (NPS) giving over historic hangars at Floyd Bennett Field, NYC’s first municipal airport, to the Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Company for an industrial metering and regulating station is such an egregiously inappropriate use of national park land that this legislation was needed to specifically allow what would otherwise be prohibited by the law that created Gateway National Recreation Area and by NPS’s own management policies. NPS management policy deems a use inappropriate if any of the criteria below are met:
· causes an unacceptable impact
· is inconsistent with the park purposes or values
· creates an unsafe or unhealthful environment for visitors or employees
· results in significant conflict with other appropriate uses
· diminishes opportunities for current or future generations to enjoy park resources or values
The installation of an industrial metering and regulating station at Gateway meets all of those criteria; it is also as far removed from what NPS calls the most important type of use of a national park - “the enjoyment of unimpaired park resources and values by present and future generations” - as any use of the park could possibly be.
In addition, we feel the risk this legislation poses to ALL national parks being given over to inappropriate uses cannot be overstated when one considers that NPS is increasingly motivated to solve its maintenance backlog by entering into private “partnerships” as a source of financing. In fact, the “rehabilitation” of the hangars at Floyd Bennett Field at no cost to NPS is openly cited as a reason this inappropriate use will be implemented if H.R. 2606 becomes law.
Monday, August 27, 2012
Latest on Ridgewood Reservoir
http://www.queenstribune.com/news/News_082312_SlowGoingForReservoirUpgrades.html
When city budgets crunch, less is best ?
When city budgets crunch, less is best ?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)