It appears the city will start the pavement reconstruction of the multipurpose courts in September after all.
We first reported on this date back in February... though, during a CB3 committee meeting this spring, a Parks official said the work would start here along Avenue A and 10th Street after the Dance Parade in May.
However, the Parks Department website still lists September... Quartersnacks yesterday also noted the September start date.
We covered the city's presentation to Community Board 3's Parks, Recreation, Waterfront, & Resiliency Committee back in September. Find that recap, which includes schematics, here.
The Parks Department will reconstruct the multipurpose courts, adding various amenities, including a two-lane seal-coated walking loop, and new asphalt.
According to Max Goodstein, a landscape architect with the Parks Department, there's a lot of "asphalt structural damage," and it "needs to be replaced and repaired. And the only way to do that is to take all the asphalt down to the sub base and put new asphalt down."
Other additions: new benches, a kickball court, a high-low fountain that kids and adults can use simultaneously, and three new basketball backstops at the eastern end, replacing the ones that always seem to be damaged.
And subtractions: the space used for dugouts during softball games are being removed for bench seating. Officials say the space won't be used for softball again.
And the impact on skating here?
Some thoughts via Quartersnacks ...
It will be a shock to the system in terms of the park's Feng Shui, but skateboarders have adjusted to way worse changes.The fate of the ramps, rails and boxes can obviously be decided later in the summer, though it stands to reason the contractors are going to toss them once construction begins unless we opt to save and relocate them. (Not 12th & A because that shit won't last a day there.)A few people have asked, "Can we do anything?!" a la the Save Tompkins campaign from summer 2019, but this is not a fundamental restructuring of how the park is used by the public like it was when they wanted to cover it in soft Astro Turf. The pavement hasn't been redone in ~30 years, and petitioning the city to not fix a deteriorating sports field when the time has come is like petitioning them to not fix a pot hole.
The last resurfacing here is estimated between 1992 and 1995.
Work is expected to last a minimum of three months.
Meanwhile, reconstruction of the Tompkins Square Park field house began in May ... for the anticipated 18-month project.
Previously on EV Grieve:
42 comments:
The ramps / platforms MUST go! The daily banging sound on these hollow ramps is affecting the quality of life for residents on 10th street.
"The last resurfacing here is estimated between 1992 and 1995." You'd think they would have a precise record of when the City last paid for resurfacing.
We've lived on 10th bet A/B for over a decade. If the noises from the park disturb people then those people shouldn't live across from the park. Not the other way around.
8:39 my thoughts exactly... this city requires you to have paperwork back to the 1930s to prove an apartment is de-regulated, while they can't find record of when a major renovation was done to a giant city park? wtf
Skateboarding is a daytime activity. Do you go to bed at 5 PM?
The shame here is the perpetuation of renewal and replacement as if it’s imperative to do so. It’s not. They are solving a problem that doesn’t affect current users and, it sounds like, displacing others like the softball players. Of all the places to spend valuable time and money, this doesn’t feel like it. The schematic looks a lot like the desired demographic: allbirds wearing, ‘let’s go’ chanting, low level finance chads with full heads of the feathery hair of entitlement.
FYI: The park is open till 1am. If they don’t lock the gates the skateboarders go in at 2am to jump on the ramps. Skateboarding is NOT limited to daytime. Hello!
this site: "I miss the days when the east village was cool and edgy."
also this site: "The skateboarders are loud wahhhh"
Then move to the suburbs crybaby
Unless you're a RS tenant from like 1983 (and I don't even know about that--how far back have those fields been used for skating???), I would call this a textbook case of "moving to the nuisance." The noise of people playing is natural in a park.
Work is expected to last a minimum of three months? What's the maximum? I'm skeptical. Also, "walking loop"?
I don't skate but enjoy having the skateboarders there. They will adapt as that's urban skateboarding. Maybe the ramps could be setup down at whatever's open on East River Park.
It's a drag, especially for the softball teams and, I guess, the field hockey teams but it is time, though given the tight budget and incoming budget cuts putting it off for another year might be a better idea. Spend that money keeping libraries open etc.
Lets hope the trees get to stay where they are
The skateboarders are not the issue it’s the ramps and yes RS here since 1975.
Wah? No pickle-ball courts?
Finally, intelligent input instead of sarcasm
Well I trust the opinion of a specialist over someone who post as anonymous on the internet
This is the worst place to play softball in the city. Go to the grass fields where they belong
I believe it was last repaved in 93'
We should just eliminate all those surfaces and plant trees instead. That’s when everybody wins!
My God the hand ringing. Most of you should live in a VR setting that you can build as your own.
@9:33 AM I don't think there've been softball players there for decades, not since the skateboarders took over. Softball fields are in ERP.
This isn’t cancer, Richard. And, you misunderstood the comment, preferring to use a cliched jab rather than comprehending simple English here on the internet. The “specialist” has diagnosed a problem that doesn’t affect the people using the space. The anonymous poster further suggests that we may use the funds more wisely.
It is a space for recreation. Skateboarding is a permitted form of recreation. I suggest you find a way to better soundproof your apartment
The “walking loop” is a real head scratcher. There are so many beautiful loopy walking paths already in the park, and a literal loop around the park…so, whom does this serve? I’d love, seriously, to hear someone explain the need or utility of this path.
No. Softball is played on these courts 2-4 times a week in the evenings. They clear and replace the skating obstacles. In fact, they hit the ball over the fence onto the 9th st path so often, I’m shocked someone hasn’t been seriously injured because of it. I no longer sit over there in the evenings because I don’t want the sort of bonk that might have me grumbling about a space I know nothing about on this blog!
I'm sure there is, but how many days of effort (months of waiting for FOIA responses?) is it worth to dig it up?
Yeah, get out of here with that NIMBY nonsense. It’s a park!
You must never go there in the evenings. Yes, softball is played there, often with an audience
"Then move to the suburbs crybaby"
As a lifer here and as I have posted more than once, using the "move to" line to state your POV is beyond the pale. In fact, it seems that the vast majority of posters who use this line are born and raised in suburbia.
Yeah, the walking loop is particularly a bad design choice. It also looks like the loop goes right into the basketball courts that they think they are trying to save. Also, who is putting park benches completely around the entire surface? Do we really need that many benches?
I’m curious about the softball comment—that was from the Parks Dept? I know I still see teams playing soft/baseball here, currently. Along with the field hockey.
I don’t believe I’ve ever seen kickball played though. Why not keep the protective fencing for all these ball games?
We need pickleball too!
Please let's start a petition to KILL THE WALKING LOOP! It's stupid, something these designers came up with to add another "feature" to this play area that is not wanted or needed by the people who actually use this space. People who walk or jog in the park jog around the perimeter. Not around and around in a small loop like a hamster. Having this walking loop surface will negatively impact the school kids who come every weekday at recess to play basketball. It will also screw up the skateboarders. This is not a Lego set. Please let's rally together and DUMP THE LOOP! Also, this whole renovation of the asphalt should be POSTPONED till after they finish the park bathrooms and children's sprinkler area. A big chunk of the park is currently off limits for who knows how long. And now they are threatening to bulldoze the north half of the East River Park. Where is everyone going to go??? Parks need to rethink this, and Carlina Riveras office needs to "get in the ball". Don't wreck the asphalt for skating and basketball!!!
Perhaps when the time comes, if the ramps can't be moved to a skatable location where they can be used in the meantime (I saw east river park mentioned but not sure if there's a large enough asphalt area), one or more of the many community gardens could offer to temporarily house them as an "art installation". Plaza, 9C, 6B, Sol Brilliante?
Now this is a petition I’d sign. Poor planning by our re-elected councilmember. (Reducing park access.) To be expected since she and her staff are obviously out of touch with the neighborhood.
Anti walking loop petition is a great idea! A rethink is something the community can lobby for. I'm not optimistic as contracts have been signed and plans finalized but no loop = lower budget? That's a good talking point if true. Fix the concrete, put in the fancy fountain. Keep the ramps, fix the rims, keep the area open for the school kids to play their pickup soccer and kickball.
The ramps? Separate issue. I'm for them but let's fight the walking loop as a united front.
I'm gonna email Rivera's office right now and you should as well.
District2@council.nyc.gov
@9:13 AM bedtime has nothing ton do with it. Yes, night would be worse, but sounds can be very stressful during the day as well for most people. Be understanding.
MORONIC waking loop. Just moronic.
Agree- the skateboarders are a part of the community too. They bring a cool energy to the park. I am almost 40, never skateboarded a day in my life, but it’s their park too, and they seem to be fine sharing our with
The pavement is indeed getting old. I’m sure it would be better for hockey, basketball, softball, as well as skateboarding if they fixed the pavement
Agree that the walking loop is dumb. Just walk loops around the park…
They play softball many weekdays. I live on 10th and see it often
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