Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
Just days before one of the biggest events of the year in Tompkins Square Park, the Parks Department started re-sodded parts of the main lawn — only for the area to be walked on by festivalgoers and other parkgoers during Saturday's DanceFest, the celebration that follows the annual Dance Parade.
Despite signs and barriers indicating the lawn was off-limits, the area quickly started filling up with people on one of the spring's summeriest days.
"It was locked earlier today and people don't listen — they hopped the fence," Amy Taylor, the crew chief at Tompkins Square Park, said on Saturday. "The hose is still out there, equipment and the sod too."
When told the gate was open and the lawn was filling up, Amy reiterated that the area was "technically and officially closed" and said she did not know who had unlocked it.
Workers had spent three days seeding and laying sod ahead of the weekend.
As for why the work was scheduled so close to a major event: "I don't know. No one told me anything."
Now, the question lingers: Will the newly sodded lawn survive the summer — or will the Parks Department be back to square one?
And a look yesterday at the lawn, now with caution tape on the freshly sodded areas...
5 comments:
Save the sod! Evict the White Claw crowd till the sod is ready! Sitting on grass is better than dirt! Resurface the walkways NOT the dog run! Clean up the graffiti on the walkways! Pick up the trash! Fine dog owners walking dogs in NO PETS zones! Fine dog owners with dogs that bark incessantly, it’s called Disturbing the Peace! Stop the horrible death metal live music! Do these things and Tompkins Square Park will a decent, relaxing place to escape to, which is the reason we have parks in this big, noisy city!
People being people, they'll disregard anything that they could care less about or that doesn't have enforcement behind it. That being said, the laying kind of seed and sod just days before Dance Fest is mind boggling; akin to washing all your windows
and then it begins to rain. Sounds like a failure to communicate between departments and agencies.
Amy! Take an expansive view of your job and make sure the sod is delivered and installed after major events. 🥵
The mess is so typical of the mismanagement and selfish users of the park.
I don’t know anything about sod. Earlier in the season makes more sense in terms of getting it ready. Does it have to be so late?
Dance fest this past weekend, then memorial long weekend.—it’s a tough time to manage keeping people out.
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