National Park(ing) Day

[Jody Kruskal]

Talk about "think globally, act locally"!!! Only a block from home, I got to take of my shoes, run my toes through the sod and sing with the neighborhood preschoolers in a tiny car sized park that was not there the day before. I played my new Morse C/G while my buddy, Dancing Henry put on quite a show for the little ones. How gently subversive is that?

 

 

Last Sunday was National Park(ing) Day. “Also known as a "parking squat," Park(ing) is a quasi-legal reclamation of urban street space in which a metered, curbside parking spaces are transformed into urban parkland complete with sod, benches, trees and human beings.

 

National PARK(ing) Day

was a huge hit here in NYC where

Transportation Alternatives

&

The Trust for Public Land

organized a of group of motley advocates in liberating parking spaces to open green areas for city residents to enjoy. Last year, NYC had just one spot, but this year nearly two dozen were sponsored across the city - ranging from a mini-gym on Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn to a tribal village (complete with tee pee!) on Manhattan’s West Side.

 

 

Most amazing was the overwhelmingly positive response the event received. Residents, tourists, commuters, and drivers (yes drivers!) were seen voicing approval. Peds relished the chance to take a seat or diddle their feet in fresh sod. Some ate pizza. Yum!” - Streetfilms

 

Streetfilms made a great video of the whole thing. My portion is mostly at the end so be patient. Check it out here.

[m3838]

I'm lost.

I guess New York is screwed up.

When the americans will learn to build up and be connected via trains and moving sidewalks?

Never, I guess.

Your act with dancing Henry is very funny. I should do something of sorts.

And I noticed that Concertina sounds best outside, esp. amidst the city's buildings.

[Perry Werner]

Jody:

Wow.

Concertinas AND Brooklyn!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a combo.

Keep it up and I'll move back to my land of origin.

How about a "Concertinas at Flatbush" weekend?

Thanks for the video.

Bye,

Perry Werner

[yankeeclipper]

I guess New York is screwed up.

When the americans will learn to build up and be connected via trains and moving sidewalks?

 

New York is not America. It is an island populated by folks who came to the threshold of America and chose not to go in. Where else would kids be taught that parks are made of artificial sod?

 

Still, a delightful day for the kids and a chance to learn that real music doesn't require a battery! Kudoes to Jody and all who gave their time to this zany, delightful project!

[Jody Kruskal]

New York is not America. It is an island populated by folks who came to the threshold of America and chose not to go in. Where else would kids be taught that parks are made of artificial sod?

 

Still, a delightful day for the kids and a chance to learn that real music doesn't require a battery! Kudoes to Jody and all who gave their time to this zany, delightful project!

 

Artificial sod nothing. That was real living sod I was standing on!

 

That's funny "New York is an island populated by folks who came to the threshold of America and chose not to go in." Sure NYC is a special case. There’s a school I work at in Queens where I play concertina and call dances in the classroom that has pretty much all immigrant kids. When I ask " Who speaks something other than english at home?" all their hands go up. I asked them how they say hello in their language and one class of 30 kids gave me 10 different answers.

 

On the other hand, many of the older ethnic communities in NYC like Little Italy for instance have very few Italians left. The restaurants are still there but the owners have moved to the suburbs long ago.

[paperpunchr]

I'm lost.

I guess New York is screwed up.

When the americans will learn to build up and be connected via trains and moving sidewalks?

Never, I guess.

Your act with dancing Henry is very funny. I should do something of sorts.

And I noticed that Concertina sounds best outside, esp. amidst the city's buildings.

 

I digress briefly,

If you can't find public transportation (subways/trains) in New York City you're not looking...it makes good economic sense in big cities...a lot of us Americans live in small towns and suburbs for a reason...we don't particularly like big cities...and other than Mother Russia and China, there aren't many countries (especially in europe) that have the population density and short spans between towns to make railroads viable...why should the rural taxpayers pay for cities to have more trains than economics can justify?

Moving sidewalks? For now only practical in airports, protected from weather and vandalism.

 

 

Can't argue with creating green spots in cities that don't have enough...buy up a few derelict buildings, level them, clear and grub out the old utility lines, and build parks...a more decent use of taxpayer dollars than buying healthcare for "children" up to 25 years old at my expense...as our runaway Congress (opposite of Pro-gress) seems ready to do.

 

But I digress too much...Concertinas in the park...yes...definitely.

 

Doug

Edited September 29, 2007 by paperpunchr

[JimLucas]

I guess New York is screwed up.

When the americans will learn to build up and be connected via trains and moving sidewalks?

If you can't find public transportation (subways/trains) in New York City you're not looking...

Very true.

 

Moving sidewalks? For now only practical in airports, protected from weather and vandalism.

Also true, but don't neglect buses. New York City also has a comparatively excellent bus system.

 

Public transportation in NYC isn't perfect, of course. It suffers from the usual problems of individuals -- politicians, administrators, even line personnel -- putting personal desires above public service or even their stated goals. It also suffers from an improbably high population density (which is probably not less in wet weather ). No matter how well-built and well-managed a transportation system, it can break down if too many people want to use it to go the same way at the same time. (The same is true of automobile transportation. Responding to criticism that he wasn't widening the freeways enough, a former California governor is said to have said that even if the state were paved over completely, it wouldn't be wide enough if all the motorists tried to go the same direction at the same time. Today that would be possible with about one automobile for every 100 residents. )

 

...and other than Mother Russia and China, there aren't many countries (especially in europe) that have the population density and short spans between towns to make railroads viable...

I think you have that backward. Decent (certainly much better than the US average) rail (and bus) service is the norm rather than the exception in Western Europe. First hand, I know little about Russia and nothing of China, but what I've heard and read suggests serious inadequacies in service over most of those countries.

 

Can't argue with creating green spots in cities that don't have enough...

Maybe you can't, but developers and politicians can and do, which is why there aren't more.

 

...buy up a few derelict buildings, level them, clear and grub out the old utility lines, and build parks...

We did that on the block where I used to live... we who lived there, not the government. We badgered the city about a condemned building until they tore it down. Then we got them to lease the lot to us (at least back then, no developer wanted it) for $1/year. We the people -- including groups that normally didn't associate with each other -- together cleared the lot of debris, added some soil, benches, a few paving stones, and vegetation. It became a popular hangout for the non-criminal element. And at "no" taxpayer expense. (The building demolition cost something, but I'm sure it was less than a single year's worth of repeated emergency visits by the fire department and police.)

 

It's a shame, though, that we basically had to harass the city bureaucracy into letting us do it.