Charles Park needs some NPS love

Frank Charles Park in Howard Beach is part of the Gateway Recreation Area and controlled by the National Park Service. The original idea was that people who might not afford a trip to a National Park would be able to just a short trip away. NPS controls thousands of acres of parkland in Brooklyn,Queens, Staten Island and Sandy Hook NJ. They are a tremendous asset to the city and as our city grows our parkland will be more precious.

In the past any problems at Gateway was usually met with "we are understaffed and under funded". Unlike NYC there is no 311 to call with problems,you can write them or leave a message and you might not get a response as is my case.

I've even wrote letters to local papers about the conditions of Charles Park and nothing is done. The condition of dead trees and dead limbs has existed for years and what would seem like a safety priority, isn't.

Recently a woman and her kids were clobbered by a branch in Central Park and the tree looked healthy and she's suing the city for $225 million. This is a cost effective measure for NPS, just hire a tree cutter now,this is an emergency situation.

My other gripe is that the bathroom which has just one bowl for men and one for women. This park has a children's play ground, tennis courts, ball fields, picnic tables and a beach, one bowl doesn't cut it.

Thanks Rich

Religious ritual is bad for the environment

"Hi Crappy, this is what goes on in Jamaica Bay at Frank Charles park in Howard Beach and the parking area on the south side of the Joseph Addabbo Bridge.This land is under National Park Service control and they claim they can't stop it because it's a freedom of religion issue.They dump into the water all kinds of fruits, vegetables,flowers,and food.On land they also leave behind statues,pictures and reams of cloth flags.

There is supposed to be an ecology minded group within the Hindu community that has been discouraging this practice and they say they do a cleanup once a month but I have never seen them at Charles Park. Last week I saw NPS clean the beach with a four man crew, they say they come every Sunday.

I think if NPS is going to allow this the they should clean the beach more often, nobody being on a beach with rotten fruit and it is bad for the health of the water and the animals that need a healthy environment to live." - Rich

Petition to clean up Charles Park

From the Queens Chronicle:

Having Charles Park Beach so close to her house was a major selling point when Debra Ann DiMeglio moved to Howard Beach in January.

But all wasn’t as it seemed. She quickly became disappointed to see how many people were throwing their garbage on the beach and its surrounding park — a longtime problem in the area, according to residents.

“It’s just terrible what’s going on there,” DiMeglio said. “It doesn’t give a good face to the community.”

Now, she and her sister are on a mission to get the National Parks Service to improve the maintenance of the federal parkland — and their cries are backed by close to 250 people who so far have signed onto a petition in want of a cleaner park.

“The whole park needs to be cleaned up. This should not be,” DiMeglio said.

In an online petition at Change.org, DiMeglio and her sister Sheri say Charles Park, located at 9600 165 Ave., “was once a beautiful park, where residents would enjoy their visits and the beautiful view.”

They couldn’t say the same for today.

“The beaches are horrendous,” DiMeglio said. “When I walk around I’m seeing all the debris and dirt and people barbecuing. There’s barbecue charcoal everywhere.”

She’s not alone in that assessment.

“The park looks like a junkyard,” Steven Sirgiovanni said. “I wouldn’t want to have a kid or a dog going in there.”

Illegal park party bust

From the Queens Tribune:

The NYPD shut down plans for a massive outdoor party that was allegedly planned at Charles Park in Howard Beach, the 106th Precinct announced Saturday.

According to Deputy Inspector Jeffrey Schiff, commanding officer of the 106th Precinct, an outdoor dance party called “Sex On The Beach 5” was planned for Friday night “on a real beach.”

In a Facebook post Saturday, Schiff said police officers were monitoring plans for the party on social media, which advised people to take the A train to the 88th Street station in Ozone Park, then call a cell phone number to be picked up by van and taken to “a secret location” where the party was to take place.

Schiff confirmed that the location was Charles Park, which has a small beachfront facing Jamaica Bay. He explained how the NYPD, along with National Park Police, which oversees Gateway National Recreation Area, a national park that includes Charles Park, worked together to bust the Friday night event.

“The 106th Precinct came up with a plan that involved our Harbor Unit who would search our shore line and the Federal Park Police who would patrol the park and the weeds to discover the location and stop it before the party took root,” Schiff said in the Facebook post. “As it turned out, the 106th Precinct followed that van and discovered the secret location within Charles Park at around 11 p.m.. We contacted the Federal Park Police who then issued a federal summons to the DJ for assembly with no permit.”

Charles Park finally cleaned

From the Queens Courier:

Frank M. Charles Memorial Park is getting spruced up.

With Sandy debris lingering nearly six months after the storm, Councilmember Eric Ulrich has partnered with the Doe Fund to help clean up the community park, which is run under the auspices of by Gateway National Recreation Area.

Nine “men in blue” from the Doe Fund, which finds work for homeless men and women, will help remove debris in what is considered a neighborhood park, although it’s under the National Park Service (NPS) umbrella.

Ulrich said he reached out to George McDonald, president and founder of the Doe Fund, after coverage of the park’s worsened condition following the storm.

“This was a reaction to the published newspaper reports about the terrible conditions in Charles Park,” Ulrich said.

The councilmember said further pressure had to be put on NPS to secure that Charles Park and other parts of Gateway get the same attention that parks across the country do.

No time like the present to clean up Charles Park

From the Queens Courier:

Howard Beach residents just want their park cleaned up.

Before plans Frank M. Charles Memorial Park are made, Community Board 10 wants the joint effort between the NYC Parks Department and Gateway National Recreation Area to get more local input.

Board members on Thursday, April 4 unanimously voted on a resolution to ask the coalition to remove Charles Park from consideration in the development of Jamaica Bay until further measures are taken.

“That park is in deplorable condition. It has been in deplorable condition for years,” Board chair Elizabeth Braton told a Parks representative. “When the City of New York entered in this agreement where the Parks Department would be allowed to go into Gateway and do some things, it was not the expectation of the local community that the first thing the Parks Department would do is engage in a revenue-making operation there.”

Parks and Gateway, which is an arm of the National Park Service, formed an agreement last summer to help drive more tourism to Jamaica Bay. Requests for Proposals (RFPs) were released last month for developers to create bike terminals, kayak launching areas or food concession stands.

Trashy National Park

From the Queens Courier:

Piles of trash in tall grass are just yards away from baseball fields where the pitcher’s mounds have nearly leveled with home plate. Behind home plate, there are cracks in the sidewalks that are overgrown with grass and weeds. Not much further from this scene is a picnic table, worn from years of use.

These are just some of the images of Frank M. Charles Memorial Park in Howard Beach, which officials and residents say has been neglected for years by the National Park Service (NPS).

Assemblymember Philip Goldfeder and Senator Charles Schumer recently sent a letter to NPS with concerns about upkeep of the park that residents claim has been inconsistent and underfunded for years.

Charles Park finally gets funding for fixup

From the Queens Chronicle:

After years of hearing promises and placating answers, Howard Beach residents that have long made use of Frank M. Charles Park finally thought federal funding would became available to fix the park’s dilapidated tennis courts, baseball fields and make other improvements. Some residents say has not yet happened, though a representative from Gateway National Recreation Area said the money is in hand and on its way.

Local residents have long accused Gateway, which the park sits in, of ignoring the upkeep of Charles Park.

But in March, a community meeting was conducted where National Parks Service officials announced an appropriation of $200,000 that would be spent immediately on park repairs. Officials also vowed to form a new partnership that would ensure the community’s only green space no longer plays second fiddle to other priorities.

But those who use Charles Park regularly and live in the community say that has been just another in a long line of empty promises.

“This park is the only green space we have in this community,” said Dorothy McCloskey, director of the Friends of Charles Park Committee. “I think the National Parks Service can do a lot better. There’s a great deal of property that’s been neglected for a long time, and it’s a shame.”

Park still in disgraceful condition

From Uche Abanobi at Interactive Journalism:

Busted fences, cracked pathways, blown out lights- this is the scene at Frank M. Charles Memorial Park, a national park located by Jamaica Bay in Howard Beach.

Charles Park, which also includes the adjacent West Hamilton Beach Park, is a national preserve. It lies within the Gateway National Recreational Area and is owned by the National Park Service, a subsidiary of the U.S. Department of the Interior. This past month Will Shafroth, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks for the U.S. Department of Interior surveyed the park. He acknowledged that its features were more parallel with a city park, like the clay baseball field, playground, etc., which would make it more difficult for an NPS worker to maintain.

Earlier this year Congressman Gregory Meeks made a 2010 appropriations request for one million dollars towards Gateway National Parks Services regarding renovating Charles Park.

Despite this additional funding, the conditions at Charles Park have not improved. Fences, paths, lights are all still in disarray and no one seems to be able to account for the funds.

However, this is not the first time Charles Park has received large amounts of funding. In 2000, before the current redistricting, Congressman Anthony Weiner worked with Gateway NRA to secure one million dollars in funding to repair the park’s courts, fields, lighting, paths, etc.

“Congressman Anthony Weiner secured a one million dollar earmark. That money provided some repairs, but was not sufficient and was not in the view of some local residents distributed fairly between the two parks,” said Braton.