DEIS: Parkland concerns; Pocket parks along 157the Street

POCKET PARKS ALONG 157TH STREET

Draft EIS states:

Passive park/civic space is proposed east of River Avenue on either side of East 157th Street and would contain benches and unique paving landscapes. The northern park parcel would contain sculptured play elements. Together these parks would act as a gateway to Heritage Field. These facilities would constitute 0.68 acres of new parkland.

East 157th Street, would not be mapped as parkland. This area would contain passive open space until future plans for the parcel are defined. This acreage (0.75 acres) is not included in the 8.9 acres of replacement parkland and recreational facilities on the existing stadium site.

Response:

These would likely be vest-pocket parks or tot-lots with cramped facilities intended to serve the large numbers of people who used to have easy access to their parks. Notice how no grass is proposed – probably due to the limited amount of space available. A “unique paving landscape” is not a suitable substitution for grass.

It is highly doubtful that these tiny parks would act as a “gateway” for Heritage Field. Just because it is near Heritage Field does not make it a gateway. People traveling up River Avenue first have to deal with the towering and massive Parking Garage D before they reach these little parks – which would be visually obscured by the #4 subway. To call these parks a “gateway” is an inappropriate use of that planning term.