Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Easy way to contact your Elected Officials about the Yankee Plan to take away our Public Parks

Writing letters can sometimes feel like we're back at school during exam days. Not the easiest thing in the world to do, right? We understand that even though elected officials really do love to receive hand-written notes or typed letters from us. Phone calls and emails are also appreciated.

New Yorkers for Parks, the oldest park advocacy group in NYC, has an easy way where you simply type your address and within seconds you can send a letter and/or email to your elected representative and even to Mayor Bloomberg. Just click on the title above ("Easy way to contact your Elected Officials about the Yankee Plan to take away our Public Parks") to access this service.

The following is a copy of what would be mailed:

Yankees Plan Prioritizes Parking Over Parks

I urge you to reject the plan for a new Yankee Stadium as currently proposed. The plan prioritizes parking over parks and does not address environmental sustainability, or the quality of life of Bronx residents.

While I strongly support the Yankees’ desire to stay in The Bronx, I believe their presence in the community should be a benefit. Just as the Yankees are a first-class team that places a premium on being on top of their game, their interest in a new stadium presents an unprecedented opportunity for the city and state to create a first-class, winning plan for the residents of the South Bronx and, in turn for all New Yorkers.

The current plan is simply not a winner for the community, human health, or the environment. In a neighborhood with the nation’s highest asthma and the city’s lowest car ownership rates, the plan will destroy existing parkland to increase parking by about 75% -- a strategy sure to worsen already bad game-day traffic jams. It locates replacement parkland on a site severed from the neighborhood by the Major Deegan Expressway. And it will destroy more than 373 mature trees.

Please hold the city accountable to revising this plan to include a park access plan during construction, a decrease in parking, and a new Metro North station built in conjunction with an accessible waterfront park.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home