Save Our Parks press release

LOCAL RESIDENTS OPPOSE CARRION'S SILENCING OF COMMUNITY BOARD 4: Save Our Parks calls for silent protest; residents will hold signs with mouths taped shut.

Bronx, NY - June 27, 2006 - Local residents of the South Bronx, the nation's poorest congressional district, are outraged and will hold a silent protest to highlight Carrión's attempt to silence all opposition. Save Our Parks, a grass roots organization of South Bronx residents, shows support for Community Board 4 after Bronx Borough President Carrión attempts to remove and demote board members who supported the local community who are opposed to the destruction of Mullaly and McCombs Dam Parks to build of a new Yankee Stadium. Save Our Parks finds the Borough Presidents actions offensive and
suppressive of community involvement and concerns.

Mary Blassingame, member and Chairperson of the Housing and Landuse Committee of CB4 for over 21 years, notes "It is unprecedented for a borough president to take such sweeping action against a community board. Community Boards are supposed to be the representatives and advocates of the community interests and CB4 did just that by voting 16-8 against the Yankee Project - Carrión is atempting to dismantle the most basic role of community boards."

This outrage is the latest maneuver by the Borough President to silence objections within the South Bronx community to the
Yankee Stadium Project.

The Yankee Project would place a 140 foot tall, 14-story sports stadium and four parking garages with a capacity of 11,000 cars in the center of a residential community plagued by the highest asthma rates in the nation. The plan calls for the destruction of part of Mullaly Park and all of McComb's Dam Park, which contain 300 mature oak trees. This parkland would be replaced with pocket parks, park features with artificial turf built on top of car garages, and replacement parks up to ¾ of a mile away from its current location.

When: Tuesday, June 27, 2006 6pm

Where: In front of Community Board 4 Meeting: Bronx Lebanon Hospital, 1650 Grand Concourse

Visuals: Dozens of community residents with mouths taped shut holding signs