The above video, uploaded onto Youtube by Victor Miranda, pans, zooms, and fades it way into our hearts with some beautiful scenes from Bay Ridge’s Shore Road area – including shots of the 69th Street Pier, ships navigating Upper New York Bay in the foreground of the Manhattan skyline, a group of frolicking squirrels in Owl’s Head Park, and the Shore Parkway Promenade.
Image source: Violette79 via Flickr.
Just a reminder for anyone looking to participate in It’s My Park Day at Owl’s Head Park on October 20.
By signing up with the Shore Road Parks Conservancy, you’ll help give organizers an idea of how many people are showing up, which goes a long way in making sure they’re prepared to assist volunteers.
It’s My Park Day is a time when thousands of residents all over New York City spend a few fun, productive hours with their neighbors helping out at their local parks.
The Shore Road Parks Conservancy is sending out the call for volunteers to assist in beautifying our parks during the autumn installment of It’s My Park Day on Saturday, October 20.
The conservancy is also welcoming donations to help in the purchase of “[plant] bulbs, tools, and other supplies” useful in the war against weeds, wear & tear, and vandals.
If you’d like to lend a helping hand, here’s how it works:
And if you’re a member of a volunteer group or an organization that’s interested in sponsoring the event, that’s awesome! Please send your group’s contact information to info@shoreroadparks.org.
This event is currently being sponsored by the City Parks Foundation, and Foodtown.
Image source: Violette79 via Flickr.
It’s My Park Day is a time when thousands of residents all over New York City spend a few fun, productive hours with their neighbors helping out at their local parks.
The Shore Road Parks Conservancy is sending out the call for volunteers to assist in beautifying our parks during the autumn installment of It’s My Park Day on Saturday, October 20.
The conservancy is also welcoming donations to help in the purchase of “[plant] bulbs, tools, and other supplies” useful in the war against weeds, wear & tear, and vandals.
If you’d like to lend a helping hand, here’s how it works:
And if you’re a member of a volunteer group, or an organization that’s interested in sponsoring the event, that’s awesome! Please send your group’s contact information to info@shoreroadparks.org.
This event is currently being sponsored by the City Parks Foundation, and Foodtown.
A dog run in Manhattan. Note the obnoxious Red Sox gear (Image by Ed Yourdon via Flickr).
According to Steve from Bay Ridge Barks, planned improvements to the Owl’s Head Park dog run announced last year by Councilman Gentile and written about more recently by Home Reporter’s Denise Romano – while making things more pleasant for dog owners and walkers in the long run – will unfortunately close the canine-friendly space during the “peak dog time” of spring and summer 2013.
The $850,000 renovation project earmarks $200,000 for new creature comforts that include gravel, benches, fences, and water fountains. Continue reading »
Image source: emilydickinsonridesabmx via Flickr.
The Narrows Botanical Garden has become the target of vandals for the second time in as many weeks.
Narrows Board of Trustees President Richard Haugland claims that a $200 magnolia tree recently had most of its branches broken off overnight. Then just a few days later, he says someone sheared the bark off a sapling.
Haugland called the damage, which occurred near the garden’s entrance and shares similarities with vandalism discovered last year, suspicious, as reported by Will Bredderman in a provocative piece for Brooklyn Daily.
An article from a few days earlier featured fellow gardener and CB10 board member Greg Ahl bemoaning the city’s refusal to build a wall as part of a pedestrian bridge project on the Belt Parkway – which abuts the community garden. Other than serving as a sound barrier, landscape designer Jimmy Johnson told Brooklyn Daily that the wall would help keep thieves and vandals out.
The Murphy Estate, which sat in present day Owl's Head Park, in 1915 (nycgovparks via Brownstoner)
The shoreline of New York Bay, specifically the Narrows, in Bay Ridge, near the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, is one of Brooklyn’s most naturally beautiful places. Even today, with the highways, the buildings, and the bridge itself, it’s still easy to imagine what Canarsee Indians, then the Dutch, must have thought when seeing it. The bay is a truly beautiful sight.- Montrose Morris
Yesterday, Brownstoner’s Montrose Morris treated readers to another glimpse of Brooklyn’s little-known yet historically rich past. This time, the story was [partially] focused on a spot that should be familiar to Bay Ridge residents – Owl’s Head Park.
And the man who originally developed the land as a private country villa was none other than Henry C. Murphy, who as Montrose shows,”was one of Brooklyn’s most impressive individuals.” Continue reading »
Courtesy the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance
WARNING: maritime geekiness ahead. No clash of the bike-and-car cultures in this story, nor will this article chronicle the latest battle between halal food carts and their natural direct competitors, sports bars. This post is strictly about the nerdy fun that comes recreational waterfront access, and the coalition of politicians, city employees, and non-profit groups that want to make it happen here.
That’s right, folks, it’s time to talk about 69th Street Eco Dock, slated to be constructed early this fall.
Last Thursday, the Bay Ridge branch of the Brooklyn Public Library was the setting for a community meeting to introduce some details about the Eco Dock project to the pubic, as well as to crowd-source new ideas for future use. Keep reading, and tell us what you would like to see at the Eco Dock…
Tonight (May 1), at 7pm, the Shore Road Parks Conservancy will be holding their general meeting at the Bay Ridge Preparatory School (8101 Ridge Blvd). Light refreshments will be served following the meeting. The Board members and Area Managers will be discussing current and future plans. The meeting agenda is below.
It’s My Park Day is also coming up for Shore Road Park. On Saturday, May 19, volunteers are invited to help with the spring cleanup. Activities include painting, planting, weeding, sweeping, raking, handling sign-in sheets, tools and refreshments. See the Conservancy web site for details. Continue to the agenda of the general meeting…
This Thursday, at the Bay Ridge Library (7223 Ridge Boulevard), the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance will co-host a community meeting with Councilmember Vincent Gentile and Borough President Marty Markowitz to present and solicit ideas for the 69th Street Eco Dock.
The 69th Street Pier was selected as the location of the Eco Dock in 2009, with the help of $300,000 in funding from Gentile. The dock is expected to be constructed this summer by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.
The Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance – a coalition of over 600 regional waterway-oriented organizations – is reaching out to the community to plan programs and operations at the new dock. The dock can support a wide variety of program opportunities including historic and educational vessel programming, kayaking, community events and environmental education projects. The purpose of Thursday’s meeting is to begin working on possible programs at the dock with the Bay Ridge community.
The design of the dock is the result of a two-year-long process which incorporated feedback from the hand-powered boating community and large vessel operators.
The meeting will run this Thursday, April 26, from 6pm to 8pm. Those interested in attending should contact Becky Schneider at bschneider@waterfrontalliance.org to RSVP.
Woodchippers can also be used to mulch trees.
Attention Christians, assimilated Atheists, and Jews with Gentile in-laws: the Parks and Sanitation Departments are once again teaming up to help you recycle your Christmas tree. Or any other kind of tree you’ve watched die slowly in your sitting room for the past month.
Curbside pickup started this past Tuesday, and runs until Saturday, January 14. It’s super-easy. Just remove all of the ornaments, tinsel, lights, and other attachments, and leave it on the curb. Do not place it in a plastic bag, or any other kind of bag. Done. Easy as cake. New York’s Strongest will turn the trees over to Parks, who will use the composted trees as fertilizer in the spring.
If you’re ambitious, you can take your tree to a MulchFest location tomorrow, January 7, or Sunday, January 8 (10am to 2pm both days). Trees will be chipped on the spot, and you can take a bag of mulch home with you. (You don’t have to bring a tree to get a free bag of mulch.) As with the curbside guidelines, please remove ornaments, tinsel, lights, plastic bags, and Coen brothers characters before taking your tree to a wood-chipping location.
In southern Brooklyn, MulchFest will be at Owl’s Head Park and Marine Park.