Page 7 - Demo

January 3,1974 PHOENIX Page 7Porks Changing for BetterSince Phoenix 'Probe' BeganOnly 9 Short MBY JOHN BLACKMORESince the Parks Probe first appeared last April, many changes have occurred in Brooklyn's parklands. Happily, most of these have been for the better.The massive renovation of Ft. Greene Park, increased attention paid to Cobble Hill Park, renovation and improvements in Prospect Park, the promise of new and more exciting playgrounds in Park Slope, Ft. Greene, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn Heights, and Boerum Hill, increased concern for recreation programs in Cadman Plaza and other areas, and on and on.The City Parks Recreation and Cultural Affairs Administration, under the enlightened administration of Richard Clurman, deserves New Year's kudoos for being generally responsive to community park needs, particularly where the community has made its desires known. Clurman%u2019s pet projects, the Parks Partnership and Curatorship programs, have done much to alleviate the depressing conditions that existed in Prospect and Ft. Greene Parks. Not that all of the problems have been remedied, but a heady start has been made. We hope that the new commissioner, Edwin Weisl, will be equally responsive to the needs of Brooklyn. We expect aiso to continue to help shed our light on those most urgent problems through this column.The real credit for what has gotten underway in the past year must go to community groups and individuals who recognized that nothing would happen unless they took matters into their own hands. Numerous groups, such as the Friends of Ft. Greene Park, the Park Slope Civic Council, the Cobble Hill Association, the Brooklyn Heights Association, the Triangle Parks Flatbush Avenue Improvement Committee, and others have provided the leadership and energies necessary, sometimes against nearly impossible odds, to bring real improvements to our neighborhood parks.If not for the Ft. Greene Friends, headed by Nat Thayer, the historic renovation of that park wouldn%u2019t have gotten off the ground. And the concern of the Triangle Parks people has so transcended their corner of the Slope that the fruits of their labors will have a lasting effect on the borough%u2019s once grand boulevard. Community activists Bruce Graham and Penny Mongin and a host of others in their organization deserve New Year benedictions for their imaginative efforts.For every project in progress, there are dozens of others in the planning stage or still a glint in someone%u2019s eye. Here is where the hard work and frustration are at a peak, but the real benefits are still around the corner. The Pierrepont Street Playground Committee has made substantial gains in the past months for their toddler playground, but still have many dollars to go before groundbreaking. Meanwhile, Marjory Potts is still chipping away the barriers that have stalled the construction of Park Slope's Adventure Playground. But thanks to her unceasing efforts, the funding is there, the plans completed, and the go-ahead is scheduled for the Spring.Work has begun on the playground in Prospect Heights behind the 78th Precinct house, and asizable recreation area should be ready for use by Summer. The Carroii Gardens Association has put on the push for reclaiming the vacant lot adjacent to the Carroll Street subway stop as a mini-park, and developments are expected there in the Spring. For their efforts, Good luck and Godspeed.These community efforts are indeed laudable, but let no one think we've seen more than the tip of the iceburg. No action has yet been taken on the deplorable conditions of Byrne Park off 4th Avenue, and one of Brooklyn's oldest houses continues to be gutted by vandals. Nearby the public baths on President Street remains empty, while the surrounding community desperately needs a recreation center. Rubble-strewn vacant lots mar our neighborhoods, where .benches and greenery could make them an asset. Fulton Ferry remains fallow, and the Brooklyn Heights community still lacks adequate public recreation facilities.Undone: Byrne Park Outhouse'Now is the time to get things going. When the summer's heat is again with us, when gas shortages curtail our vacation traveling, when the kids have no place to go, it will be too late for anything but remorse. Brooklyn deserves excellent parks and recreational facilities, but nobody%u2019s going to hand them to us. Each of us must look around our neighborhoods for the possibilities that exist there. Then we have to put the pressure on. Hard work, yes; but your efforts will seem insignificant in terms of the benefits we can bring about for the future.And the Parks Probe can help. We can put you in touch with the appropriate city agency, we can publicize your fund-raising efforts, and we can help you find others in your neighborhood to work with. Write the Parks Probe, the future is in your hands. Happy New Year.Progress on Pierrepont PlaygroundLocal Parkblip ana man mis coupon 10 me r n u tm ALocationNature of ProblemYour Name. Your Phone.Mail To The PHOENIX, 130 Clinton St., Brooklyn 11201