Ridgewood Reservoir Due for Makeover Joe Anuta - YourNabe.com

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One of many holes in the dilapidated chain link fence that surrounds Ridgewood Reservoir allows access to the patch of wilderness. Photo by Joe Anuta

Construction could begin soon on new fencing surrounding the Ridgewood Reservoir despite objections from members of the community and borough lawmakers.

The contract has been awarded to a Maspeth construction company for $6.4 million, according to the city comptroller’s database, and the work is set to be complete by the end of the year.

But several members of Community Board 5 criticized the city’s plan for the renovation, citing unnecessary spending and inadequate protection of wildlife.

“I’m trying to fight them, but the contract is already awarded and registered in the comptroller’s office,” said Steve Fiedler, chairman of CB 5’s Parks Committee. “Nobody wants to listen.”

One of Fiedler’s objections shared by the rest of the board is that the proposed fence, at 4 feet tall, is too short and would invite trespassers into the natural enclave.

“Right now there is an 8-foot fence and they can’t keep [people] out of there,” Fiedler said.

There are innumerable holes cut into the current chain link fence that surrounds the three basins of the reservoirs. Some have been patched, but many still allow unencumbered access to the basins.

Fiedler said people also dump garbage and have been known to play paint ball in the wooded areas of the reservoir.

A representative from the city Parks Department said the new fencing will allow visitors to see the basins.

“New steel bar fencing around the perimeter and fencing of historical reference near seating areas between basins will allow visitors visual access to the natural environments in the basins,” said the representative, who asked not to be identified.


Currently, the 8-foot tall fence allows park-goers to see the park only through the wires and is overgrown with vines in many places.

The city will also combat invasive species like phragmites, a reed that takes over in watery soil, which have plagued the park over the years.

Fiedler and the board also took issue with the type of fencing.

The park currently has more than 4,000 feet of historic, wrought-iron fencing in and around the basins, Fiedler said. In fact, the fencing was so elaborately crafted that the city made a model of it to use in Central Park in Manhattan.

“You cannot get fencing like that anymore,” Fiedler said, lamenting the fact that the vintage metal will likely be thrown away or melted down.
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State Sen. Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach) also had objections to the department’s plan to install new lighting.

The city plans on installing lights along the path at 15-foot intervals. There are currently dilapidated lampposts located on the outside of the path, but the city’s plan would move them to the inside and install a shade that would shield the animal and plant life from the lights at night.

“We could save money by building on the existing side,” Addabbo said. “I’m not an engineer, but ... I’d like to respectively disagree with the Parks Department.”

The contract is currently under review by city Comptroller John Liu.

In 2008, former city Comptroller William Thompson rejected a plan to turn the reservoir into sports fields.

Forest Park’s Future: Parks Dept. Eyes Expanded Uses At Site Some Prefer Be Left Alone by Domenick Rafter - Queens Tribune

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With the first signs of spring showing, the closed section of Forest Park Drive between Metropolitan Avenue in Kew Gardens and Woodhaven Boulevard in Woodhaven begins to crowd with joggers, bicyclists, skaters and other locals just enjoying the first warm sun after a long cold, snowy winter. The trees are still bare and little green shoots are the only sign that winter has passed.

Sitting on top of the glacial moraine that slices Queens in two, Forest Park is the natural boundary that isolates the South Queens neighborhoods of Richmond Hill, Ozone Park, Woodhaven and Howard Beach from the more centrally-located Forest Hills, Glendale and Ridgewood. It is home to The Overlook, the Parks Dept.’s Queens Headquarters, an 18-hole golf course and Oak Ridge, the former clubhouse that now houses the headquarters of Queens Council on the Arts and a reception hall that boasts extraordinary views of South Queens right down the beaches in Rockaway and the runways at JFK Airport.

Forest Park doesn’t have the grassy fields that Flushing Meadows Corona Park has or the open marshlands that make up Alley Pond Park, but it is much larger than Queens’ other urban getaways like Astoria Park, Crocheron Park and Baisley Pond Park. Forest Park is a natural oasis without a master plan, but one that has gotten the attention of the Parks Dept., sometimes to the delight of the surrounding communities, sometimes not.

The Carousel

The Parks Dept. is looking for a new vendor to operate the Forest Park Carousel.

The century-old Carousel has been in Forest Park, on a hilltop only steps from Woodhaven Boulevard, since 1972, but since 2008, the carousel has been quiet, shuttered behind a chain-linked fence after former vendor New York One basically abandoned it. Local activists have been pushing the Parks Dept. to find a new vendor, but so far efforts have turned up dry.

The Parks Dept. issued a new Request for Proposals for the carousel, as well as the carousel in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, on April 8. Part of the RFP includes allowing the sale of alcoholic beverages at the Forest Park site, though only with food, and added an optional site for more amusements in the area between the carousel and Woodhaven Boulevard.

So far no interested parties have bid.

“If a proposal includes the optional amusement venue, the Forest Park location would expand to include the open area to the east of the carousel. This area slopes down to the low, wrought iron fence along Woodhaven Boulevard. The Parks Dept. envisions an amusement venue that would include small rides that cater to ages 12 and younger,” the RFP states. The area could also include games and other attractions subject to Parks Dept. approval, a proposal Ed Wendell, President of the Woodhaven Residents Block Association, likes.

“Additional attractions will increase the chances of making a good profit, which increases the chances that our carousel will be up and running,” said Wendell, who has led efforts to reopen the carousel. “It’s a very positive development.”

The Parks Dept. will mandate that the vendor operate the facility at a minimum during the months of April through September from 11 a.m. until sunset, seven days per week, weather permitting.

The contract would end Dec. 31, 2025. All proposals for this RFP must be submitted no later than Friday, May 13 at 3 p.m.

The Trails

The eastern two-thirds of the park, where its namesake forest exists, are covered by nature trails. These trails that meander through the park and connect Union Turnpike to the north with Myrtle Avenue and Park Lane South to the south, are packed with people on any given summer weekend, and the bridle path is frequented by horseback riders, who can often be seen alongside Union Turnpike.

But when the sun sets, a different demographic takes to the park’s trails. The trails that delights during the day have become notorious for being frequented by men engaging in sexual activity behind the thick brush, sometimes only feet from Park Lane South. A decade ago, the men in the park at night numbered over 100, but a mix of increasing police presence in the park, adding more lighting on trails and Forest Park Drive and more public acceptance of homosexuality have decreased those numbers to a dozen or so.

The reputation remains, however, and many who hike the trails come back with stories of strange events they come across deep in the woods.

“I saw a naked photo shoot in there while hiking,” said Nicole Peters, a Rego Park resident. “Some shady things happen in that park.”

George Seuffert Bandshell

Forest Park’s bandshell (above) underwent a massive renovation last year.

Acting almost as the epicenter of Forest Park activity, the Seuffert Bandshell has been home to summer concerts and plays for almost a century. Its adjacent parking lot has played host to special events like circuses. When music isn’t being played on its stage, it becomes a popular makeshift skateboarding park for local teenagers.

The bandshell that some have called “the cultural center of the community,” has been renovated at three times in the past 35 years, in 1977 and 1999 and once again last year when its wooden benches began rotting away and breaking, leading some to get splinters just sitting on them.

With the help of funds from Borough President Helen Marshall and Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village), even at the time when budgets were tight, the bandshell and its seating underwent a massive renovation in early 2010. The old wooden benches were replaced with more durable steel ones. The stage got a fresh coat of white paint and new trees and shrubs were added around the perimeter and among the benches, creating the image of a concert hall in the forest.

Ridgewood Reservoir

The Ridgewood Reservoir in Highland Park

Though not technically part of Forest Park, Ridgewood Reservoir shares the same glacial moraine on the other side of the cemeteries straddling the Brooklyn border. The reservoir was decommissioned in 1989 and given to the Parks Dept. in 2004.

Since then, nature has reclaimed the reservoir and local residents like it that way; but the Parks Dept. had other plans for it. Unlike the nature trails, the carousel and the bandshell before it, the City found itself at odds with the parks’ neighbors.

“In all our public meetings, never less than 75 percent of the people wanted it to be left natural,” said Community Board 10 member David M. Quintana.

Quintana said the Parks Dept. came in with a “preconceived plan” and never intended to listen to the desires of the community.

“It’s typical of how the Bloomberg administration operates,” he added.

In 2008, then-Comptroller Bill Thompson shot down a plan to redevelop the reservoir into recreational fields on environmental concerns, but approved a bid to upgrade and build new walkways around the perimeter of the reservoir, work that has already begun. But even those plans didn’t fit community wishes. The plan to put a path and new lighting around the perimeter did not include an overpass over busy Vermont Place to an adjacent parking lot that would allow children, seniors and disabled residents to access the site without crossing the thoroughfare.

As for Phase 2, which would include the recreation fields that Thompson killed in 2008, a lack of money and political will has been blamed for its demise. In the meantime, activists continue fighting on the state level, with support from legislators on the Queens side, to have the reservoir declared a protected wetland. Representatives on the Brooklyn side support developing the site as baseball and other athletic fields, something they say is badly needed in their neighborhoods. On the Queens side there are already fields farther east in Forest Park, like Victory Field and the Park Lane South tennis courts in Woodhaven.

Ridgewood Reservoir - The City Concealed

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The City Concealed: Ridgewood Reservoir from Thirteen.org on Vimeo.

Ridgewood Reservoir is one of those places that defies the common imagination of New York City. A lake sits surrounded by reeds and two massive basins, each with its own habitat. Dirt paths lined with iron gates from previous centuries surround the basins, but this all hides within a chain-link fence that cuts off access. The fence is a patchwork in constant development, telling the story of repeated entries with wire cutters. A few people might circle the outer fence’s road on foot or bicycle, but for the most part the site is empty.

When we first visited the reservoir with Rob Jett, a birder and local activist, I was struck by the variety of habitat. Aside from the center water body, there were hardwood trees, soggy wetlands, some sort of bamboo, grasses, and a host of other plant clusters. Every moment things were changing, even the ground. Some areas were rocky. Some had compacted dirt, others had soft soil. One wooded zone had trees growing on thin soil, roots exposed, trees slightly bouncing as we walked carefully between them.

Rob Jett and the Highland Park-Ridgewood Reservoir Alliance see the reservoir as an educational opportunity, a chance to take students and locals through distinct environments in a controlled space, but the city Parks department has on its eyes on the park for development.

Ridgewood Reservoir is one of a handful of PLANYC projects, in which the New York City Department of Parks & Recreations seeks to find new and creative uses for open or unused spaces. Although no master plan has been selected, active recreation (such as ballfields) are on the table, which has some local residents worried.

For active recreation the city is focused on one basin in particular, which has shallow soil on top of clay, a ground that they claim may never sustainably support a healthy native habitat. The Highland Park-Ridgewood Reservoir alliance points out that these same drainage issues could also make the site inappropriate for ballfields.

As the city moves forward on an early development phase, making improvements to the perimeter walkway, it’s clear that any thoughtful improvement will likely benefit this somewhat unknown space.

- bijan rezvani, producer

Agency Is Still Weighing Wetland Ruling For Reservoir by Robert Pozarycki - Times Newsweekly

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The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) remains no closer to making a decision regarding the potential declaration of the Ridgewood Reservoir on the Brooklyn/Queens border as a wetland, according to an agency spokesperson.


“At this time, DEC has not made any determination to map the ponded or vegetated areas within the Ridgewood Reservoir as regulated freshwater wetlands,” said Thomas Panzone in an e-mail to the Times Newsweekly in response to a state- ment made during Community Board 5’s Oct. 13 meeting that the agency was “90 percent certain” that it would classify the 55-acre site as a wetland.


The co-chairperson of Board 5’s Parks Committee, Steven Fiedler, told board members on Oct. 13 that the statement was made by a DEC representative during a recent meeting convened by State Sen. Joseph Addabbo and community residents regarding the fate of the reservoir.


According to Panzone, “DEC is in communication with New York City Parks and DEP, which have committed to conduct hydrological studies of the reservoir district to determine the current sources of water entering and leaving the reservoir basins.”


“Once these studies are concluded, the [DEC] will determine whether to conduct further studies of the vegetation and make a decision regarding whether to map this area as freshwater wetlands,” Panzone said.


Should the agency declare the reservoir as a wetland, the spokesperson said, the city’s Parks Department would then be required to submit permits to the state agency for any potential improvements it wishes to make in any or all of the basins. 


All applications would be restricted to “certain regulated future activities in the freshwater wetland or 100-foot freshwater wetland adjacent area.”


“The designation would mean that the city would have to demonstrate, through a permit application, that future uses of the area would be consistent with protection and preser- vation of the wetland resources,” Panzone added. He noted that the Parks Department would maintain responsibility for the management and maintenance of the reservoir if the wetland designation is administered.


Formerly used as the source of drinking water for Brooklyn and Queens, the Ridgewood Reservoir was taken completely out of the city’s water system in the late 1980s. Since being shuttered and left inactive, the site has evolved into a natural habitat filled with a wide assortment of plant and wildlife.


In 2004, the city’s Department of Environmental Protection transferred ownership of the reservoir to the Parks Department. The agency later declared its intention of developing the site—along with the adjacent Highland Park—into one of eight regional parks as part of the PlaNYC 2030 master plan launched by Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2007.


Community and environmental activists fought plans initially put forth by the Parks Department to develop athletic fields in one of the reservoir’s three basins as part of a $50 million overhaul. Funds for the project were eventually scaled back due to the fiscal crisis that gripped the city and country in 2008.


Currently, the Parks Department is in the midst of the first phase of improvements to the reservoir, which includes installing new fencing and lighting around the perimeter of the site. The project would not be affected in any way by any potential wetland declaration, it was noted.

Ridgewood Reservoir: Wilderness at the Edge of Bushwick by Katharine Jose | Capital New York

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The Ridgewood Reservoir. Photo by Katharine Jose

On a 50-acre piece of land on the border between Brooklyn and Queens is three-basin reservoir that was once part of the Brooklyn water supply system, and that hasn’t been touched in at least 40 years. Inside the chain-link fence around it is an impossible landscape: thick forest, wet meadows, a small lake ringed with reeds; the Ridgewood Reservoir has been restoring itself to its original ecology for decades. Standing in the right place on the 1.25 mile path, the place smells, sounds and looks like the marshes on the coast of New England. And it’s virtually unknown.


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CB 5 Parks Chair: Proposal For Fencing Falls Short by Patrick Clark - www.timesnewsweekly.com | Times Newsweekly

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Hopes Study Scuttles Reservoir Project Bids

The Parks Department has agreed to include historical replica fencing in its design for the Ridgewood Reservoir project, but the chairman of Community Board 5’s Parks Committee does not think that the city agency is going far enough.


Parks’ design for $7.6 million Phase 1 of the project oringally called for standard, 4’-high wrought iron or chain-link fencing throughout the reservoir, a fact which did not sit well with many community members, including Board 5 Parks Chair Steven Fiedler.


In a telephone interview with the Times Newsweekly, Fiedler said that the 4’ fencing would do little to deter would-be tresspassers, and replacing the historical fencing amounted to “throwing away our heritage.”


In a letter dated May 28, City Council Member Elizabeth Crowley took up the cause, imploring Queens Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewendowski to preserve the architectural feel of the original fencing.


Noting that in the past, the city has used examples from the Ridgewood Reservoir to model replica fencing, Crowley asked Lewendowski to “ensure that a fence much like the one that was installed in Central Park in 2003 is placed along the main basin at the Ridgewood Reservoir.”


In reponse, Lewendowski assured Crowley, in a letter dated July 15, that “replicated fence will be used at the overlook areas between basins 2 and 3 to maintain the historical integrity of the site.”


Fiedler, however, is not satisfied.


“It’s nothing,” he said. “We have 3,000’ of historical fencing. They want to throw it all out and put in a few feet of replica.”


“All I’m asking them to do is give us a price assessment on taking it out,” Fiedler continued, “sandblasting it, and putting it back in. If the cost turns out to be prohbitive, I can accept that.”


Fiedler also expressed hope that a state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) study currently underway would prevent Parks from getting started on Phase 1 of the project.


Speaking to residents at the Citizens for a Better Ridgewood meeting on Monday, July 26, Fieldler expressed his belief that Parks would hold off on awarding the contract until the DEC had determined whether the reservoir would be designated as a wetlands.


“That changes the whole scheme of things for the city,” Fiedler said. “If it’s declared a wetland, the city can’t design anything without state approval.”


Parks spokesperson Trish Bertuccio told the Times Newsweekly that the department is currently reviewing proposals for the project, and that Phase 1 is unaffected by the state’s wetlands study.

CB5 Parks Chair: Proposal for Fencing Falls Short by Patrick Clark, Times Newsweekly...

The Parks Dept has agreed to include historical replica fencing in its design for the Ridgewood Reservoir project, but the chairman of Community Board 5's Parks Committee does not think that the city agency is going far enough.

Parks' design for $7.6 million Phase 1 of the project originally called for standard 4'-high wrought iron or chain-link fencing throughout the reservoir, a fact which does not sit well with many community members, including Board 5 Parks Chair Steven Fiedler.

In a telephone interview with the Times Newsweekly, Fiedler said that the 4' fencing would do little to deter would-be trespassers, and replacing the historical fencing amounted to "throwing away our heritage."

In a letter dated May 28, City Council Member Elizabeth Crowley took up the cause, imploring Queens Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski to preserve the architectural feel of the original fencing.

Noting that in the past, the city has used examples from the Ridgewood Reservoir to model replica fencing, Crowley asked Lewandowski to "ensure that a fence much like the one that was installed in Central Park in 2003 is placed along the main basin at the Ridgewood Reservoir."

In response, Lewandowski assured Crowley, in a letter dated July 15, that "replicated fence will be used at the overlook areas between basins 2 and 3 to maintain the historical integrity of the site."

Fiedler, however, is not satisfied.

"It's nothing," he said. "We have 3,000 ft of historical fencing. They want to throw it all out and put in a few feet of replica."

"All I'm asking them to do is give us a price assessment on taking it out," Fiedler continued, "sandblasting it, and putting it back in. If the cost turns out to be prohibitive, I can accept that."

Fiedler also expressed hope that a state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) study currently underway would prevent Parks from getting started on Phase 1 of the project.

Speaking to residents at the Citizens for a Better Ridgewood meeting on Monday, July 26, Fiedler expressed his belief that Parks would hold off on awarding the contract until the DEC had determined whether the reservoir would be designated as a wetlands.

"That changes the whole scheme of things for the city," Fiedler said. "If it's declared a wetland, the city can't design anything without state approval."

Parks spokesperson Trish Bertuccio told the Times Newsweekly that the department is currently reviewing proposals for the project, and that Phase 1 is unaffected by the State's wetlands study.

Anais Fernandez, 16, Dies After Alleged Drinking Binge; Neighborhood Distraught by Erik Badia Will Cruz - NY Daily News

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Anais Fernandez was found passed out in Highland Park, and later died. An autopsy will be conducted Tuesday. Noonan for News

The teenage girl who died after drinking in a Brooklyn park was remembered Monday as a straight-A student who adored animals.

Anais Fernandez, 16, aspired to become a veterinarian, heartbroken relatives said. The student at Queens' Grover Cleveland High School passed out Sunday in Highland Park in East New York and later died at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center.

"Ay, Dios mio!" her distraught dad, Jose Fernandez, cried outside the family's Queens home.

Anais was hanging out and drinking with her unidentified boyfriend in the reservoir area of the park when she "just started throwing up," said a friend named Jose, who didn't want to give his last name.

Cops don't suspect foul play. The medical examiner plans to conduct an autopsy Tuesday.

Anais was preparing to go to college, her father said.

"She was all A's," he said in Spanish through an interpreter. "A lot of offers from a lot of universities."

Relatives and friends insisted that Anais didn't drink. "She never, ever drinks," said family friend Ana Rodriguez.

In her Ridgewood neighborhood, friends remembered Anais as a sweetheart who'd try to rescue birds and cats.

"This girl, she loved animals," said neighbor Patrick DeFillippino. "She used to take all the cats and feed them."

Man Apprehended Near Cemetery with Skull in Bag: Police by Rebecca Henely - YourNabe.com

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A member of the NYC Medical Examiner's office carries what police said was a human skull out of a walkway bordering Cypress Hills Cemetery. Photo by Christina Santucci

Police responded to a 911 call for an emotionally disturbed person near Cypress Hill cemetery Thursday and found him carrying a skull in a bag, said a spokesperson for the NYPD.

The spokesperson said that at 10:44 a.m. Thursday a Hispanic male, 37, called 911 saying he was planning to kill himself.

Officers from the 104th Precinct responded to the scene in Highland Park, adjacent to the intersection of Cypress Hills Street and the Jackie Robinson Parkway in Ridgewood. When they met the man, they found he was carrying a skull in a white bag, police said.

The skull appeared to be a number of years old and the case was not an open homicide, police said. The skull was being examined by the medical examiner’s office, police said Friday.

The man was removed to Elmhurst Hospital for examination, police said.

16-Year-Old Girl Found Dead In Highland Park Reservoir - 1010WINS.com

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Police in Brooklyn are investigating the death of a 16-year-old girl whose body was found Sunday inside the Ridgewood Reservoir in Highland Park.

The girl was unconscious and unresponsive when officers arrived at the scene around 5:30 p.m., police say. The teen was taken to Wyckoff Hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Police believe the girl was drinking with friends before she died. It is not known if the alcohol played a role in the teen's death.

Police say there is no evidence of foul play.

The New York City medical examiner is conducting an autopsy.

No, I Am NOT the Borough Historian by Jeffrey A. Kroessler - Historic Districts Council Newsstand

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I applied to be the borough historian of Queens because I thought, oddly enough, that the post should be held by an urban historian. After all, I earned a Ph.D. in urban history, and my dissertation was a history of Queens. I authored the article on the borough in the Encyclopedia of New York State, and rewrote and updated the entry for the second edition of the Encyclopedia of New York City, as well as dozens of other entries about Queens. I wrote the centennial history of the Queens Borough Public Library and co-authored Historic Preservation in Queens. I’ve written quite a bit about Robert Moses and his parks and highways, and my latest book, The Greater New York Sports Chronology, naturally features quite a bit about Queens.

But no, I want to make clear that I am NOT the borough historian.

Jack Eichenbaum is the borough historian. He is an urban geographer, not a historian. He leads interesting and popular walking tours. But as he revealed in a recent interview with the Daily News, he has absolutely no interest in historic preservation, and is sadly misinformed about the role of landmarking in keeping New York a livable city.

Perhaps I am not the borough historian because I am an uncompromising advocate for historic preservation. My wife and I live in the Sunnyside Gardens Historic District, and we worked hard to have our neighborhood designated. As a historian, I was well positioned to counter the misinformation put forward by opponents of designation.

I am disturbed that the man appointed the new borough historian wants to take the history out of historic preservation, calling the designation of historic districts a “frozen-in-time” approach. “A lot of historic districts are just so fussy,” he told the Daily News reporter. This statement displays both a profound ignorance of how landmark designation protects a neighborhood and contempt for those residents of the borough who are working toward such designation in places like Addesleigh Park. Such remarks belong to the Donald Manes era, not today.

Sadly, Mr. Eichenbaum is poised to continue the ineffective pattern set by his predecessors, Hank Ludder and Stanley Cogan. During their tenure, stretching from Donald Manes through Claire Shulman to current Borough President Helen Marshall, preservationists could expect precious little help from Borough Hall. Indeed, quite often we encountered outright opposition. I can recall no instance when the Queens borough historian took a proactive – or even a reactive – role in preservation battles. Actually, I can recall no instance when any of the five borough historians took up the cause of preservation.

I fought to save the Aquacade from the 1939 World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. There was not a peep of support from Stanley Cogan as Claire Shulman had it demolished. In keeping with that tradition, I doubt we will hear anything from our new borough historian about the importance of protecting the 1850s Ridgewood Reservoir, arguably the most important undesignated place in Queens today. I expect he could lead a tour along the terminal moraine through Forest Park to the reservoir, but I cannot imagine him speaking against the Parks Department plan to install playing fields covered with artificial turf where there is now a thriving wetland. It seems it would be enough to point out that where the playing fields are was once Brooklyn’s water system. Oh well.

Mr. Eichenbaum makes clear he will not work to save “just every old building.” We ought to ask, will he fight to save ANY old building? I for one do not think it is enough to point out the site where St. Savior’s used to be, or where the Aquacade once stood, or where Flessel’s once was. In this regard, Borough President Helen Marshall seems to be more in tune with the temper of her constituents. As she told the Daily News, when people see the history in their own neighborhoods, “they don’t want it to be destroyed.” That was the genesis of walking tours, actually, to bring greater awareness of the historic resources around us and feed the movement to preserve them. They were not born to foster antiquarianism.

The New York State Constitution mandates that every county appoint a historian, a post that is both official and symbolic. His is the voice for the historic resources of the borough, and surely that includes the built environment. Silence sends the wrong message. Instead of fighting to preserve historic sites so treasured by the people of Queens, the new borough historian will install a display of old things in Borough Hall. Now that’s a “frozen-in-time” approach.

Jeffrey A. Kroessler is a member of the HDC Board of Directors.

Reservoir Plan Foes Get Big Ally by Domenick Rafter - Queens Tribune

The Parks Department’s planned renovation of the former Ridgewood Reservoir may be on life support after local activists opposed to the plan got a powerful ally, City Comptroller John Liu.

Some activists, including a member of Community Board 5, have come out against a plan to renovate the site of the defunct reservoir. Though no plans have been finalized, the renovations could include athletic fields and new parkland. The reservoir, which became inactive in 1989, has since become a natural swampland and many locals want to keep it that way. They met with Liu last week, asking him to freeze contracts awarded in relation to the renovation of the site, which Liu hinted he might do.

“We’re working to figure out a way to make sure the project addresses the concerns, and meets the needs of the community,” Liu said. “Even in a city like New York, there are many opportunities to preserve natural environments.”

The Parks Department renovations would include the removal of dozens of decades-old trees and a century old fence, according to Community Board 5’s Parks Committee.

The Ridgewood Reservoir sits between Ridgewood, Glendale and Cypress Hills, Brooklyn right on the border of Queens and Brooklyn just south of the Jackie Robinson Parkway. It was constructed in 1856 and was used for 133 years as a location to store the back-up water supply for Brooklyn and Queens.

Since closing, the 58-acre site has become a natural marshland teeming with wildlife.

For Addabbo No Town Hall is Too Small by Daniel Bush - Glendale Register

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All politics is local all the time for State Senator Joseph Addabbo, who held another yet another town hall-style meeting, this one at I.S. 93 in Ridgewood.

Only three dozen residents braved the heat to hear Addabbo speak June 3, but the longtime elected official, who clearly relishes such meetings, appeared unmoved by the low turnout.

After losing his suit jacket (the tie stayed on), Addabbo jumped into a host of issues, from the Ridgewood Reservoir to the census to the elections this fall.

Community residents are battling the city over its plan to redevelop part of the Ridgewood Reservoir, the slice of overgrown wilderness on the Brooklyn-Queens border. Without referencing the Parks Department specifically, Addabbo said he opposes plans to build in the area.

“I am not in favor of any construction being done at the Ridgewood Reservoir,” he said.

A group of opponents recently met with Comptroller John Liu's office in a bid to block the city's plan, which Liu could do by freezing the Parks contract for the project.

Phase one work would upgrade pathways, fencing, and lighting around the three-basin reservoir, which is also being eyed by the state for possible protection. More controversial still is a proposed phase two plan that could include recreational fields for the reservoir's third basin.

Residents say the city should improve the ball fields at Highland Park, just steps from the reservoir, and leave the space as a nature preserve. Addabbo echoed that feeling.

“I love parkland and playgrounds, but I'm not going to destroy nature for another playground” when Highland Park is right nearby, he said.

On the upcoming election, Addabbo, who chairs the State Senate's Elections Committee, said now is not the time to make the switch to new voting machines.

The state has been ordered to do so to comply with federal legislation passed after the controversial presidential election in 2000. But Addabbo said New York doesn't have enough money to train poll workers in preparation for what promises to be a busy election season, and would be better served by waiting until next year.

“We're not ready financially,” he said. But if the state is forced to make the switch, he added, “somehow we will make it work.”

A Red Light On Park Project? by Ralph Mancini - Times Newsweekly

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The co-chair of Community Board 5’s Parks Committee announced during the panel’s May 24 meeting at Principe Park in Maspeth that he would seek a stop work order barring the start of the first phase of the renovations to the Ridgewood Reservoir.

Steven Fiedler told attendees that the panel would seek to halt plans by the Parks Department to install new lighting and fencing around the perimeter of the 55-acre site on the Brooklyn/Queens border, which the city plans to transform along with adjacent Highland Park into a new regional park.

According to Fiedler, the main point of contention centers around the proposed installation of a 4’-high fence surrounding the site, which he charged would not be tall enough to keep potential vandals and other trespassers out of the basins. Reportedly, the work would also require the removal of several trees.

Concerns about the height of the fencing were brought to the attention of Queens Borough Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski, but Fiedler charged that his opinions were not well received.

“She won’t listen and she catches an attitude,” he claimed regarding his past attempts to reach out to Lewandowski about his gripes with the project, which is scheduled to commence in the fall.

The Parks Department is reportedly in the process of receiving bids for phase one work, which would include the installation of stairs and an ADA-compliant ramp.

Reservoir Plans in Limbo by Chauncey Alcorn - YourNabe.com - Queens

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The Ridgewood Reservoir, which currently contains 58 acres of wooded area, marshlands and wildlife, was scheduled to receive safety improvements in 2009. More than a year later, those improvements are still on hold and are not likely to begin before December.

Queens park officials last year were scheduled to begin phase one of renovating the former Ridgewood Reservoir, but more than a year later no construction has begun and those same officials Tuesday said that is not going to change anytime soon.

The city Parks Department and Ridgewood residents have battled for years over what to do with the former reservoir, located in Highland Park, which was built in 1856 and used until 1989 to store a back-up water supply for Brooklyn and Queens.

Presently, the site, three wooded basins totaling at least 58 acres, is filled with wildlife, including 100 bird species, according to Gary Giordano, district manager of Community Board 5, which wants the city to leave the reservoir alone.

“Why take a natural place and make it into ballfields when you have ballfields that aren’t being taken care of right nearby in the same park?” he asked. “Thankfully, the mayor had a vision five years ago for a nature preserve and got this project funded with millions of dollars .... If the mayor didn’t have the vision environmentally to do something with the reservoir, that project would never have gotten done.”

But the project has not been completed. Years later, in fact, it has not even begun.

The Queens Parks Department last year hosted a series of meetings with community residents in Ridgewood and Glendale to find out what they want to happen with the reservoir and it became apparent the communities were divided over whether to make it into park space, a natural reserve or a combination of the two.

“None of that stuff has been decided yet,” Queens Parks spokeswoman Trish Bertuccio said.

But the department did decide to move forward with phase one of the project, improving safety measures, which includes repairing concrete stairs in the reservoir, widening turns in the perimeter path, installing or repairing lighting along the path and building an observation path on a causeway between two of the three basins.

Phase one also included building a perimeter fence around the basin, but city officials and the community board disagree on how tall the fence should be.

“We’ve had issues as far as phase one of the project goes with regards to the Parks Department only wanting a 4-foot fence for a good portion of the reservoir perimeter,” Giordano said. “We don’t think a 4-foot fence is tall enough to keep out the vandals.”

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Indecision aside, a Parks official said the phase one proposal first must be approved by city Comptroller John Liu before the project can move forward and that has not happened yet.

“I think it’s safe to say a minimum of six months before anything actually gets on the ground, but that all depends on if the comptroller actually signs off on it and other things,” the official said Tuesday.

After the plan is signed, it must go up for a construction bid.

“Usually the bid cycle lasts about three months. Then we will approve them and that might take another three months,” the official said.

That means the project proposed no later than 2005 is not likely to begin until around December or later, but Giordano said that is not a problem.

“Sometimes it’s worth waiting a little longer to do a better job as opposed to doing something wrong and having to redo it,” he said. “It’s usually better to have it done the first time.”

Locals Want New Ridgewood Reservoir Plan by Lisa L. Colangelo - NY Daily News

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Click on photos to enlarge...

LOCAL ACTIVISTS unhappy with a Parks Department plan to fix up the area surrounding the Ridgewood Reservoir are hoping city Controller John Liu will champion their cause.

They met with members of Liu's staff last week and asked them to freeze a Parks contract on the project unless changes are made.

"We're working to figure out a way to make sure the project addresses the concerns, and meets the needs of the community," Liu said in a statement. "Even in a city like New York, there are many opportunities to preserve natural environments."

Parks officials are still deciding how to turn the decommissioned reservoir - which has naturally devolved into a swampy oasis of green on the Brooklyn-Queens border - into a park. Many community activists and elected officials have said they want the spot to remain wild while others said some of the space should be used for recreational fields.

During his tenure as controller, William Thompson held up contracts until the city agreed to reconsider plans for the site.

The first phase of the project includes fixing up walkways, fencing and lighting, along with a new handicapped-accessible ramp.

But Steve Fiedler, chairman of Community Board 5's parks committee, said that plan would require the removal of dozens of trees and discard 100-year-old historic fencing.

And instead of creating a new ramp near busy Vermont Place, Fiedler and others said the city should fix up an existing ramp on the other side of the reservoir or build an overhead ramp.

"Look at how hard it is to get across," Fiedler said as he tried to cross the street during a recent visit to the site with other supporters.

"It also doesn't make sense to place a 4-foot fence around this," he said. "You really need a 6-foot fence."

Parks officials pointed out only three trees would be removed to create the ramp.

"The first phase of the Ridgewood Reservoir enhancements were extensively discussed with the community and vetted by Queens Community Board 5 in July 2009," said Queens Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski. "This phase is essential because it will address security, lighting and improve access to the park."

She also said that only "invasive species that are compromising the infrastructure and threatening the delicate biodiversity of the reservoir" will be removed.

Photos by: Sam

Bids Go Out on Ridgewood Reservoir Phase One Work by Daniel Bush - Queens Ledger

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The phase one redevelopment of Ridgewood Reservoir is moving forward, despite continued opposition from community leaders who want to see the plan tweaked.

The Parks Department will begin accepting bids for the $7.6 million project May 28, according to Steve Fiedler, chairman of Community Board Five's Parks Committee. He said construction is scheduled to begin in the fall, which gives the board a few more months to make its case.

“Hopefully we can get the Parks Department to realize the community doesn't like what's going on,” he said.

Phase one work includes new lighting, pathways, stairs, an ADA-compliant ramp, and a controversial four-foot fence around the three-basin reservoir on the Brooklyn-Queens border.

CB5, numerous elected officials, and community groups all support the creation of a taller six-foot perimeter fence to ward off vandals and an enclosed pedestrian bridge over Vermont Place, among other changes.

So far, the Parks Department has rejected the recommendations.

Parks told Fielder a taller fence would disturb views of the reservoir, but he pointed out that thick summer foliage does that anyway. “We don't believe the reason they gave holds any merit at all,” he said.

Queens Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski caused a stir at a meeting last week when she announced that dozens of trees would be cut to accommodate phase one construction.

The work is part of a larger, $26 million redevelopment of the reservoir, which was decommissioned in 1989.

Queens Civic Congress Roundtable Meeting w/Queens Parks Commissioner Lewandowski - May 17th...

Tonight the Queens Civic Congress held a civic roundtable about Parks. Queens Parks Commissioner Dottie Lewandowski and Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito were to attend. Dottie made it but Melissa "had business to attend to in Atlanta." Queens Coalition for Parks and Green Space Chair Fred Kress was also a panelist.

David Quintana, Henry Euler and Steve Fiedler from the Ridgewood Reservoir group were in the audience. A number of park questions were posed to Commissioner Lewandowski by the moderator, Kim O'Hanion, but none were about the future of the reservoir. Then she opened it up to questions from the audience.

David Quintana was called on and asked Ms. Lewandowski why she was not being straightforward about the Parks Dept's plan to cut down about 100 mature trees during phase 1 which is scheduled to start this Fall. That's right - 65 trees will be removed around the edge of the basins and 35 near the Jackie Robinson Parkway to allow for a handicapped entrance. Dottie replied that the trees being cut down were more like weeds that had implanted themselves in the walls of the basins and would have to be removed anyway. She said that a forester was consulted and approved the removal of each tree.

US Fish & Wildlife Federal Wetlands Inventory Map (locate map on website)

Quintana pressed on about the DEC possibly declaring the area as a wetland. Lewandowski replied that the DEC has not declared it a wetland because they would have to consider each basin individually and that each basin is not large enough to be designated (New York State Fresh Water Wetlands Act - See '24-0301.- see page 6 Commissioner's study.). She claimed those are the rules and expressed confidence that the reservoir will not be declared a wetland for that reason showing no concern whatsoever about the diverse life found within the basins.

Later on, Henry Euler asked about whether budget cuts would affect the plans for phase 1. She responded that the money was still there for phase 1 and again said that the Parks Dept planned to move ahead with it in coming months. She said they were also ready to present their 3 plans for phase 2 to the Community Boards, but that the DEC stepped in and said they were investigating whether the reservoir could be classified as a dam and not a wetland. She claimed that if the DEC does classify the reservoir as a dam, then all three basins would have to be denuded of vegetation in order to prepare them to receive water again. She claimed that Parks is working hard to ensure that doesn't happen.

Her entire explanation made no sense and does not jibe with the statements that DEC released to the press when asked about the issue. Two attendees sitting in front of me turned around and suggested that she had been making these things up as she went along.

Note that this was a public meeting and although there were no members of the press there, everyone was taking notes and she will have a hard time denying what she said should a reporter question her about this.

Forum News: State Delays Reservoir Redevelopment By Conor Greene - Forum News Group

The Parks Dept might want to argue with the Snapping Turtle (below pic) as to whether or not the Ridgewood Reservoir is a wetlands...It should be noted, that the snapping turtle is New York's official state reptile and is the largest freshwater turtle in the state...Furthermore, I have been told by a Herpetologist that the turtle pictured is probably between 15-20 years old...

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Parks Explains Need to Cut Down 65 Trees for Phase One

Snapping Turtle at Ridgewood Reservoir - David M. Quintana

While the city Parks Department is prepared to move forward with its phase one redevelopment of Ridgewood Reservoir, it appears that the second phase - which will determine the future use of the property - is on hold as the state decides whether the land should be designated a wetland.

As has been reported, the state Department of Environmental Conservation is currently investigating whether to classify the property on the Queens-Brooklyn border, which contains three basins, as wetlands. Doing so would complicate the Parks Department’s proposed plans for the site, which range from keeping it entirely natural to building ball fields in one of the basins.

“The determination to regulate an area is based on its characteristics and functions as a wetland,” wrote DEC spokesman Thomas Panzone. “In the years since the reservoir was decommissioned, the basins, or part of the basins, have developed some wetland characteristics such as seasonally or permanently wet areas and wetland-dependant vegetation.”

Panzone added that the agency’s investigation comes as a result of a request to map the reservoir as a wetland. That request was made by the public through local elected officials, according to activists that have been lobbying for the site to be kept in its natural state.

Those activists, including David Quintana of Ozone Park, were surprised to learn this week that Parks plans to cut down 65 trees as part of phase one. That aspect of the project, estimated at $7.6 million, includes new lighting and fencing along the perimeter of the basins and better handicap accessibility.

Parks says that, of the 65 trees, nine are dead and the remaining 56 are invasive species, have weak root systems or are compromising existing infrastructure. Three are being removed to create the ADA path. A parks spokeswoman added that “all of our plans for phase one were approved by all the appropriate agencies, and we will continue working with them as we move forward to develop this site.”

Quintana and others who attended a recent Queens Civic Congress meeting on parks say they were also surprised by comments made by borough Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski regarding the potential wetlands designation. According to several in attendance, she suggested the site might not qualify for wetland designation because the basins are not large enough individually, and would have to be connected to meet the size standards.

The DEC said that while wetland designation is normally based on size, “under certain circumstances other factors can be considered.”

There was also talk the DEC might instead classify the site a dam, which could require stripping the basins of vegetation, according to several attendees. The DEC noted that, while the Ridgewood Reservoir system contains a dam, it “can be managed in a number of reasonable ways.” Panzone added, “DEC is not aware of any proposal for stripping the basins and has not issued any such order.”

When asked about Lewandowski’s comments that the DEC is looking at it as a dam, the Parks spokeswoman responded, “That is not what the commissioner said and there is no discussion or plans of stripping the basins. As mentioned in the [prior] statement, the conditions on the site are being reviewed.”

Parks had been set to present three options for phase two to local community boards earlier this year, but that was delayed by the possible DEC intervention and wetland classification. Those pushing for the site to remain natural say they are hopeful the state’s involvement will prevent the city from building ball fields on the property.

“I think DEC s going to stall them, and that should be a long process,” said Quintana.

Steven Fiedler, who attended the meeting as a member of the Juniper Park Civic Association, said there is another complicating factor aside from the potential wetland investigation. He says there are two 46-inch pipes on Seneca Avenue and Vermont Place that the DEC wants sealed before any phase two work moves forward.

“That’s a huge undertaking that sets phase two back,” said Fiedler, who also chairs Community Board 5’s Parks Committee. “In my opinion, you are not going to see it for five years.”

Gary Giordano, district manager of CB 5, echoed the sentiment that state involvement is a good thing. “Whatever the technicalities of classification are, speaking for myself, and I think for some board members too, I’m hopeful that with the state DEC being involved, there is more of a likelihood that the reservoir basins will remain in very much a natural state,” he said.

Giordano added that he doesn’t expect to see any phase two plans in the near future. “I don’t think they are going to show anything, even to the community boards, until [the DEC investigation is complete] because one of the options may be an issue with DEC if it is to put ball fields in one of the basins,” he said. “I would think that certainly would be an issue with DEC. Sometimes more is less, and I don’t think anyone on our board wants to see those ball fields in the basins.”

A number of elected officials have thrown their support behind keeping the site dedicated for passive recreation, including Assemblyman Mike Miller (D-Woodhaven).

Our Neighborhood - Times Newsweekly

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Except from article...

The building of the Ridgewood Reservoir at present-day Highland Park—and the many celebrations in the City of Brooklyn when the new water supply began delivering, in the late 1850s—spread the name of Ridgewood throughout America’s fourth largest city. In fact, glasses of water in the parts of Brooklyn tied in to the new distribution system were soon known to all as “Ridgewood highballs.”