GANTRY GRANT
Hunters Point Parks Conservancy receives
grant for Gantry Plaza beautification
The Hunters Point Park
Conservancy (HPPC)
received a grant for
Gantry Plaza State
Park beautification efforts
and its volunteer
outreach programs.
Through the Environmental
Protection Fund’s Park and
Trail Partnership program,
the HPPC team was awarded
$21,600 to replace damaged
tree guards throughout Gantry
Plaza State Park and to improve
their volunteer gardening program.
HPPC will contribute an
additional $3,150 in matching
funds, for a total budget of
$24,750.
The tree guards are a vital
piece of park infrastructure
that protects the park’s maples,
oaks, willows and more to ensure
their health and longevity.
“It’s inspiring to see the transformational
effect of the Parks
and Trail Partnership Grants
and how they are enhancing
the ability of Friends groups
to make an even greater contribution
to the stewardship
of New York’s great outdoor
spaces,” Parks & Trails New
York Executive Director Robin
Dropkin said. “These grant
funds will enable groups to
leverage more private and
federal funding, marshal more
volunteer power and augment
the state’s historic investment
in parks, trails and other public
outdoor places.”
Tree guards throughout the
more than 20-year-old Gantry
State Park have become damaged
over years of use. They
provide an important barrier
between a tree and the sometimes
harsh urban environments,
reducing soil compaction,
shielding the trunk from
physical damage, and preventing
pet waste from entering
the tree pit.
“The Hunters Point Parks
Conservancy continues to inspire
the residents of Long
Island City to appreciate their
spectacular and precious waterfront
22 JANUARY 2 0 2 1
parks,” New York State
Parks NYC Director Leslie
Wright said.
Another portion of the funding
will be put toward increasing
the capacity of HPPC’s volunteer
gardening program.
In 2019, thanks to a similar
grant, HPPC brought in over
1,000 volunteers to Gantry
Plaza State Park and the immediately
adjacent Hunters
Point South Park, a nearly 50
percent increase from the year
before. With increased park usage
and cuts to park budgets
in 2020, which are expected to
cause greater stress in 2021,
the conservancy envisions an
even more significant need for
an effective and efficient volunteer
program.
“I am grateful to Parks &
Trails New York for once again
providing Hunters Point Parks
Conservancy with this muchneeded
grant,” Hunters Point
Parks Conservancy President
Rob Basch said. “Gantry Plaza
State Park has seen unprecedented
usage and this funding
will allow us to make sure
our trees remain safe and
thriving. We also appreciate
the funding to help the Conservancy
grow and continue
to bring more volunteers into
the park keeping Gantry Plaza
State Park the jewel along the
East River that it already is.”
EXPLORE YOUR BORO
Legends of LIC
Who was Vernon?
BY GREATER ASTORIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Ebenezer Stevens, born on Aug. 11, 1751, in Roxbury, Massachusetts,
died on Sept. 2, 1823, in Rockaway, New York,
and is buried in Astoria. He was a lieutenant colonel in the
Continental Army during the American Revolution, a major
general in the New York state militia in the War of 1812, and
a New York City merchant.
His training as an officer in the artillery gave him an unparalleled
opportunity to be at more pivotal points of the Revolution
than anyone, excepting perhaps only George Washington.
His distinguished record included Bunker Hill, the British
surrender at Saratoga, and war’s end at the Siege of Yorktown.
He served with distinction under Nathanael Greene, Marquis
de Lafayette and George Washington.
It was after fleeing from the Boston Tea Party that he found
shelter with his friends, Samuel and William Vernon, merchant
bankers of Newport, Rhode Island, and leaders in the
resistance to the taxation policy of Britain. He would never
forget their kindness.
At war’s end, Stevens moved to Astoria, purchasing
much of the Hallett Farm they lost as a penalty for supporting
the British. He was also one of the first to see the
Treaty of Paris (ending the War of Independence) as it was
delivered to New York, then the seat of government, by
neighbor John Delafield.
The beginning of the 19th century was a time of rapid
growth where farmland transformed into blocks and lots and
meandering country lanes transfigured into turnpikes directly
linking communities. In the budding neighborhood of
Ravenswood, the location of Stevens’ farm, he plotted streets
named for Revolutionary leaders: Warren, Hancock, Hamilton,
Washington, Marion, Jay … and as a tribute to his friends
at the beginning of his career, Vernon.
The Ravenswood, Hallett’s Point and Williamsburgh Turnpike
Road & Bridge Company, with the backing of Astoria’s
Stephan Halsey, was chartered in 1838 to connect the Village
of Astoria with the City of Williamsburgh in Kings County.
It had the first bridge over Newtown Creek linking Hunters
Point to Greenpoint. Until the charter expired in 1868, the
toll house at either end was entitled to a fee derived from
a somewhat overly detailed fee
structure base on a dizzying array
of conveyances and types of traffic
(animal or human).
It never seemed to be well run
or make a profit, but it did cement
an important link between
Astoria and Brooklyn to a family
whose identity is all but forgotten.
It ran along the right of way,
dubbed on old maps as “Vernon
Boulevard,” its name today.
Greater Astoria Historical Society
44-02 23RD ST. #219
LONG ISLAND CITY, NY 11101
INFO@ASTORIALIC.ORG / WWW.ASTORIALIC.ORG
718-278-0700
BY BILL PARRY
link
/WWW.ASTORIALIC.ORG
link
