Veteran fi ghts to maintain VC Park’s Memorial Grove
Aging Connect is the City’s
Direct Link to Aging Services
New York City’s resources are
some of the most impressive and
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the City’s support for New
Yorkers has expanded in more
ways than ever before. With so
many options, it can sometimes
feel overwhelming to navigate
the complex network of
services. This is, in part, why
the New York City Department
for the Aging (DFTA) launched
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New Yorkers have a number
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straightforward answers.
Aging Connect is DFTA’s new contact
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New Yorkers can dial 212-AGING-NYC
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No matter what the residency status,
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You can also call Aging Connect if
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BRONX TIMES REPORTER,24 FEBRUARY 28-MARCH 5, 2020 BTR
inform you of available services
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Connects, New York State’s
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Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez
is Commissioner of the New
York City Department for the
Aging. Prior to joining the
de Blasio administration,
she served in executive
leadership roles with AARP,
EmblemHealth and other
organizations. She also
served as New York’s first
Latina Secretary of State.
Photo from the Aging Connect Ribbon Cutting on February 18, 2020.
BY KYLE VUILLE
One Korean War veterans
battle to maintain a veteran’s
memorial upkeep has proved
to be a labor of love and a salute
to fellow Bronx veterans
like himself.
The now 88-year-old Herb
Barret said he stumbled
upon the Grove Memorial in
the early 2000’s while sitting
on a park bench on the edge
of Van Cortlandt Park along
Broadway Ave. when he noticed
what looked like a rock
sticking out of the ground in
a barren plot of land among
fallen trees and no fence enclosure.
Barret got up to take a
closer look to fi nd a plinth
with a bronze plaque honoring
a WWII hero.
Barret, an aircraft mechanic
in the Marine Corp.
and friend, Don Tannen, a
WWII Navy fl ight line controller,
began their mission
to spruce up the long forgotten
memorial.
Being a member of the
Jewish War Veterans of the
U.S.A., he began contacting
the local American Legion
and Veteran of Foreign Wars
Post asking how Memorial
Grove came about.
Memorial Grove was designed
by the Parks Department
in partnership with the
Peter G. Lehman No. 8646
VFW Post to honor WWII veterans
in 1949.
The plot is also home to
memorials to honor Franklin
Delano Roosevelt and
Bronx chapter of the sons
of the American Gold Star
Mothers, a group dedicated
to mothers whose sons were
lost in the war.
Barret’s questioning and
pestering of local offi cials,
assemblymen and councilmen
to have the park restored
became a full-time job for the
retired Marine.
According to Barret, most
veterans in the Kingsbridge/
Riverdale area did not even
know of the memorial.
“The Parks Department
forgot about that, it got
trashed over the years, people
came and barbequed and
littered all over the grove,”
Barret said.
In 2007, the nuisance Barret
had become to local offi -
cials proved worthy. Assemblyman
Jeffrey Dinowitz had
leveraged the Parks Department
to install a full enclosing
fence and clean the property.
Barret remembered back
in 2009 Councilman Koppell
and himself meeting with the
Parks Dept. Commissioner
on a rainy day standing underneath
the awning of the
maintenance building.
“Mr. Koppell is a very
tall man, towering over the
woman, kept asking her ‘how
much money do you need to
restore the park?’ and fi nally
she said $250.
The councilman allocated
$250,000 to the Parks Department
and set out to fi nd a contractor.
After a considerable
amount of time due to delays
in fi nding a contractor that
fi t the criteria, the park was
restored.
Since then, Barret has
taken it upon himself to replace
missing fl ags and keep
faux fl owers alongside each
plaque.
“I always keep the fl ags in
the trunk of my car and my
wife buys the fl owers at all
the discount stores around
here,” Barret said.
Barret is turning 89 next
month, but can still be found
raking leaves into piles at Memorial
Grove for the Parks
Department to collect.
Korean War veteran Herb Barret stands in front of Memorial Grove on
the edge of Van Cortlandt Park in Kingsbridge. Barret has taken it upon
himself to maintain the war memorial over the past years.
Photo by Kyle Vuille/Schneps Media