N E W S
J U L Y 8
L E H A V R E
Work to rehab Queens baseball fi elds
continues at Whitestone park
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76
A Whitestone ballfield is ready to
welcome the next generation of baseball
players as a local effort to revitalize
the sport in the borough continues.
On June 26, an all-day rehabilitation
effort occurred at Little Bay Park,
where workers refurbished and manicured
the ballfield in the span of about
six hours. The field is the second in
northeast Queens to see renovations in
recent months in an undertaking led by
Bobby Gellert, a local businessman.
The Courier first spoke with Gellert
when he began the initiative in May,
shortly after the Whitestone native
decided he wanted to begin a project
to give back to his hometown. Gellert
had reached out to DAC Athletic Club,
an organization he belonged to as a
child, and told current executive director
John Zullo about his desire to see
baseball’s position as “America’s pastime”
locally restored.
The duo quickly got to work rehabilitating
one of the two existing fields
at Fort Totten in Bayside, hoping
improved conditions at the neglected
grounds would foster an increased
interest.
Taking a similar approaching to the
first Fort Totten ballfield, Zullo coordinated
with a field maintenance company,
Three Guys Maintenance, and
Gellert, through his company Shares of
New York, donated the necessary funds
to renovate at Little Bay Park.
“We did this project for the same
reason as the first: to motivate kids
to play baseball,” Gellert said. “We
received a lot of feedback from the
first field and then immediately from
the second field. We continue getting
really great feedback from the community.”
This time around, the group had
to coordinate with the NYC Parks
Department, which owns the property.
Gellert said representatives at the city
agency welcomed news of the capital
investment.
“NYC Parks has a need for assistance
in capital — for working on not
only baseball fields, but on other parks
throughout the city,” he said.
Plans to renovate the second Fort
Totten field, which is in the worst
condition of the three, are still in the
planning stages, as it will take the largest
funding commitment. Gellert also
said he and Zullo have identified other
baseball fields throughout Queens that
need attention.
Gellert is in the process of forming
“Fields of New York,” a nonprofit
organization through which he and his
company will raise funds to further his
mission to revive baseball in the local
community. The Chappaqua resident
hopes to further his mission in Queens,
Westchester and beyond.
“The thought is that the leagues
around town will use the fields, more
kids will come out, and it will sort of
snowball from there,” he said. “It’s
starting to have an impact. Everything
is really starting fall into place.”
8 LEHAVRE COURIER | JULY 2018 | WWW.QNS.COM
Photo courtesy of Bobby Gellert
Workers and volunteers rehabilitate the Little Bay Park baseball field on June 26
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