N E W S
A U G U S T 18
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.
18 LEHAVRE COURIER | AUGUST 2018 | WWW.QNS.COM
“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.”
L E H A V R E
Photo courtesy of Bobby Gellert
Workers and volunteers rehabilitate the Little Bay Park baseball field on June 26
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