Fed up fi shermen want their park back
BY ROSE ADAMS
Dozens of fi shermen who
cast their lines off southern
Brooklyn’s Floyd Bennett
Field are slamming federal
park offi cials for closing the
park in order to store idle MTA
buses — claiming that the closure
has taken a toll on their
fi nances and mental health.
“I think of it not only as a
place to catch, but also as a
place to de-stress,” said Adrian
Morris. “Ninety percent of the
fi shermen take their fi sh for
food … The fi sh market is not
exactly cheap.”
Federal offi cials closed the
1,000-plus-acre greenspace
in late April so that the MTA
could store buses that have
been taken out of commission
because of reduced service
during the COVID-19 pandemic,
according to Brenda
Ling, a spokeswoman from
Gateway National Recreation
Area, which oversees the the
fi eld.
Park offi cials opted to seal
off the entrance to the park because
a partial closure would
be “diffi cult to maintain and
resource intensive,” Ling told
The City in April.
Following the park’s closure,
a group of more than
400 gardeners lobbied offi cials
to let them back in, claiming
that the gardens provide them
with needed food and downtime.
Park stewards headed
the gardeners’ calls, and, one
week later, sent letters of permission
COURIER L 10 IFE, MAY 29 -JUNE 4, 2020
to each green thumb
that allowed them back into
the fi elds.
But now, more than 50 fi shermen
are wondering where
their permission letters are —
arguing that the park is an important
source of food and leisure
for them, too.
“I go everyday. That’s where
I spend most of my time,” said
Leondre Descartes, a retired
Mill Basin resident who says
he’s fi shed at the fi eld every
summer for the last 20 years.
“We breathe fresh air and we
meet our friends and we talk.”
The popular fi shing spot,
located on the eastern side of
the park near aircraft Hangar
B, gives the anglers access
to some of the best fi sh in the
city, including large striped
bass, blue fi sh, fl ounder, fl uke
and sea robin — making it a
citywide destination, said the
fi shermen.
“There is not many access
to fi shing areas,” said Morris,
a Brownsville resident who
has traveled to Floyd Bennett
Field for 15 years. “Fishermen
come from all over.”
National Parks offi -
cials, however, said that the
chances of allowing the fi shermen
back into the fi eld are
slim, since unlike the gardeners,
they do not form a larger,
legal entity.
“The reason the gardeners
are able to have access is
because the Floyd Bennett
Field Gardeners’ Association
is a formal organization and
the Floyd Bennett Field Gardeners’
Association holds a
lease with the National Park
Service,” Ling told Brooklyn
Paper. “The Floyd Bennett
Field Gardeners’ Association
is managing the activity and
assuming liability.”
Offi cials added that the
fi shermen can fi nd similar
fi shing spots in Queens and
eastern Brooklyn.
“We realize that each fi shing
enthusiast has their favorite
spot; but we have many
miles of shoreline around
Jamaica Bay and along the
Rockaways to provide fi shing
opportunities while Floyd
Bennett Field is temporarily
closed,” said Jen Nersesian,
the superintendent of
Gateway National Recreation
Area.
But the Floyd Bennett Field
fi shermen, who have already
paid $50 for their annual fi shing
permits at the fi eld, say
they remain loyal to their beloved
spot.
“Everyday I go up there
and I see a cop and ask him
when it’s going to open,” said
Decartes. “We really miss it.”
Leondre Descartes with a big catch. Adrian Morris
Making Sense of the Census
1,000 New
Reasons to
Complete
the Census
By Julie Menin, Director of NYC
Census 2020
The 2020 Census is still happening,
and there’s still time for you to
be counted. And now, there are 1,000
more reasons to fill it out.
Aside from the hundreds of billions
of dollars in funding the census
brings for our communities over
the next decade, the 2020 Census is
now bringing 10 lucky New Yorkers a
chance to win $1,000 in Seamless gift
cards.
As of Memorial Day weekend, just
over 50% of NYC households have responded
to the census. This is good
news, but we need to go much further.
The census is a national competition
for resources, and we need everyone
counted to make sure all our communities
get the funding we deserve for
our hospitals, emergency services,
health care, schools, housing, infrastructure,
and much more.
Especially as we recover from
COVID-19, those funds are going to
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this unprecedented partnership
isn’t just a great new incentive
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source for at least a few New Yorkers.
Ready to be counted? Fill out the
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Ten winners will be selected weekly
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“Making Sense of the Census” is a
weekly column from Julie Menin, Director
of NYC Census 2020. Every week we
will be publishing pieces from Julie and
guest authors laying out the facts and
answering tough questions about this
year’s census. Fill out the census now at
my2020census.gov.
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