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QUEENS WEEKLY, JUNE 23, 2019
Bryant High in Long Island City unveils renovated fi elds
BY MAX PARROTT
After a rainstorm the
night before, the new
state-of-the art sports
complex at William Cullen
Bryant High School in
Long Island City was put
to the test for its grand
opening the following
morning, June 14.
“Today, it’s a dry field.
And that’s because there’s a
lot of gravel under here. We
designed it to absorb water,
so that’s something to think
about. We can retrofit our
city that way,” said Carter
Strickland, state director
of the Trust for Public
Land, in his address to the
student body.
Joined by the borough
president’s office and the
representatives from the
trust, the high school
unveiled the large new $3
million field that includes
regulation soccer and
softball fields.
The funding for the deal
was provided by Borough
President Melinda
Katz and facilitated by
the Trust for Public
Land, an organization
which provides funding
to create parks and
protect land. It was the
largest project that the
organization has worked
on to date in terms of size
and expense.
“Queens has some of
the most some of the most
overcrowded high schools,
and the borough president
is always advocating for
new schools and new
extensions, so to be able to
fund a field for a school that
has over 2,000 students.
It’s going to help them in
their education as well,”
said Monica Gutierrez,
the education director for
Katz, who was absent from
event, reportedly tending
to a sick child.
The plush turf field,
which will be open to the
public on the weekends,
also includes a track
straightaway, batting
cages, a new scoreboard
and a fitness equipment
room. As soon as the ribbon
was cut, the assembled
students ran on the field
and began taking selfies in
front the new facilities.
“I just want to stay in
here,” said senior softball
player Sophia Topalis
while trying out the new
batting cages.
The field was built as
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the result of advocacy on
the part of the students,
parents and school
representatives, who took
their campaign for the
new field the borough
president’s parent advisory
board meetings.
“The field was in
disrepair. Kids were
falling and they were
having accidents,”
said Gutierrez.
In addition to the fields,
the borough president’s
office recently allocated
the funding for brandnew
lockers and new
technology at the Long
Island City school.
The Trust for Public
Land takes on a lot of
projects that involve
building playgrounds
and athletic fields for
public school in the city,
but the organization also
endeavors to build other
types of parks.
Strickland said that
a major project for them
is Queensway, a 3 1/2-
mile stretch of the former
Rockaway Beach branch of
the Long Island Rail Road
that has been abandoned
for 60 years.
The organization wants
to reopen it as a bike and
pedestrian walkway that
would stretch over seven
subway lines.
In his speech to the
students, Strickland said
that he remembers when
he played football in high
school, “it was very hard
for us to play against some
of the schools with nicer
facilities. You’re going to
intimidate some people out
there. This is great. And
more important you’re
going to have pride in what
you do.”
William Cullen Bryant High School unveiled its state-of-the art sports complex on Friday.
Photo: Max Parrott/QNS