4 times • JULY 2, 2015 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.timesnewsweekly.com Councilwoman hears Ridgewood park woes BY ANTHONY GIUDICE [email protected] @A_GiudiceReport After parkgoers raised issues with the conditions at Rosemary’s Playground in Ridgewood, Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley met with concerned parents at the playground on June 26 to hear their plea and see what improvements could be made. Stephanie Sauer and Caroline Stark formed the group Let’s Fix Rosemary’s Playground to address the community’s issues with the park. Since its inception, the group has gained over 150 likes on its Facebook page, proving that this issue is a major concern residents who frequent the park. Approximately 20 parents and residents came out to the park to support the cause and voice their concerns to Crowley. Users of the playground brought up issues concerning the elevated flower beds, the deteriorating playground equipment and what could be done with the open space area of the park that currently has no use. “The elevated flower beds are our number one issue with the playground,” Sauer said. “Kids climb into the elevated flower bed and we are nervous of the pesticides used in them. Our kids also climb up there and run around. They could fall and hurt themselves.” Some parents suggested planting shrubs up to the edge of the flower beds so children would not be able to access them, or removing them completely. “What is the benefit of having these plants?” asked Ben Brown, a resident of the area that uses the playground. “You could use the space better. It’s just wasted space at this point. It’s not providing shade or anything.” After presenting their concerns, the parents asked Crowley where funding for the proposed changes could be found. “Things don’t happen overnight in the city,” Crowley told the parents. “Let’s look for funding. Looking for funding is the first step. Then we can start looking at a long-term plan.” The members of Let’s Fix Rosemary’s Playground understand that this process will take time and results are not going to be seen immediately. “We don’t think that things will change tomorrow,” Stark said. “We just want to set a plan in action.” “We have realistic expectations,” Sauer added. “We don’t expect things to get done tomorrow, or cheaply.” Now that the issues have been raised, Crowley noted, an expert from the Parks Department needs to inspect the park and determine which changes could be made and how much the changes would cost. “The next step, before I can move any further is to have professionals come and evaluate the park,” Crowley said. “Having the Parks Department let us know how much it would cost is a good first step.” TIMES NEWSWEEKLY (USPS 465-940) is published weekly by Schneps NY Media LLC, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361. Periodicals postage paid at Flushing, NY. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Times Newsweekly/Ridgewood Times, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361. Crowley invited the members of Let’s Fix Rosemary’s Playground to a meeting in July at her office to continue the conversation and see what the next step in the process of getting repairs to the playground. Rally over Ridgewood/Bushwick bus rerouting BY ANTHONY GIUDICE [email protected] @A_GiudiceReport In the face of a proposed bus route change by the MTA, members of the United We Stand Neighborhood Association and residents of Bushwick and Ridgewood rallied and marched to oppose the new B26 and Q58 bus routes, which on June 28 started traveling down their blocks on the Ridgewood/Bushwick border. The march was set to take place Saturday afternoon, but after meeting with a representative from the MTA on Wednesday, the group decided to move the rally to Sunday, the day the bus routes officially changed, in order to maximize the protest’s impact. “They did not give us any notification that they would be doing the reroute of the buses,” said Flor Ramos, member of United We Stand Neighborhood Association. “The MTA never informed the public that anything was happening.” “There were around 150 people in the meeting,” Ramos added. “We have support from Councilman Rafael Espinal and from Brooklyn Community Board 4.” On the afternoon of June 28, protesters marched down Putnam Avenue to Ridgewood Place and up Palmetto Street, the new route which the buses would be taking. Residents took out their smartphones to snap photos and take videos of the buses trying to turn onto Ridgewood Place from Putnam Avenue. The protesters were not surprised when the buses could not complete the turn. “This is our concern,” Ramos told the Ridgewood Times in a phone interview. “Those buses can’t fit through there. Even if they made it to Palmetto, they couldn’t turn there either.” Ramos said that both the B26 and Q58 buses failed to make turns onto Ridgewood Place, at which point they were rerouted to another block, where they also had troubles making the turn. In the end, the buses were brought back to their original route, according to Ramos. “I think the rally was very successful. It brought awareness to people in the area who didn’t know about it,” Ramos said. “We are bringing a lot of light to this issue. These buses turning on small residential streets is dangerous. The narrower streets will cause more accidents.” According to Ramos, the MTA is looking to implement no parking restrictions on the corners of the blocks on the rerouted bus lines to remove vehicles from the corners, allowing buses to safely turn onto and off of Ridgewood Place, in order to complete the new route. RIDGEWOOD TIMES/Photo by Anthony Giudice Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (left) meeting with parents at Rosemary’s Playground on June 26 to address community concerns with the park. Photos courtesy United We Stand Neighborhood Association Residents holding signs protesting the MTA’s rerouting of the B26 and Q58 buses. Photos of buses trying to turn on the narrow streets of their new route.
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