14 JULY 5, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Study: Two local parks haven’t been
restored in more than a century
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
Two historic pieces of NYC Parks
property in Ridgewood and
Maspeth are long overdue for
improvements, according to a recent
study that claims Queens has gone the
longest of any borough without major
parks infrastructure upgrades.
The study released on June 26 by the
Center for an Urban Future (CUF), a
New York-based think tank, points out
that six Parks properties in Queens haven’t
been revitalized in more than 100
years. Two of those properties include
the Carl Clemens Triangle on Myrtle
and Cypress Avenues and Cornelia
Street, and the Calvary Monument in
the middle of Calvary Cemetery.
Commissioned by the city and built
in 1866 to honor Union soldiers who
died in the Civil War, the Calvary
Monument features a 50-foot-tall
granite obelisk with bronze garland
and a bronze fi gure standing at the top.
Four bronze soldiers are also stationed
around the base of the monument
standing on pedestals.
The park is one of many in the city
that serve as burial site, and there
are 21 Roman Catholic Union soldiers
buried around the monument. The
cemetery — named aft er Mount Calvary,
where Jesus Christ was crucifi ed
according to the New Testament — has
grown over time to become the largest
cemetery in the United States with 365
acres.
According to the Parks website, the
monument received a new fence and
upgrades to its granite and bronze
details in 1929, which is just shy of 100
years ago.
The city acquired the property on
which Clemens Triangle sits in 1914
by condemnation for street purposes.
The triangle currently features four
benches, trees and red square brick
paving.
In 1985, it was dubbed by Mayor Ed
Koch as the Carl Clemens Triangle
aft er the longtime owner and publisher
of the Ridgewood Times, which
used to be located across the street
from the triangle. Clemens shared at
least a portion of ownership in the
Times from 1933 until his retirement
in 1982.
While the Parks website does not
mention any capital improvements to
the triangle in the past, Myrtle Avenue
Business Improvement District Director
Ted Renz said the curbs could be
seeing some alterations this coming
summer as part of the Department of
Design and Construction’s “safe routes
to schools” initiative.
Photo via Google Maps
The city as a whole has 150 gardeners
for 20,000 acres of parkland — a
ratio of 1 gardener to every 133 acres.
In San Fransisco, by comparison, there
are 200 gardeners for 4,113 acres of
park land — a ratio of one gardener to
every 20 acres.
On average, the study notes,
Queens parks haven’t seen signifi -
cant improvements since 1992, the
longest period without investment
in the city.
The Calvary Monument inside the Calvary Cemetery in Maspeth.
After Texas visit, Meng seeks bill to help immigrant children
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
Queens representative Grace
Meng continued her fi ght for
immigration reform this week
with new legislation introduced
within days of returning from immigration
facilities along the U.S./
Mexico border in Texas.
The Congresswoman introduced
two bills to the House of Representatives
that would improve living
conditions for children separated
from their parents after illegally
crossing the border. While visiting
the McAllen Border Patrol Precessing
Center and Port Isabel Detention
Center in Texas, Meng witnessed the
damaging eff ects of family separation
fi rsthand and has been critical
of the lack of oversight in reuniting
families.
“It is appalling that parents who had
their kids ripped away from them are
still separated from their children,
and that the president still has no
concrete plan to bring them back together,”
said Meng in a press release.
“But while these children are detained
without their parents, it is essential
that the government provide them
with the best care possible, and that
they have advocates who are on their
side. My bills would ensure that children
are aff orded these vital protections,
and I urge all of my colleagues
to support these two measures. It is
critical that the best interests of these
children be served.”
Meng introduced the Better Care
for Kids Act, which would require
improved training for federal personnel
who are tasked with caring
for children and ensure that they
can minimize trauma experience by
“tender-age children.”
Her second measure, the Child Advocate
Program Re-authorization Act,
would bring back the Child Advocate
Program that expired in 2017. This
initiative appoints independent
child advocates for vulnerable unaccompanied
alien children and child
traffi cking victims, and the bill would
extend the program through 2022.
On June 1, the Department of
Health and Human Services announced
its desire to provide a child
advocate program for at least 550
children in locations around the
country, including New York and
Brownsville, Texas — where the Port
Isabel Detention Center is located.
Both bills have been referred to the
House Judiciary Committee where
they are awaiting further action.
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