8 times • AUGUST 4, 2016 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com How would you improve the Glendale entrance to Forest Park? BY ANTHONY GIUDICE agiudice@ridgewoodtimes.com @A_GiudiceReport Forest Park is one of the borough’s biggest and best parks, encompassing several playgrounds, a bandshell, tennis courts, its famous carousel, and much more, so getting people inside the park to enjoy its facilities is a must. However, many park-goers either do not know about, or just neglect to use one of the park’s main entrances — the Glendale entrance located on Myrtle Avenue and Union Turnpike. The current entrance at that location is little more than a concrete walkway going under the Jackie Robinson Parkway overpass that transforms into an extremely narrow dirt path, before tapering off into shrubbery and bushes. Pedestrians can barely make their way down to the entrance of the park, which is blocked off my massive barriers to prevent vehicles from entering Forest Park. Many residents aren’t even aware of this entrance and use the larger, much more noticeable entrance at Forest Park Drive and Myrtle Avenue to make their way into Forest Park. That entrance gets a lot of use because it is right near the basketball courts, several pathways into the park and its attractions, as well as the Jackie Robinson Parkway. As a way to bring more people from Glendale into Forest Park, one lawmaker asked the community how they would like to see the rarely used entrance of the park remade. Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley, whose district covers a portion of the 538-acre park, along with Queens Commissioner of the NYC Parks Department Dorothy Lewandowski, hosted a visioning session on Wednesday, Aug. 3, in order to get residents’ input on how to re-envision the Glendale entrance. There is a spacious green area at the intersection of Myrtle Avenue and Union Turnpike that could be used to draw attention to the new-and-improved entrance. The pathway needs to be expanded to allow people to get into the park from that part of Glendale. There is also a need for more lighting in that area, especially under the Jackie Robinson Parkway overpass. Michelle Cook Lopez of Cook’s Arts & Crafts Shoppe, located at 80-09 Myrtle Ave. directly across the street from Forest Park, believes the idea of improving the Glendale entrance to the park is a good idea, but that there are other, more pressing matters that should be dealt with first. Lopez would like to see the pathways in Forest Park fixed, as many of the paths are full of divots, making it difficult to bring children and pets around the park. Lopez has also been advocating for a dog park to be built in Forest Park. “I would love to see a dog park in Forest Park, right behind the softball fields, too,” Lopez said. “I mean people already let their dogs off their leash in that area. All you would need to do is put up a fence around the area.” Photos: Anthony Giudice/RIDGEWOOD TIMES Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley and the NYC Parks Department are hosting a visioning session to re-envision the Glendale entrance to Forest Park. Photos: Maria Gotay/RIDGEWOOD TIMES TV series ‘Gotham’ shoots in Ridgewood with actor Ben Mackenzie, revealing spoilers By Maria Gotay editorial@ridgewoodtimescom @RidgewoodTimes Walking to the Seneca Avenue M train was unusually exciting on Tuesday, Aug. 2. Hundreds of crew members and actors returned to the blocks surrounding Seneca and Gates avenues. Filming of an episode for the upcoming season of the Emmy-nominated TV series “Gotham” was underway, revealing secrets from the next season. From 8 a.m. through about 4 p.m., a cast of welldressed actors, cameramen, production assistants and makeup artists braved the muggy heat. Onlookers were excited as Ridgewood residents don’t see film crews and celebrities often enough! Gotham is a DC Comics series set in era-ambiguous New York City, with scenes ranging from the 1930s to the present. The story is centered around the character of Detective James Gordon and his rise to prominence in the years before Batman’s arrival. James Gordon is played by Ben Mackenzie, most known for his role as Ryan on “The O.C.” in the early 2000s. Mackenzie was joined by actors Donal Logue, Robin Lord Taylor and David Mazouz on set in Ridgewood. They were filming episode 304, an episode surrounding lead character Oswald Cobblepot’s (aka Penguin) political campaign. Depression-era costumes hinted that the episode may take place in the early 1960s. There was campaign paraphernalia on sign posts and cars featuring photos of the candidate and volunteer actors handing out flyers for the politician. So far, fans of the show know that Penguin plays the role of an influential and powerful gangster … but now they can add “aspiring politician” to that list! Some fans of the show chippered with excitement as the cameras rolled. Nicole, 16, and Jimmy, 13, are Ridgewood residents and “huge fans” of the show. They found out about the shooting by seeing Ridgewood Social’s Twitter post this morning and were excited to spot Mackenzie onsite today. As for why they love the show so much, they pointed out that it’s a rich precursor to many of the more well-known superhero stories. “I wanted to see how it all started,” said Jimmy. Nicole agreed: “To see why the villains became the villains.” Gotham returns to FOX Sept. 19, 2016. Keep your eyes out for future Gotham scenes being filmed right in our backyard!
RT08042016
To see the actual publication please follow the link above