Page 5
Fall 2014
NATURAL RESOURCES PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION
anyone, decided to yell at us.
The Citizens Committee had
issued a grant of $600 for
benches and planters. In late
August, NRPA staff purchased
and assembled a pair of garden
benches and secured them with
chain and fourteen inch galva-
nized steel spike to the site.
Planters and shrubbery were
added.
Strollers were soon seen at the
site and some cigarette butts testi-
fied to neighbors’ usage of the
space.
Some people, in fact, like it too
much.
Within 10 days of installing the
benches, the chains were clipped
and the benches were gone. The
planters walked a few days later.
We didn’t bother calling the authori-
ties because, technically, we were
trespassing in the first place. It is
very sad, but like planting a garden,
you have to plant extra in allowing
for varmints, because that is a risk
you take in undertaking any venture.
So, the Little Park That Never Was
turned out to be a learning experi-
ence. We remain upbeat, but will
lick our wounds, measure our losses
and consider our options before at-
tempting this one again.
abandoned or demolished. Security
for those homesteaders remaining is
provided by a company using black
and gold Mustang coupes.
There was a car parked at the turna-
round for the Sanitation trucks at the
north portion of Fox beach.
I made a right turn and traveled
south towards Gateway Great kills
park.
The phragmites are overgrown, the
wind was whipping it around, looked
a little like a prairie. The road had
several near crater size potholes and
the access gate was not operable.
This area is supposed to be man-
aged jointly by NYC Dept. of Envi-
ronmental Protection and NYC Dept.
of Parks , but mostly it is neglected.
After another 1,500 feet, I parked
sive use area, Ocean Breeze Park.
This former industrial area has
grown over and been reclaimed by
nature, including the famous Ocean
Breeze turkeys. It had been intend-
ed to be used by the state Dormitory
Authority as the future home of the
College of Staten Island. Then, with
de-institutionalization, the site of the
former Willowbrook State School
became available.
With its pre-
existing buildings and infrastructure,
the more central location won out
over the seaside site. The Dormitory
Authority turned over the site for use
as a natural area.
It was the intent of the NRPA to
place a tiny oasis into a paved
portion of the site near Staten
Island University Hospital. Just
behind a traffic barrier at the
end of Mason Avenue, a small
area about the size of a basket-
ball court had been paved as a
bus turnaround and then used
as a temporary construction
depot during infrastructure ac-
tivities at the hospital.
Determining ownership of the area
proved to be the first hurdle. Each
query was followed by days or
weeks of waiting for replies or mak-
ing nudging follow-up calls. NYC
Parks stated the site belonged to the
city Department of Transportation.
The DOT replied the area was
owned by SI University Hospital.
The hospital’s architect replied that
the institution received a permit for
temporary use during construction,
but ownership returned to the city
(
State?).
Eventually we decided to find out
who owned the spot by installing
fixtures and waiting to see who, if
We are always looking for
people to come to the
monthly meetings and
bring us ideas and
suggestions for future
activity. All are welcome!
MEETING SCHEDULE
ON THE
1
st
TUESDAY
OF THE MONTH
Meetings held at the
Nature Center at Blue
Heron Park
December 2, 2014
January 6, 2015
February 3, 2015
March 3, 2015
April 7, 2015
May 5, 2015
June 2, 2015
July 7, 2015
August 4, 2015
September 1, 2015
October 6, 2015
November 3, 2015
Fox Beach Walk
By Jim Scarcella
In early November , I had the oppor-
tunity to visit Fox Beach in Oakwood.
It was quite eerie traveling down
Tarlton Street, many houses were