Author: Cornershop

c. Joseph O. Holmes

Winter Guide to Prospect Park

January 11, 2018

Temperatures have dropped and snow is in the air—time to head to Prospect Park! We’ve collected everything you could possible need to enjoy a frosty trip to the Park, whether you’re a skater, sledder, hiker or historian. Image c. Joseph O. Holmes.

Winter Activities

Winter at Prospect Park Alliance

Winter Through the Ages

Mayor Announces Car-Free Prospect Park

January 2, 2018

Today, Prospect Park’s entire loop drive—east and west—became permanently off limits to public vehicular traffic. The change follows the Park’s first car-free summer in 2017. The West Drive of the Park had been off limits to vehicular traffic since June 2015, while the East Drive was open to weekday morning rush traffic until the end of 2017.

“Prospect Park is Brooklyn’s backyard. I married Chirlane here. This is where my kids played little league. And I have always wanted it to be the safe, quiet refuge for Brooklyn’s families that it was intended to be.  Restoring Prospect Park as a car-free oasis will improve the lives of the millions who use this park today and of generations to come,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio in a recent statement.

During the car-free summer—from July 17 through  September 11, 2017—DOT estimated that recreational Park users outnumbered cars during morning rush by 1,000 users to 300 cars. After Labor Day Weekend, New York City received petitions with more than 1,100 signatures calling for the return of full-time, car-free hours for the entire Park. 

While the analysis of the car-free trial is still being finalized, its preliminary results clearly indicate no alternative driving route experienced more than a minimal delay, with most experiencing no change in travel times whatsoever. Based on that data, officials are now confident a fully car-free park can be implemented without adverse impact. These results are consistent with those seen after the closure of the West Drive in June 2015, when the most affected alternative southbound route saw an increased travel time of less than a minute, while other afternoon drivers actually saw travel times improve. After the January car-free hours take effect, DOT expects to closely monitor traffic around the park for changes in traffic patterns, and expects to adjust traffic-signal timing and make other changes as needed.

“Prospect Park Alliance applauds Mayor de Blasio, DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg and Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver for working to ensure a car-free Prospect Park,” said Sue Donoghue, President of the Prospect Park Alliance. “As Brooklyn’s Backyard, it is important to do all we can to ensure the Park is a safe and tranquil destination for the millions of visitors who depend upon it for recreation and relaxation.”

At a press conference announcing the news, Mayor de Blasio was introduced by Danayri Sanchez, a student at BASE High School on nearby Washington Avenue, who works with Prospect Park Alliance as a Park Youth Representative, leading tours and workshops, and guiding interpretive play at Lefferts Historic House: “Working at Lefferts Historic House with families from all over the city, I have learned just how important it is to the community to have a safe place to run, play or walk your dog, free from speeding cars, honking horns and nasty exhaust.”

Learn more about the Park Drive, and the rules of the road.

c. Brittany Buongiorno

Doctor’s Orders: A Walk in the Park

January 1, 2018

Should doctors be handing out prescriptions for a walk in the Park? Increasingly, studies suggest that a dose of nature does a body good. Bestselling author Florence Williams and New York Times health columnist Jane E. Brody report on the science behind what many of us know intuitively: that enjoying the outdoors makes us happier and healthier.

Luckily for those of us who live in Brooklyn, access to nature has been central to the development of our borough over a century. Chartered in 1834,  Brooklyn became the nation’s third largest city within thirty years. The resulting crowds and unsanitary conditions prompted the first American attempts at urban planning, with public green space seen as a health necessity more than an aesthetic one. James T. Stranahan, a business and civic leader, spearheaded the creation of Prospect Park as head of the Brooklyn Parks Commissioners, overseeing the Park’s creation from inception to completion with designers Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. In the early 1860s, Stranahan argued that a park in Brooklyn “would become a favorite resort for all classes of our community, enabling thousands to enjoy pure air, with healthful exercise, at all seasons of the year…”

Today, Prospect Park’s lush 585 acres include 250 acres of woodlands—Brooklyn’s last remaining forest—and also the borough’s only lake, which are sustained by Prospect Park Alliance’s dedicated crews of horticulturalists, arborists and forest ecologists. Anyone who has explored one of the Park’s nature trails, or enjoyed a stroll along the watercourse, can attest to its restorative powers, but what is the science behind this?

For her new book Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and more Creative, Florence Williams traveled across the globe to report on cutting-edge studies that provide concrete links between exposure to nature and health. In one study, an Essex-based environmental economist launched an app that mapped participants’ happiness against their location and found that we are “significantly and substantially happier outdoors…” Further east in Japan, a team of researchers gathering statistical evidence to back up the Biophilia theory, which states that humans experience lower stress levels in nature because we evolved in the natural world. And in Utah, neuroscientists are quantifying how exposure to nature can increase cognitive sharpness and even combat attention disorders.

During her 42 years as the Personal Health Columnist at The New York Times, Jane E. Brody has regularly reported on how a lack of physical activity can cause a host of health issues including childhood obesity, type 2 diabetes, asthma, and vitamin D deficiency. She has linked these issues to a decline in time spent outdoors, warning against the dangers of “Outdoor Deprivation Disorder.” But, according to Brody, the benefits of outdoor activity are becoming more widely acknowledged throughout the medical community, “a growing number of like-minded doctors have begun writing specific prescriptions for outdoor activity.”

The conclusion seems simple–if modern scientific data tells us that getting outside is good for our health, then we should make a point to venture outdoors on a regular basis. In Nature Fix, Williams recommends getting “quick bursts” of the natural world, and where better to do this than in Brooklyn’s Backyard.

Join Prospect Park Alliance and its community partners for a variety of free and low-cost recreation and nature education activities year round. The Park boasts a 3.35-mile path for runners and bikers, the Long Meadow Ball Fields, the Parade Ground, the state-of-the-art LeFrak Center at Lakeside and a year-round Tennis Center. The Alliance also offers more than 800 public programs each year throughout the Park, which engage nearly 75,000 visitors. With so much exciting activity and stunning landscape, it is no wonder that the Park attracts more than 10 million visits each year.

 

c. Noel Hefele @noelhefele

New Year’s Eve Fireworks

December 20, 2017

Join Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams and Prospect Park Alliance for Brooklyn’s most spectacular New Year’s Eve Fireworks Celebration at Prospect Park’s iconic Grand Army Plaza. This free event includes live entertainment by Brooklyn’s own Quintessential Playlist starting at 10:30 pm, followed by fireworks at the stroke of midnight. The event, now in its 38th year, attracts tens of thousands of revelers to Prospect Park, making it one of the city’s most popular celebrations.

This event is free and open to the public.

RSVP to let us know you are coming!

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c. Paul Martinka

Enjoy a Winter Walk

December 7, 2017

One of the best walks on a winter’s day is a route that will take you to Lookout Hill, one of the highest points in Brooklyn, with unparalleled views of the City and beyond. Starting out at the Lincoln Road entrance, cross the drive and follow the path down and to the right under the historic Cleft Ridge Span–a bridge dating back to 1872 and decorated with a rare concrete style known as Beton Coignet. Take the path along the water to the left that leads through the Park’s historic Rustic Arbor (pictured above) and eventually to the Terrace Bridge.

Past the bridge is an important memorial of the Revolutionary War: the Maryland Monument. Designed by Stanford White in 1894, the monument pays tribute to the brave soldiers of the Maryland Regiment who lost their lives during the Battle of Brooklyn, fending off the British as George Washington led his troops to safety across the East River. The stairs beyond the monument will take you to the top of Lookout Hill.

Lookout Hill was of particular interest to the Park’s designers Fredrick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, who envisioned the site offering sweeping panoramic views of New York Harbor and the Catskills. The sapling trees that dotted the hillside eventually grew into towering maples, which obscure these views except for the winter months. After enjoying the view, walk back past the Maryland Monument toward the recently reopened Wellhouse.

Designed by Calvert Vaux, the Wellhouse was a marvel of technology at its completion in the 1870s. Drawing from one of the largest manmade wells in the world, it was the heart of the mechanical water system that flowed through every stream and waterfall in Prospect Park. Curiosity brought thousands of tourists to the site, which led to the construction of Terrace Bridge to accommodate the carriage traffic. In 2017, Prospect Park Alliance completed the conversion the Wellhouse into an eco-friendly comfort station!

From the Wellhouse, complete your walk by continuing west and heading across the Park drive to Vanderbilt Playground, or extend it by continuing around Brooklyn’s only Lake and head to the LeFrak Center at Lakeside, where you can enjoy a hot drink at the Bluestone Cafe and try ice skating, curling and more.

Post pictures of your walk on social media with #prospectpark, and enjoy!

c. Chasi Annexy

PPA Profiles: Iris Weinshall and Chuck Schumer Reflect on 30 Years of Prospect Park Alliance

November 16, 2017

Iris Weinshall and U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer have many accolades to their names. Weinshall is the Chief Operating Officer of The New York Public Library and the former commissioner of the NYC Department of Transportation. Senator Schumer is the senior United States senator from New York and the current Senate minority leader. Schumer served New York in the House of Representatives from 1981 to 1999, and before that he was a three-term member of the New York State Assembly. 

Another notable accomplishment: Weinshall is the Chair of the Board of Directors of Prospect Park Alliance and both Weinshall and Schumer are passionate advocates of Brooklyn’s Prospect Park.

“There is nothing more beautiful in the morning than seeing all the people exercising and enjoying Prospect Park,” says Weinshall. “This really is one of New York’s gems.”

“There’s no entrance fee to Prospect Park,” muses Schumer, “and everybody comes from different backgrounds: economic, ethnic, racial, religious, gender and orientation. I sometimes just walk through the Park and stop and talk to people—you meet everybody. Every part of New York comes here.”

Both Weinshall and Schumer are locals, born and raised in Brooklyn and now living across the street from the Park. “I remember going sledding as a little boy,” says Schumer. “We didn’t live near the Park. We lived in southern Brooklyn, but as a treat, my father would drive us to Prospect Park, and we’d go sledding. And then we did it with our kids.” 

The couple married in 1980, and started a family in Brooklyn. “Chuck and I raised our two daughters in Park Slope, and we spent a lot of hours in Prospect Park. Both our daughters played soccer and softball,” says Weinshall. “When I walk around the Park in the spring and summer, and I see those softball games happening, it brings back fond memories for me of when our kids were growing up.”

In 2007, Weinshall joined Prospect Park Alliance’s Board of Directors, and in 2014 was elected Chair of the Board, a position she holds today. 

In 2017, Prospect Park Alliance celebrates two anniversaries: the 150th anniversary of Prospect Park, and the 30th anniversary of Prospect Park Alliance. “To celebrate the 150th anniversary of Prospect Park is remarkable. The Park’s forefathers really had the vision for what they wanted Brooklyn to be,” says Weinshall. 

“I suppose 150 years ago when this Park was first built, people wondered what would be future of this Park, would it deteriorate like so many other things? But it’s probably even more beautiful and more well-used today than it has ever been,” adds Schumer. “Prospect Park Alliance, chaired very ably, has done an amazing job keeping up the Park and getting the surrounding communities involved. And my wish is very simple: that the next 150 years be every bit as good as these 150 years have been.”

“For Prospect Park Alliance, it’s been a great 30 years,” says Weinshall. “We’ve really accomplished a lot, and we will continue to serve not only this Park, but this community.”

Become a member of Prospect Park Alliance today to help sustain the Park, and enjoy special introductory rates.

Terry Christensen and Leslie Beller at the Prospect Park Alliance’s 1998 Woodlands Ball

In Memoriam: Prospect Park Alliance Advocates Terry Christensen and Leslie Beller

November 10, 2017

This month, Prospect Park Alliance mourns the passing of two individuals, Founding Board Chair Terry Christensen and longtime Board Member Leslie Beller. These dedicated members of our community leave a lasting legacy on Prospect Park. 

Henry “Terry” Christensen III
The Founding Board Chair of Prospect Park Alliance, Terry Christensen passed away on November 3, 2017. He founded the Alliance with Tupper Thomas in 1987 and served as Chair of the Board of Directors for 20 years, until he stepped down in 2007. He first became a supporter of Prospect Park in 1983 when he gave $100 to the Alliance’s precursor—Prospect Park Tree Trust—and instantly became the Park’s largest individual donor. 

Christensen lived across the street from the Park, and enjoyed its acres with his four children. “I love everything about Prospect Park,” Christensen reminisced in a 2015 interview. “I have so many memories in the Park, picnics in the Park with our children, walking around the watercourse… It’s a place of unending beauty. That’s why it’s so important, it’s the backyard for all the people of Brooklyn.”

Tupper Thomas, as Prospect Park’s first Administrator, reached out to Christensen to ask for his help in the Park, and in 1987 they launched the Alliance with the blessing of Mayor Ed Koch. They called their new organization an “Alliance” rather than a “Conservancy,” because in their view they were not “conserving” the Park, but rather bringing together the public and private sectors in innovative new ways. The model that they created has been widely admired and adopted throughout the country.

During Terry’s tenure the Alliance grew its annual operating budget from $40,000 to $10 million—the Alliance now provides a majority of the staff and resources to care for the Park. Overseeing the restoration of the Park’s 1912 carousel was his first project as Board Chair, and restoring Brooklyn’s last remaining forest was his last. While everybody loves the Carousel, which was dedicated to him in 2007, the forest and the park’s landscape were his real passion.

As Al Garner, who succeeded him as Board Chair, has said, “Terry set the bar for truly effective leadership” while making it look easy and brought a rare combination of vision and practicality to the task. Quite simply, the Alliance would not exist without Terry’s leadership, for that we—and millions of Brooklynites—will forever be grateful. His legacy lives on through our beloved Park, which he called his “fifth child.” 

An attorney with Sullivan & Cromwell and then McDermott Will & Emery, Terry led an extensive international practice advising multinational families, family offices and trustees. In addition to his service to the Alliance, Terry was actively involved in community and cultural life. He served as a member of the BAM board for 25 years and provided steady guidance to many other organizations’ boards including Theater for a New Audience, The Rita + Alex Hillman Foundation, the American Council for Oriental Research and many others. 

Christensen passed away at the age of 72. He is survived by his wife Constance—they celebrated their 50th anniversary this summer—as well as his children Alexander (Susan), Gus (Courtney Booth), Elizabeth and Katherine, four grandchildren and a sister, Karen Cheeseman.

Read more about his life in The New York Times.

Leslie Beller
A longtime Board Member of Prospect Park Alliance, Leslie Beller passed away on October 30, 2017. For more than 27 years, Beller served on the Prospect Park Alliance Board of Directors, including as Secretary, co-chair of the Development Committee, and a member of the Operations and Design + Construction Committees. She was deeply committed to making Prospect Park a safe and vibrant destination and was an avid park-goer herself, spending many weekends on the Long Meadow and the Parade Ground as her children grew up playing on the sports fields.

Her boundless enthusiasm touched so many corners of the Park and the lives of so many Brooklyn families. Beller championed the restoration of some of the Park’s most iconic features, including the woodland Ravine and historic Boathouse, while campaigning for dramatic improvements, such as the celebrated Samuel J. and Ethel LeFrak Center at Lakeside. The LeFrak Center was a particularly significant milestone for her. As she herself said, back in the early 1980s when she was teaching her daughter to skate at the former Wollman Rink, she could only dream of an organization that could think that big and create something as beautiful as Lakeside.
 
A magnetic personality and fearless fundraiser, Beller helped grow the Alliance from a small grassroots organization into a professional and renowned leader in the field, while never losing sight of the importance of engaging the community and all of the neighborhoods surrounding the Park. She constantly inspired new friends and neighbors to become involved with the Alliance. Leslie was a true force of nature—loyal, passionate and generous—and a great friend. The Alliance was able to celebrate her legacy, along with former Board Chair Al Garner’s, at its 2015 Gala.

Leslie also served as a board member of The Brooklyn Museum from 2002 until her death, as well as of the Park Slope Civic Council. Leslie died peacefully at home surrounded by her husband Alan, her daughter Elizabeth and son David, their spouses Michael and Brigid and her granddaughter Clementine. 

Read more about her life in The New York Times.

Emerald Ash Borer Discovered in Prospect Park

October 27, 2017

Today, the New York State Departments of Agriculture and Markets (DAM) and Environmental Conservation (DEC) confirmed the first-ever discovery of Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) in New York City in Prospect Park.  Of an initial survey of 10 suspected trees in Prospect Park by Prospect Park Alliance—the non-profit that cares for the Park in partnership with the City, three were confirmed to be infested by this invasive pest by a Cornell University researcher. 

Prospect Park Alliance has removed three trees to date that succumbed to this infestation, located along the Ocean Avenue perimeter of the Park, and additional affected trees in this area will be removed over the winter. NYC Parks, DEC, DAM and Prospect Park Alliance are taking immediate action to limit the spread of infestation and protect New York City’s more than 51,000 ash trees.

“The Emerald Ash Borer infestation was detected in Prospect Park thanks to vigilant monitoring of the tree population by Prospect Park Alliance arborists, a year-round tree crew committed to the protection and preservation of the Park’s 30,000 trees,” said John Jordan, Director of Landscape Management for Prospect Park Alliance. “The Alliance will continue to monitor ash trees in the Park, and will work closely with New York City Parks Department, USDA and DEC to continue tracking and responding to this infestation.”

EAB is a non-native species of beetle whose larvae kill trees by burrowing into the inner bark and thus interrupting the circulation of water and vital nutrients. EAB-infested trees are characterized by thin crowns, sprouts on the trunks of the trees, and the signature d-shaped exit holes adult beetles leave on trees’ bark. EAB only affects ash trees, which constitute roughly three percent of NYC’s street trees. EAB has been present in New York State since 2009.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo recently awarded a $75,000 Urban Forestry Grant to the Prospect Park Alliance to conduct a tree inventory of Prospect Park. The inventory will include an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 trees in the landscaped areas of the park, representing about half of the total population. The tree inventory will include an invasive insect, pest, and disease detection survey by incorporating the USDA Forest Service early pest detection protocol (IPED).

Help support Prospect Park Alliance’s work to sustain the Park’s 30,000 trees by donating a commemorative tree; becoming a member or making a donation to the Alliance.
 
Additional information about EAB is available on the DEC website.

PPA Profile: Lucie Chin, Halloween Costume and Set Designer

Join Prospect Park Alliance at the Prospect Park Halloween Haunted Walk and Fair on October 28, 12–3 pm. Now in it’s 38th year, this treasured event draws thousands of people into Brooklyn’s Backyard for free, spooky fun. This year, the festivities will continue at the first-ever Prospect Park Halloween After Party, from 2–5 pm, located in City Point in Downtown Brooklyn. Find out more about this year’s Haunted Walk and Fair.

For the past 30 years, Lucie Chin has been designing, creating, and directing elaborate “scenes” that come to life along the paths of Lookout Hill during the annual Haunted Walk in Prospect Park. Her famously spooky setups include props, sets, costumes, and a full cast of haunting characters played by Prospect Park Alliance Volunteers. Chin has been involved in all aspects of the walk, “from loading the trucks at dawn to closing the lock on the storage space (lovingly called Igor’s Boutique) at sunset”, since 1987. A few years ago she handed responsibility for Lookout Hill to others, but has continued to create and maintain the costumes. Now, after three decades, “The Halloween Lady” is retiring.

LucieChin.jpg

Lucie Chin at her retirement party, 2017. 

When Lucie Chin first started working on the Haunted Walk in 1987, the event took place in Prospect Park’s Ravine and the “actors” were primarily Prospect Park Alliance staff and their friends. Since then, the Alliance has transformed the event into a volunteer opportunity, recruiting over 100 volunteer actors each year. The Alliance has also added a Halloween Fair on the Prospect Park Nethermead where all the local ghosts and ghouls can enjoy face painting, puppet shows, and, of course, candy.

In setting a spooky scene, Lucie draws much of her inspiration from the Park itself. From “light filtering through autumn-colored leaves” to “deep shadows under the trees and dust motes dancing in the shafts of light…I can believe the whole Park is just inches away from the mythical” she explains, “you need a real live forest to do that”.” When it comes to the magic of the Haunted Walk, Chin feels that being a part of the environment is more important than the “latest horror movies or trends.”

“Prospect Park is my Halloween”, Lucie says, describing three decades of Halloween memories in Prospect Park. There were moments of panic—Lucie recalls getting locked in Greenwood Cemetery while researching mausoleums for a “Vampire shelter”—and moments of sugar-fueled glee, including a child who hugged every “monster” on the walk because her mother told her “they won’t hurt you if you love them.”

This Saturday, October 28, will be Lucie Chin’s final Haunted Walk. Come out to Lookout Hill from 12-3 pm to experience the walk for yourself!

 

 

 

 

 

c. Empire State Building

Celebrate the Park’s 150th

October 16, 2017

Join us on October 19 at 230 Fifth in Manhattan to raise a glass and watch the Empire State Building light up in Prospect Park’s signature green in celebration of the Park’s 150th anniversary. 

On Saturday, October 19, 1867, visitors were welcomed inside Prospect Park’s borders for the first time. Spearheaded by James S.T. Stranahan, a local business and civic leader, and the historic design team of Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, the Park was far from complete on that October day. Unable to keep curious and delighted visitors away from the Park in progress, the designers decided to welcomed the enthusiastic throngs inside for the first time. 

The subsequent Monday evening edition of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle recorded the occasion: “The public were formally invited on Saturday, to visit Prospect Park and see how the work was getting on. The weather being remarkably fine for the season, and inviting out door exercise, the visitors to the Park were numerous…it is safe to estimate the number of visitors yesterday at ten thousand.” By 1868, two million people would enjoy what came to be known as “Brooklyn’s Jewel” and “Brooklyn’s Backyard.” Today, the Park welcomes more than 10 million visitors each year.

Today, 150 years later, the Prospect Park Alliance staff work to continue to sustain, restore and advance the vision of Olmsted and Vaux for the diverse communities that call Brooklyn home. It is a year-round effort that keeps this space an essential resource for the millions of visitors every year.

Interested in learning more about the history of Prospect Park? Enjoy slideshows, videos, articles and more on our 150th Anniversary page.  Plus, share your own Prospect Park Stories.