Williamsburg Residents Chafe Over East River State Park Rules
The complaints about East River State Park in Williamsburg make the big time today, in a manner of speaking, with a story in the Daily News about how people are ticked off about its short hours and the abundance of rules. (You can read one of our posts about the pre-sunset shooing of visitors here, locked out visitors pictured above.) Here's a sample of the story:
"You miss the most beautiful time of the day," said artist Dylan Williams, who frequently heads to the park to paint the Manhattan skyline. "It should at least be open until dark."The punchline is that the lights weren't installed and that there are no longer plans to do so. State park officials blame the hours and lack of lights on a lack of money. Maybe it's us, but one would think that a state rolling in so much extra tax revenue from New York City could find a few extra dollars to invest in some lights and adequate staffing for its flagship New York City parks. On the other hand, given the public embarrassments and vaguely scandalous priorities that everyone already tolerates, what's some New Yorkers angry because their parks are being nickeled and dimed to death?
The park closes at 8 p.m., though rangers begin asking people to leave about 7:45 p.m. It opens at 10 a.m.
In addition, as in other state parks in the city, dogs, bike riding and roller skating are not allowed.
"This is ridiculous," said Ana Ruiz-Castillo, who was turned away last week when she tried to take her Labrador mix, Paca, for a walk in the park. "I won't come back. This is insane."
The park is the second state park in Brooklyn whose hours and rules have touched off complaints. Last summer, the Daily News chronicled similar frustration at Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park in DUMBO, which closes at dusk, prompting state officials to promise to install lights so it could be open later.
Labels: Williamsburg
posted by rsguskind at 7:00 AM
2 Comments:
Re: Fulton Empire and the reneged lighting promise. I wonder how many lights they could have bought with the $150,000 in city discretionary grant money that the "Conservancy" spent on that awful tent in the Tobacco Warehouse.
And we are supposed to trust these people as they turn the new ppublic park into an accomodation for the high rises that will soon bless the Heights' piers?
Side talkers, the bunch of them.
It's a great park, but the hours do suck and a few of those cats they have working out there tend to bully people and seem to be enjoying their rent-a-cop status a bit too much.
It should be open until ten, instead of being governed by the mandate that has most of the city's parks closing at dusk. The view during the day is good, but to gaze at the city at night (and from so close!) is the thing.
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