Editorial

Parks ‘Precedent’
At the groundbreaking for the new playground in Van Cortlandt Park’s southeast corner, Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe said something very interesting. The improvement of Bronx parkland in exchange for alienating a chunk of Van Cortlandt, sets a “precedent.”

“If you’re going to build something in a park, you have to make up for it,” he said.

“Precedent” is a loaded term as far as the filtration controversy is concerned. While Benepe sees the replacement of parkland or the addition of amenities in parks as a positive precedent, park advocates, neighborhood residents, and other foes of the project have long argued that the taking of parkland for a giant industrial facility is itself a terrible precedent.

But, for the sake of argument, let’s just consider Benepe’s point. Sure, it’s a good thing that after being saddled with a project nobody wanted we are at least getting our parks upgraded. But if this trading of new park amenities for those that have been lost is a new precedent or policy, as Benepe says, then what have we already lost?

After all, it was only because of a successful lawsuit by the friends of Van Cortlandt Park in 2001 that the city had to go back to the drawing board and come up with the political deal that rewarded the support of Bronx politicians with the $200 million in mitigation monies. That was 10 times what the city planned to pony up before that first successful lawsuit.

So if this is a new city policy, how many other projects resulted in the diminution of our parks without compensation? The Pelham Bay Landfill is surely an example of this. And going forward, what will Bronxites get in return for the stalled golf course project at Ferry Point Park? Or the Department of Sanitation composting facility in Soundview Park? Or the Department of Transportation vehicle facility along Broadway in Van Cortlandt Park?

We look forward in all these cases to the application of the city’s new policy stemming from the precedent of the filtration plant as defined by Commissioner Benepe.

A Real Bronx Happening
While this newspaper covers events and people in the neighborhoods of Community District 7, we often stretch those boundaries to other neighborhoods in the borough when it comes to our coverage of the arts.

With this in mind, we want to alert you to a great Bronx theater happening in the south Bronx this weekend. The new Pregones Theater is celebrating the opening of its new permanent home at 575 Walton Ave., just south of Yankee Stadium with the world premiere of “The Red Rose.”

Pregones, an exciting community-based theater company, was founded in 1979 to “create and perform original musical theater and plays rooted in Puerto Rican/Latino cultures in ways that challenge the human experience …”

The area that Pregones’ new space is in has also been experiencing some exciting changes. There are some excellent dining venues including Sam’s Soul Food on the Concourse and G-Bar on 150th Street. Both are just around the corner from the new Pregones Theater and would make for excellent pre-theater dining stops.

So, check out www.pregones.org,   or call (718) 585-1608 and get some tickets for a performance this weekend or in the near future.
 

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