Boy Nearly Killed in Highland Park Stabbing

Two Teens Charged with Attack on 12-Year-Old

By Conor Greene

Police have now charged both a Brooklyn teenager and his girlfriend with the near-fatal stabbing of a 12-year-old in Highland Park on Saturday night. The attack occurred while the three were allegedly smoking pot in the vicinity of the park.

The victim, Luis Martinez, was rushed to Jamaica Hospital in serious condition after a motorist spotted him alongside the Jackie Robinson Parkway. He was treated for multiple injuries, including four stab wounds to the torso and the back and two stab wounds to the chest. In addition, both his left internal and right external jugular veins were cut, causing extreme blood loss. He underwent reconstructive surgery and his condition was upgraded on Tuesday from critical to stable.

Initial reports indicated Martinez had been thrown from a moving vehicle, but police now say he was stabbed about a dozen times by 15-year-old Wayne Henderson of Ridgewood Avenue in East New York and his 14-year-old girlfriend, Carina Parache of Norward Avenue in East New York. Police say the attack occurred after Henderson and Martinez got into a brief argument that quickly escalated into attempted murder.

Police initially only charged Henderson in the attack after questioning and releasing Parache. Henderson was arraigned on Monday in Queens Criminal Court on charges of second-degree attempted murder and first-and-second degree assault.

However, on Tuesday night, authorities announced that Parache will face the same charges because she stood by as the attack took place and then kicked and stabbed Martinez before fleeing the scene with Henderson.

The pair was taken into custody by officers from the 104th Precinct shortly after the attack. Both are being charged as juvenile offenders and face up to then years in prison if convicted. Henderson was ordered held on $250,000 bail and is due back in court on January 25, while Parache was awaiting arraignment as of Wednesday morning.

“The 14-year-old defendant is accused of taking part with her boyfriend in a senseless but deliberate attack on someone they once called a friend,” said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown. “This is a sad case of young children throwing their lives away by allowing a verbal argument to escalate into deadly violence. Fortunately, the victim will survive but all three will carry the emotional scars of that night for the rest of their lives.”

Ridgewood Reservoir Plans to be Presented in Fall

Survey, Meeting Results Released by Parks Dept.

By Conor Greene

The city Parks Department will release three conceptual plans for the future of Ridgewood Reservoir this fall, now that the results of public input generated through listening sessions and paper surveys have been released.

At a meeting Tuesday night in Oak Ridge, the findings of the March 30 and May 2 listening sessions was presented, along with the feedback of 253 paper surveys distributed at prior meetings and in parks. Using this information, landscape architect firm Mark K. Morrison Associates (MKM) will present the three plans to Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe in late September. The plans will also be presented to community boards.

Under an agreement with city Comptroller William Thompson, one of the three plans must be dedicated to passive recreation, with no major development of the basins. The others will likely include athletic fields and other facilities for active recreation.

According to the combined results of the two listening sessions, residents favor construction of a boardwalk as their top choice for all three basins. The only options among the top three priorities for any of the basins that involve development was at basin three, where a nature center was the second choice, followed by recreational opportunities.

However, some audience members took exception with the paper surveys, questioning where they were distributed and why they weren’t handed out to all meeting participants or sent to local community boards. Also, some questioned why the results of a 2007 survey on Ridgewood Reservoir were not taken into consideration. Of the 253 paper survey respondents, 11% ranked baseball or softball fields as the highest priority in terms of the new facilities they would like build at the reservoir site.

Kevin Quinn, the department’s Queens team leader for capital projects, stressed that the surveys don’t take into account the wishes of every resident. “We didn’t go around and ask every single person in Queens what they want,” he said. “It’s not going to be statistically perfect, but I think it’s a good start… What I want to know is, do you disagree with the results?”

When asked why the 2007 survey was dismissed, Quinn said there were concerns that it was flawed or not thorough enough. “We spent a lot more time on this survey,” he said. Still, many in the room felt the prior results should also be taken into account. “To me, its mind boggling that you threw it out,” said Lou Widerka.

Ozone Park resident David Quintana also questioned the validity of the paper surveys, and accused Parks of using them to get the results they favored. “These surveys have no transparency at all,” he said.

Several others questioned whether those surveyed knew the questions pertained specifically to Ridgewood Reservoir, as opposed to the entire Highland Park property, which includes the reservoir along with existing ball fields that are in poor condition.

“I really feel there should have been a distinction between Highland Park and Ridgewood Reservoir because a lot of people don’t know about the reservoir,” said Woodhaven resident Maria Thompson. “If you wanted a survey of Highland Park, you should have made a survey on Highland Park.”

Quinn said that Parks saw this as a chance to also solicit information about Highland park in general. He said that that contract with MKM only pertains to the reservoir section, but that Parks is looking into the overall conditions of Highland Park.

Widerka and several others also argued that if the city would simply fix the existing fields at Highland Park, there would be no debate over whether or not the basins should be preserved. “If you fix Highland Park, there would be no issue of ballfields in the basins,” he said. “Fix Highland Park, preserve the reservoir and then everyone will be happy. It’s easy and here we are banging our heads against the wall.”

Vincent Arcuri, chairman of Community Board 5, said that the city needs to “bite the bullet” and look at the conditions at the existing fields. “We have not paid proper attention to Highland Park in recent years,” he said. “You ask anyone what’s needed at Highland Park and they’ll tell you the same thing – those fields are garbage.” Instead of building fields in the reservoir basins, Arcuri said Parks has to “be realistic” and address the existing fields.

Senator Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach), who was represented at the meeting by Jeff Gottleib, and Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village), who was in attendance, both said they don’t want the basins developed.

While the future of the actual basins remains up in the air, everyone seems to agree that the perimeter area around the basins is in need of upgrades to improve access and safety. As a result, contract bid documents for phase one work, which includes new fencing, lighting and pathways, will be completed by the end of the summer. If a contract is awarded by late fall, construction could begin in early winter 2010.

Funding for Ridgewood Reservoir Cut

By Conor Greene

With the city struggling to close a $1 billion budget gap, even one of the mayor’s pet projects – the renovation of eight large parks across the five boroughs – is facing a major setback due to proposed funding cuts.

As part of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s sweeping PlaNYC, the Parks Department embarked two years ago on a $386 million plan to remake eight under-utilized facilities into destination parks. As part of the initiative, $50 million was earmarked for improvements to Ridgewood Reservoir, which is located within Highland Park on the Brooklyn-Queens border.

However, with every city agency facing budget cuts, Parks has been forced to scale back its funding for five of the eight projects – including Ridgewood Reservoir - from a combined $206 million to $102.9 million. The $50 million set aside for the reservoir has been reduced to $19.8 million, according to a Parks spokesman.

“As part of New York City’s response to the fiscal crisis, the Parks Department has restructured its capital plan,” wrote spokesman Philip Abramson in a statement, adding that the “planned reductions are not final until the budget is adopted by the City Council.”

The reduction for Ridgewood Reservoir will be spread out over six years, and a new phasing strategy will be created if the funding is not restored, said Abramson. The first phase of the project recently began and includes new lighting, steps, benches and perimeter fences to improve safety and accessibility at the reservoir. Mark K. Morrison Associations of Manhattan was awarded the $7.7 million contract for that work, and is also in the process of creating three proposals for the future of the property’s three basins.

That $7.7 million has already been allocated and is not included in the $19.8 million remaining for Ridgewood Reservoir, according to Steve Fiedler, who is chairman of Community Board 5’s Parks Committee and opposes development of ballfields.

Gary Giordano, district manager of Community Board 5 in Queens, stressed that it is “very important” that phase one proceed “As far as the cuts go, one problem is that the funding for [Ridgewood Reservoir] may have been cut more so than for other destination park projects, so that’s an issue,” he said. “The truth of the matter is, I still think we can probably get a lot done with the remaining funding, and I think that’s what we need to look at.”

At listening sessions held over the past few months, many participants pushed for a plan that involves preserving the basins instead of building ballfields there, according to attendees. Some residents have argued that the money should instead be used to renovate the existing baseball fields in Highland Park, which have fallen into disrepair. In his statement, Abramson noted that ballfields have been requested by community groups such as the East Brooklyn Congregations.

However, a study by the group Highland Park-Ridgewood Reservoir Alliance, which is pushing for the three basins to be preserved, showed that permits were issued for the existing ballfields for just a fraction of the available time during the past two years. “These results are especially disturbing given that Mayor Bloomberg is willing to spend $40 million dollars on a project that nobody in the community wants, is unnecessary, but more important, is at a time when he is also discussing closing firehouses and cutting the budget for the NYPD,” the group wrote on its site, ridgewoodreservoir.blogspot.com.

In response, Parks argued that pickup games allowed there when the fields are not reserved are “unaccounted hours of ball field use.” Highland Park serves “some of the city’s areas with the least amount of green space,” said Abramson in a statement. “Frequent use of existing ballfields indicates a need and demand for field space, which also does not account for the hours of pickup games that are allowed when the fields are not [reserved].”

Still, Fiedler questioned the motives of the East Brooklyn Congregations and doubts their claims that they cannot secure time at Highland Park’s existing fields. “His organization is pushing for fields at the top of basin three on eight acres, for what reason God only knows,” he said. “I hate to say that someone is lying for political gains, but the proof is in the pudding,” he added regarding the field usage.

The funding cut could have a silver lining for preservationists, as it may restrict Park’s ability to develop ballfields there. As the Ridgewood Reservoir Alliance noted on its website, “Perhaps leadership within the parks department will make an astute observation and come to the conclusion that they could use the remaining funding to fix up Highland Park proper. Better yet, a project to maintain and upgrade the current fields so they could finally be used more frequently and by more people. Nah…”

Fiedler called the funding cut “a double edge sword” since it would also require “a lot of funding” should Parks agree to move forward with a plan to preserve the reservoir. “It could be good news, but it could be detrimental too because you need a lot of work to make that a nature conservancy… Maybe they will realize they can’t build ball fields.”

Giordano agreed that the funding cut “would diminish the opportunity to build ballfields within one of the basins.” He is pushing for “improvements to the existing ballfields at Highland Park sooner rather than later [to] give them better ballfields and diminish the need to build anything in the Ridgewood Reservoir.”

In its statement Parks said that the city “remains committed to historic levels of investment in the Parks system under PlaNYC, the mayor’s far-reaching plan to fight global warming and create a more livable city.”

Despite the reduction, the department’s “historic $2 billion capital plan is an all-time high,” noted Abramson. “Even as we restructured to respond to the fiscal crisis, we are still building more parks than at any time since the 1930s, with 844 projects currently underway citywide. To ensure that all New Yorkers have access to high-quality parks, we made strategic choices so that no area was disproportionally impacted.”

Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village) called this week on the Mayor and Parks Department “to do the right thing for Western Queens and not cut the $50 million allocated to restore our city’s lost reservoir.” She added that, “despite these tough budget times, we have an opportunity to invest in the Ridgewood Reservoir and Highland Park to create a place where we can learn about preservation and conservation for future generations.”

Parks held three listening sessions over the past few months to gain feedback as to how the reservoir should be developed. However, a meeting scheduled for last week to unveil the results was postponed after the funding cut was announced. No new date has been announced, and Parks has not said how the funding cut will impact the input collected from the public.

Initial Contract for Ridgewood Reservoir Approved

Comptroller Gives Parks OK for Perimeter Work

By Conor Greene

After a false start last summer, the city comptroller has signed off on a contract for design work around the perimeter of Ridgewood Reservoir.

Comptroller William Thompson announced last week that he has approved a preliminary design contract between the city Parks Department and Mark K. Morrison Associations. It allows for design work to begin at the perimeter of the Ridgewood Reservoir, which is located within Highland Park near the Brooklyn boundary.

The project, which comes following substantial community input, will include installation of fences, lighting, steps and benches and will increase public safety on the reservoir’s walking paths. The contract also calls for MMA to issue “three conceptual plans” concerning the overall construction and design of the reservoir, including one design dedicated to “passive” recreation.

“I am happy to announce the approval of a contract to begin the design of the perimeter of Ridgewood Reservoir, which will greatly improve the safety of those who utilize the space as a means of recreation,” said Thompson in a statement. “Under this new agreement, we have ensured that the public will have a say in the ongoing design and construction process of the rest of the reservoir each step of the way.”

Last summer, Thompson rejected a $3.3 million contract Parks attempted to enter into with MMK which would have involved converting one of the property’s three basins into ballfields. Doing so would have required that between 11,700 and 27,500 large truckloads of fill would have been transported through local streets.

When he rejected the contract last July, Thompson noted that he has “consistently urged the city to rethink its plans to develop” the 50-acre site, which he called “an accidental wilderness” in a New York Times op-ed piece he co-wrote with Robert F. Kennedy.

In the letter to Parks rejecting the first contract, Thompson argued that due to the “sensitive ecological nature of the location,” the project’s environmental review process is of heightened importance and “must have maximum transparency.” He also expressed concern that under the proposed contract, the vendor responsible for the environmental review would be a subcontractor working for the architect, “who has a vested interest in pursuing construction of a $38 million project.”

The news was well received by advocates who are pushing to have the reservoir’s thick shrubs, trees and wetlands preserved for hiking, bird-watching and other passive recreation. On the other side are those who want the property developed for active recreation, including ballfields.

To prevent the public from being excluded from discussions about the future of the property, Thompson and Parks “also have established a protocol within the contract that requires the public to have a say in the design process prior to and after the initial design concepts are created.”

The reservoir, which sits on the Brooklyn-Queens border, was built in 1848 to provide drinking water to Brooklyn residents. It was converted as a back-up reservoir in 1959 and taken off-line in 1989. Since then, tree, plants, turtles, fish, frogs and more than 137 bird species, including eight rare ones identified on the National Audubon Society’s “Watch List,” thrive on the land, according to the comptroller’s office.

Since rejecting the initial contract last June, representatives from Thompson’s office have attended a number of meetings to address the concerns of the project with community members. “This contract creates a level of community input that enables this process to be open and transparent,” he said. “By involving all parties in the process, the final result will better reflect the best interests of all involved.”

The reservoir property was controlled by the city Department of Environmental Protection until 2004, when it was turned over to the Parks Department. Through Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s PlaNYC initiative, $50 million has been allocated for improvements there – leading to the current battle over what type of development should occur.

“The Parks Department is pleased that the Comptroller has approved the preliminary design contract so that the Parks can begin the design process and incorporate the input gained in numerous public listening sessions, meetings, surveys, and tours with the community, local elected officials, community boards and local environmental organizations since 2007,” a spokeswoman wrote in a statement.

The statement adds that Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe took Comptroller Thompson on a tour of the reservoir last fall, and that Highland Park is one of eight large parks being redesigned through PlaNYC, which aims to ensure that every New Yorker lives within a ten-minute walk of a park or open space.

Officials Tour Reservoir and Push to Preserve Wilderness

City Considers Converting 20 Acres into Ballfields

By Nicole Turso

A forgotten reservoir reclaimed by the wilderness has become a natural wildlife and flora preserve where residents, community groups and elected officials gathered on Tuesday for a tour and to petition for its integrity.

The Ridgewood Reservoir, on the Queens and Brooklyn border, was decommissioned in 1990 after serving as a back-up water supply from 1858 through 1959. Once the three basins were drained, decades of neglect allowed for natural forests, fields and wetlands to form—now home to at least 127 species of birds as well as mammals, reptiles and a variety of native plants.

In 2004, Mayor Michael Bloomberg transferred the 50 acres of wilderness to the city Parks Department and a $50 million “renovation” project was put into place, which would convert more than 20 acres of land into athletic fields and recreational facilities for the neighboring communities.

However, many community activists and government officials believe the reservoir would serve better as a nature preserve for environmental study in an urban area that does not have such natural luxuries. Some argue the money would be better spent renovating existing ballfields at adjacent Highland Park.

“We have a gem here in the reservoir that many people in the community, as evidence here, want to preserve,” said community activist David Quintana.

Highland Park, located directly across from the reservoir, is equipped to provide the same recreation planned in the renovation project—with two baseball fields, several basketball and volleyball courts and picnic areas.

According to the Highland Park/Ridgewood Reservoir Alliance, the park is in desperate need of renovation and repair—an issue the alliance and activists have brought to the attention of city officials.

Congressman Edolphus Towns (D-Brooklyn), Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez (D-Brooklyn/Queens), Queens Borough Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski and representatives of Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-Queens), Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum and State Senator Serf Maltese (R-Glendale) attended the reservoir tour on Tuesday to survey the basins in their current condition.

“This park here contains an ecosystem that we must protect, we must enhance and we must preserve,“said Rep. Velazquez, “We must come together to work to make sure that we do what is right on behalf of the community and behalf of the park.”

“There are a lot of parks here that can be upgraded [that] have been for too long neglected,” she explained. “I can tell you that if the city, the state and the federal government come together, we can assure you that we will fight to get the resources that we need to have the parks that we can all be proud of.”

The group set out to tour the reservoir and was informed that in order to reach basin three, one of three basins at the reservoir, the congressional representatives would have to rappel down the side of the basin on a long, rather thin rope.

“I hope that rope is strong,” Rep. Towns joked.

A flash of apprehension crossed Rep. Velazquez’s face before her descent, but she, along with nine other members of the party made it down safely and arrived back at the top of the basin, triumphant looks on their faces.

As the group toured the rest of the basins, which were drained in the 1960’s through the 1980’s, it was given an idea as to what renovations must be completed to make the reservoir into a useable facility. Both basins one and three have become natural forests, while basin two, though drained, fills with water as a natural marsh.

Broken lampposts—shattered—with shards of what used to be lighting fixtures, poison ivy coiling around trees and original wrought iron fences, and uninviting entry ways make the reservoir unappealing to onlookers—but a secret garden of sorts for those inside.

“You just cannot buy this—the experience,” said Rep. Velazquez. Renovation ideas tossed around between the elected officials and Parks Department personnel along the walk included taller lampposts less prone to damage and vandals and the use of solar energy as a more eco-conscious way of lighting paths at night.

Three design consultants created conceptual plans for the renovation and redesign of the reservoir based on preliminary analysis for the city. A contract with Mark K. Morrison Associates Ltd. (MMA) was submitted by the Parks Department as a project to help combat raising rates of childhood obesity and focused on developing athletic fields.

However, the contract was rejected by city Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. and returned to the Parks Department with concerns about the environmental impact, increased truck traffic and the vendor selection process. Parks is now reportedly working on a contract with a different firm, EDAW, which prides itself on balancing “aesthetic, environmental and social goals.”

Also supporting the preservation of the reservoir as a natural area are local community boards in both Brooklyn and Queens, the Queens Civic Congress and a number of community organizations.

Even with the overwhelming support to preserve the reservoir’s wilderness, Rep. Towns is still calling on the surrounding communities and their residents to continue their efforts, despite obstacles.

“It’s going to require working together, and it’s going to require a lot of talking and a lot of meetings, and of course it’s going to require some negotiating,” Towns explained, “I’m committed to working with you to make certain that we have the resources to do this, there’s no question about it.”

Towns summed up the feelings of many residents fighting for the preservation of the reservoir when he addressed the crowd. To a chorus of applause and laughter, representative Towns shared an anecdote: “I received a phone call asking me ‘Where are you? I’ll call you from the park.’ I said, ‘I live in Highland Park, I’m already there.’”

Photo: Congressman Edolphus Towns and Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez discuss the future of the Ridgewood Reservoir during a recent tour.

The Forum Newsgroup/photos by NICOLE TURSO

Comptroller Rejects Reservoir Contract

Parks Wants to Clear Basin and Build Sports Fields on 50-Acre Nature Site

By Conor Greene
The city’s push to develop a portion of the Ridgewood Reservoir into sports fields took a major hit last week when Comptroller William Thompson’s office rejected a contract the Parks Department offered a landscape design consultant.

In a June 23 letter, Thompson’s office informed the Parks Department that the $3.3 million contract with Mark K. Morrison Associates is being returned “to allow additional time for your agency to respond to our concerns.”

It goes on to say that Parks “should not have solicited proposals without a full understanding of all the issues pertaining to any new development of the park.”

Due to the “sensitive ecological nature of the location,” the project’s environmental review process is of heightened importance and “must have maximum transparency.” As a result, the comptroller’s office is concerned that under the proposed contract, the vendor responsible for the environmental study would be a subcontractor working for the architect, “who has a vested interest in pursuing construction of a $38 million project.”

The 50-acre site of the defunct reservoir is next to Highland Park at the Queens-Brooklyn boundary and was turned over from the city Department of Environmental Protection to the Parks Department in 2004. The department has since presented several proposals for the site, including clearing one basin of shrubs and growth to make way for ballfields.

Since then, a number of local activists and elected officials have fought any proposals that would require clearing the site. Last month, Thompson, a likely mayoral candidate last year, co-wrote an op-ed article in The New York Times with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. The column, which laments the fact that Parks “could wind up destroying” the property, describes it as an “accidental wilderness.”

In a press release coinciding with his office’s letter to Parks, Thompson notes he has “consistently urged the city to rethink its plans to develop the 50-acre site.” He points out that Mark K. Morrison’s proposal would require that between 11,700 and 27,500 large truckloads of fill are transported through local streets.

“Either of these options would have significant negative impacts to the areas surrounding the park, which will have to bear the brunt of the noise, emissions and traffic disruptions for many years,” the letter stated. “For comparison purposes, it took six years to bring 1.7 million cubic yards of fill to Ferry Point Park in the Bronx.”

In a statement reportedly released last week, the Parks Department appears ready to continue with the project. “We plan to review the comptroller’s concerns and meet with the comptroller so that the design contract and the planning can move ahead on this great park,” the agency wrote.

On June 19, Queens Borough President Helen Marshall told the City Council Committee on Parks and Recreation during a hearing on the future of Ridgewood Reservoir and Highland Park that she is opposed to “plans to convert the historic landmark into ballfields.”

Instead, she is a “strong advocate to preserve the unique and important ecosystems that have developed in the Ridgewood Reservoir,” according to a transcript of her comments posted on ridgewoodreservoir.blogspot.com. She called the reservoir an “important area for resident, migratory and nesting birds” and a great place for residents to “enjoy the wonderful fruits that mother nature has to offer.”

Noting that the reservoir was named one of the eight “Underdeveloped Destination Parks” to be targeted by Mayor Bloomberg, Marshall instead proposed a plan that calls for retaining its “historic natural areas and ensuring that they receive the same treatment as historical landmarks.” She suggested that a ecology research center and museum be created and that existing sports facilities in Highland Park be maintained.