Is the pressure campaign working? The 18th Avenue Park – used by thousands of Boro Park residents each week – was open on Monday morning following a showdown between a local community activist and the NYC parks Department, and following a protest on Sunday in Flatbush by three elected officials representing the Jewish community. Heshy Tischler of Boro Park has been a vocal critic of NYC Mayor DeBlasio, demanding that the city reopen parks following an announcement by Governor Cuomo saying that as far as he was concerned, all park could be reopened. Cuomo said it was up to local municipalities to make that decision. DeBlasio decided to keep them shut, and Tischler has been on a mission protesting the closure. Last week he was seen with around 100 children protesting in Williamsburg, and on Sunday in Boro Park. This morning, there were three Parks Department Officers placed at the parks entrance to keep children out, but Tischler demanded they leave, and that is exactly what they did. See the video below of the interaction. Earlier on Monday YWN reported that a park that Hasidic children were kicked out of on at least three occasions had its doors welded shut! Meanwhile, a large group of parents with strollers, children on bikes and on foot, and even seniors, stood together with Senator Felder, Assemblyman Eichenstein and Councilman Yeger on Sunday morning at the locked entrance of Kolbert Park in the heart of Flatbush – on Avenue L and East 18th Street. With signs in hand they delivered a unified message to Mayor de Blasio- open our parks, playgrounds and schoolyards! “Everything essential to children and healthy development is shut down. Playgrounds-not essential. Camps-not essential. Schools-not essential. It’s outrageous not to prioritize their reopening considering how essential they are. Children across this city are outside playing, we cannot and will not stop that from happening. What we can do is give them a safe space, a contained space, where parents can watch them and do their best as parents to keep them safe. I believe that parents do a better job of that than the government, any day. Keeping these playgrounds chained while kids are playing in the streets, is unconscionable,” said Senator Felder. “After being cramped in city apartments for the last three months, playgrounds and schoolyards are essential to our children. They need a safe space to play that is safe,” said Assemblyman Eichenstein. “I was honored to stand with Senator Felder and Councilman Yeger at Kolbert Park in Midwood, calling on Mayor de Blasio to end the madness and give our children the one thing they are asking for-playgrounds. The Mayor must immediately reopen our playgrounds.” “Kolbert was my childhood park; the place my siblings and I, and later our children, spent thousands of hours. Former Councilman David Greenfield and I devoted years to ensure its much needed $4 million renovation. But for nearly three months we’ve endured the heartbreaking sight of a chained park, with children longingly looking through the gates. Enough is enough. Not everyone lives near Prospect Park or Central Park. Our neighborhood parks are small oases in a concrete city. It’s time to restore New York City’s parks to New Yorkers and to take the chains off our parks,” said Councilman Yeger. (YWN World Headquarters […]
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