East River Park

The Daily Plant : Thursday, August 17, 2000

PARKS, MIKE PIAZZA AND CLARITIN GO TO BAT FOR CITY YOUTH

Photograph by Jamye (Focus) Ford

Commissioner Henry J. (StarQuest) Stern and Adrian (A-Train) Benepe joined NY Mets Catcher Mike Piazza, Claritin's Senior Product Manager Manny Rodriguez, and Senior Vice President Kurt Aschermann of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America in the groundbreaking for ballfield #6 in East River Park.

Ballfield #6 in East River Park is set to be renovated with a $70,000 donation from Claritin. This donation is part of Claritin's "Step Up To The Plate" program, which is securing the future of youth baseball by renovating ballfields in nine cities around the country, including Atlanta, Detroit and Dallas, for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. They hosted this event with the help of Major League Baseball and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. The goal of the program is to help minimize barriers such as allergies and to improve fields so that children can experience baseball firsthand.

People across the country can "Step Up to the Plate" by logging onto www.claritin.com or by calling (800)784-9MLB. Each person that registers will generate a dollar donation from Claritin to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, up to $500,000. Each person also has a chance to win a trip to the 2000 World Series.

East River Park is 57.5 acres and is home to tennis courts, a track and field, softball fields, basketball courts and eight ballfields. It is a true resource to the lower east side community. Ballfield #6 is the latest renovation in East River Park. Recent renovations includes a sitting area south of the Williamsburg Bridge, where trees are being planted, walkways repaved, lawns installed, and fields refurbished.

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO IN THE PLANT
Thursday, August 20, 1987

ARGENTINE COMPOSER ASTOR PIAZZOLLA BRINGS NUEVO TANGO TO SUMMERSTAGE

Legendary composer Astor Piazzolla will bring "nuevo tango"-a hybrid of classical Argentine and other Latin American musical styles-to Central Park's SummerStage at the Bandshell, located mid-park at 72nd Street. SummerStage is directed by Joe Killian. The 66-year old musician is best known as a musical rebel who in the late '50s transformed the tango-Argentina's unofficial anthem. "New Tango" proved controversial and Piazzolla found himself ostracized from Argentina's conservative music scene. He migrated to New York in the early 1960s.

QUOTATION FOR THE DAY

Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. Not all holes, or games, are created equal.

George F. Will (b. 1941)