New Yorkers pride themselves on worldliness and our City and its parks bear the names and marks of those cultures that have called New York home. By 1912, in Little Italy, Mulberry Bend Park was renamed for Columbus. Germans, who populated the Upper East Side from the late 19th through the mid-20th Century, got a park named for their national hero, Carl Schuz, and the number of parks named for people with Irish surnames is well into the dozens.

This all goes to prove that the City was by no means ignoring New Yorks ethnic groups. Continuing on that line of thought, one cannot help but wonder how New York Citys parks, many of which were built during the immigrant boom of the 20th Century, werent brimming with soccer fields.

First of all, the existence of soccer in parks history is not completely nil. The 1916 Annual Report explains, the popularity of soccer football in the park playgrounds is increasing each year. They credit this in part to the Departments special efforts in bringing the good points of this game to the attention of our boys. Parks organized (as it did for many sports in that era) an Inter-Park Tournament. Soccer was the fourth most popular sport that year after baseball, tennis, and basketball.

The Commissioners also reported that boys of the various public, private and high schools are permitted to practice soccer and rugby football (note the careful differentiation) on the Sheep Meadow. This fact points to one major reason why soccer never really caught on in parks: space. Even Central Park could hardly afford the space (remember the Great Lawn was still the old Reservoir). The Brooklyn Annual Reports mention the Parade Grounds in Prospect Park, as well as Dyker Park, but it is unclear which football they are referring to. Other large parks in the early 20th Century were too far away from populated areas, particularly ethnic neighborhoods interested in soccer. Does this mean that immigrants newly arrived from Europe did not play or see soccer? No, but if not in parks, where?

As with several recreational pastimes, including golf and swimming, this is one area where the Parks Department wasnt always the only game in town. Soccer, perhaps more than other sports, was dependant on private associations. In fact the word derives from the soc of association. In the 19th Century you were either a soc-er, or if you played by the Rugby (a school in England) rules you were a rugg- er. Naturally then, the New York men (and women too!) interested in soccer formed clubs that were privately run and often sponsored by the companies for which they worked. They also often played on fields furnished by the company. The Todd (a shipbuilding company) in Brooklyn played on a field constructed in the shipyard.

As time went by and populations spread across the City, Parks saw some of the action. A 1927 New York Times clipping tells of a game that took place in McGolrick Park in Brooklyn. The headline demonstrates the importance of ethnicity to the players and fans of the day: Centros Win, 4-2, and Keep the Lead: Beat Italians in Spanish-American Soccer League Game and Stay on Top.

Another of the days games was described as follows, The Bronx Hungarian A team of Metropolitan Workers League, suffered its first defeat of the season yesterday when the Freiheit Sports Club A team was the victor, 2 to 1. Mine Gott!

These days, soccer is very prevalent in City parks. This afternoon, Parks is dedicating a newly renovated soccer field at Sara D. Roosevelt Park. To mark the occasion, players from the European Club Champion team, FC Barcelona, will be on hand. Or should we say on foot.

Written by John Mattera

QUOTATION FOR THE DAY

There is no sincerer love than the love of food.

George Bernard Shaw
(1856 1950)

These outreach efforts are aimed at building stronger relationships between the agency and community, and at making sure local residents know about new resources in their area. At each event, in addition to getting to know the Gardener and Playground Associate, residents can visit a table provided by Partnerships staff with information about how to get more involved in stewardship of their local park.

At Bayswater Park, for example, 50 children from two Head Start programs came out to garden and plant flowers with Gardener Luigi Capella and enjoy arts and crafts with Playground Associate Tyrell Robinson. Children already in the park joined in, and Partnerships staff provided cold beverages and information on how to become more involved in Parks.

Outreach Coordinator Laura Prussin comments, "I hope these events will be just the start of some great relationships with local programs and the great Bayswater Park staff."

The Yellowstone Park event brought out kids from the Lost Battalion Hall Recreation Center, who enjoyed planting and a Playmobile provided by Recreation. The Grover Cleveland Park event included planting with Gardener Dennis Treder and games for kids with Playground Associate Kevin Gordon. It was a fun day, with about 25 people stopping by to say hello; later on, local day campers and residents enjoyed a game of Red Light, Green Light.

Partnerships also hosted an event to promote Sara D. Roosevelt Park at I.S. 131. The session was hosted by the Chinese-American Planning Council, MFinda Kalunga Garden Volunteers, and the Hestor Street Collaborative. Park Manager Elaine Crowley and Gardener Sarah Aronson both attended. In addition to introducing people to the new Gardener, Outreach Coordinator Leah Worrell distributed a questionnaire to the community groups to get feedback about how they could work together on park stewardship. Groups discussed starting a coalition and how to collaborate with other organizations to help Sara D. Roosevelt Park.

For more information on Meet and Greets and other events hosted by Partnerships for Parks, visit www.parthershipsforparks.org or call (212) 360-1310. For a comprehensive list of events in local parks, visitnyc.gov/parks

-written by Dana Molina and Nate Harris

"Change your life today. Dont gamble on the future, act now, without delay."

Simone De Beauvoir
(1908-1986)

"The upgrade and enhancement of Parks & Recreation track & field facilities is a logical step in making this type of athletic activity more accessible for New York Citys young athletes," said Deputy Commissioner for Public Programs Kevin Jeffrey. "These regional venues reduce travel time for kids and allow for higher-level competitions to be held locally. For example, the First Annual Mayors Cup meet was held this past April at the new track in Astoria Park, Queens. Nearly 1,500 young athletes from the Citys public, independent and parochial schools competed."

Outdoors in parks and indoors in recreation centers throughout the city, the Parks & Recreation Capital Projects division is developing elliptical tracks made from prefabricated rubber panels. These panels are manufactured in the controlled environment of a factory, eliminating variables like erratic temperatures that can effect the installation process of a pour-in-place (on-site) rubber crumb system often used to coat tracks. Prefabricated materials cost more, but they guarantee quality, longevity and resiliency. They also require less maintenance than the once popular cinder-surfaced tracks.

To construct these tracks, natural rubber is mixed with pigment and produced in custom-made sheets. Once transported to the site, the sections are laid down like a carpet over a carefully prepared and graded sub-base. Proliferating across the city, these new tracks are smooth and brightly colored with demarcated lanes. The almost imperceptibly bouncy surface minimizes the adverse effects that pounding pavement might otherwise have upon users and puts a slight spring in every runners step.

Deputy Team Leader for Bronx Capital Projects Andrew Penzi was the Landscape Architect who designed one such track in Pelham Bay Park. The regulation 400-meter track, just one component of a new track & field facility for New York Citys largest park, replaces a worn out pour-in-place system. The track will wrap around a new synthetic turf football field. Long jump, high jump, pole vault, discus and shot-put facilities are also being built in the vicinity. Construction, which began in February on this $2,505,000 project, is expected to be completed by the end of this month. Funds were allocated by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Council Member Madeline Provenzano, and a Dormitory Authority Grant.

Also in the Bronx and set to open by the end of September, a shorter course is under construction at Bathgate Park. The inner oval area bounded by the track is being surfaced in the same rubber material as the track itself. Here, under the careful supervision of Resident Engineer Ahamad Baksh, different colored rubber pieces are being cut and installed to form a map of the earth.

Ground in Brooklyn is about to be broken for a new track at Linden Park, and Brooklyn Team Landscape Architect Marcha Johnson is in the process of designing a 400-meter track to replace the existing cinder one at Kaiser Park. At Victory Field in Forest Park, Queens, where the Mayor just cut the ribbon on a brand new synthetic turf baseball field, construction on a new little league field contained inside a track has already begun, and a track for Keith Williams Park is in design. An indoor track, currently under construction at the East 54^th Street Recreation Center in Manhattan, will loop around on a gallery above the perimeter of a basketball court below. On the Lower East Side, a new rubber track and synthetic turf field are under construction at Sara D. Roosevelt Park.

Icahn Stadium on Randalls Island, already in construction, will house the only Class 1 IAAF certified track in the United States. Designed with an asphalt and gravel sub-surface for superior drainage, the level of the track will fluctuate by less than an eighth of an inch over any ten feet of track. Meeting and superceding even-gradation and other requirements qualifies the venue for hosting international competitions, rendering it an eligible candidate to hold the next Summer Olympic trials in 2008. The new stadium will have seating for up to 10,000 spectators, a roof, light towers for night usage, a regulation-size soccer field, locker rooms able to accommodate up to a thousand visiting athletes and training and treatment rooms.

Icahn Stadium will attract world-class events, while also providing a key resource to local communities and schools. The $45 million project is funded by $22.6 million in public funds and the rest by private donations raised by the Randalls Island Sports Foundation and Parks & Recreation, including a $10 million gift from Carl Icahn. It is scheduled to open in spring 2005.

QUOTATION FOR THE DAY

"Life is often compared to a marathon, but I think it is more like being a sprinter; long stretches of hard work punctuated by brief moments in which we
are given the opportunity to perform at our best."

Michael Johnson
(b. 1967)

A year and a half ago, a sinkhole measuring 8 feet wide and 2 feet deep appeared at the southern end of the asphalt in Sara D. Roosevelt Park. Park workers fixed the small craters, but Hester & Canal Street Field was still not a place to play. By next fall, the field will become a state-of-the-art recreational site for the entire Lower East Side community to enjoy. With support from LMDC, Parks & Recreation is transforming the asphalt field into a lush, green carpet of synthetic turf. From soccer for teens to Tai Chi for seniors, Hester & Canal Street Field will be a true multi-purpose and multi-generational site.

In addition to replacing the parks asphalt field with synthetic turf, Parks & Recreation will construct a three-lane synthetic track. The park entrance at Canal and Chrystie Streets will be reconstructed, and new irrigation, paths, benches, and park lighting will be added. The sites perimeter fence and wall will also be reconstructed, and the lawn will be expanded. New trees, shrubs, perennials, and other landscaping will provide a green gateway to Lower Manhattan. The LMDC allocated nearly $3 million for the project.

"Todays groundbreaking is a symbol of what is to come for Lower Manhattan over a dozen new and revitalized parks and green spaces downtown, with six to debut this spring," said LMDC President Kevin M. Rampe.

Summer school students from I.S. 131 helped Landscape Architects Nancy Prince, Marisa Moriel, and Dennis Flynn design the new field, and Resident Engineer Mahmoud Gouda is overseeing the construction. Lillian Moy, Chair of the Youth Committee for Community Board 3, Jane Lerach, Principal of I.S. 131, and Alice Young, Superintendent of I.S. 131 also lent their support at the groundbreaking.

In May 2003, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Governor George E. Pataki announced the LMDC's allocation of $25 million to rejuvenate and create over a dozen new green spaces throughout Lower Manhattan. The reconstruction of Sara D. Roosevelt exemplifies Parks & Recreations plans to enhance each of these Lower Manhattan sites.

The 7.85-acre park was named in 1934 after Sara Delano Roosevelt, the mother of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The parkland was acquired by the City in 1929 for the purpose of widening Chrystie and Forsyth Streets and building low-cost housing, but was later set aside for "playgrounds and resting places for mothers and children." The construction of the park in 1934 was the largest park project on the Lower East Side since the acquisition of Tompkins Square Park a century earlier. Parts of Hester, Broome, Rivington, and Stanton Streets were closed to accommodate seven distinct play areas with separate playgrounds for boys and girls, as well as two wading pools, a roller skating rink, and a perimeter of benches and shade trees. At the parks dedication on September 14, 1934, Harry H. Schlacht, founder of the periodical, East Side Home News, proclaimed the day to be "the birth of a new Lower East Side."