Comments on: Long Island City greens up at the waterfront; Gantry Park extended

By: welcometothehood

welcometothehood — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 04:59:31 +0000

Park Police have been grabbing people walking through the park all night tonight. We walked past a mobile metal barrier into the park at 10:20pm and were given a summons after having our IDs checked and being kept waiting for 20 minutes and told not to move. We didn’t see the small sign posting that the park is closed after 10, though we did push past the barrier as we always see people do on the Gantry Piers. We have to appear in Criminal Court in September– no option to simply pay a fine. As we were walking out, they grabbed a couple walking behind us with a baby walking right behind one of the towers, and took them off to give them a summons too. As a new neighbor, I love the Park. But come on.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:24:02 +0000

Hey kids, get offa my lawn!

Umm, it’s a PUBLIC park.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:03:39 +0000

Other than scratching up the woodwork at the parks, yelling and making out right in front of anyone, they are harmless.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:42:11 +0000

A bunch of teens… probably wearing hoodies. They tend to hang out in packs (smart) and usually are just skateboarding etc. LIC doesn’t have very many teenagers (just babies and old people) so they are likely from other places in Queens, and thus also with a diverse array of skin tone so you know… that’s what a hoodrat is. IMO of course.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:47:14 +0000

what’s a hoodrat?

By: Townie

Townie — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:44:42 +0000

This is the time of year the hoodrats are mulling. It’s a seasonal thing.
They won’t hurt you if you show no fear.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:31:38 +0000

on wednesday night around 9pm, there was a large group of hoodrats mulling around. i dont like to see that in our new park. where do they even come from. thats probably where the scratchitti on the wood bench came from already

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:54:49 +0000

Thank you for finding this out, LIQ

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:34:21 +0000

More informative reporting, less anonymous posting.

Registration please LiQcity!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:48:31 +0000

Thanks LIQCity for getting the real story.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:02:51 +0000

I’ve gotta say, I always go out on the piers past the barricades when it is closed. Nice thing to show visitors who are in town after the bar if we walk down to Vernon.

By: liQcity

liQcity — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:26:54 +0000

Some responses to these comments came from agencies involved with the park via liQcity inbox:

1) the park is open until 10pm, and there are no plans to change that. I checked with State Parks this morning to see if there was anything to this rumor that hours are changing to 9pm, and they said no.

2) Hammocks were not out this morning due to the weather. When it is too stormy or windy State Parks can’t put them out. They will be out as soon as the weather clears, if they aren’t already.

3) The manure smell is due to fertilizer used on some of the last minute plantings to get ready for the opening. That smell should be gone in a couple of days.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:14:54 +0000

People looking for the hammocks- I was out there yesterday when they were out, around 2:00, and they are very comfortable. They were taken down by 4…not sure why. This morning I was out there and the man in charge of the development of the park saw me and asked me what my thoughts were. After I praised the park, I asked where the hammocks were. He said, now that the parks open it’s in the park rangers hands, so just ask where they are and they should put them out. But he did add that as the day went on, some people were getting out of hand on the hammocks (too much swinging, etc.) and they were afraid of someone getting hurt.
Also, on a not so surprising note, someone already professed their love on one of the new benches by scratching “E ‘heart’ J”. I know it’s a long shot, but I think it would be great to get a bunch of people together and go sand off as much of the scracthitti as possbile.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:13:43 +0000

I would be in favor of a wall with a gated entry.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:48:54 +0000

Gantry park has a pretty amazing budget for such a small area- at least 2 full time staff people for a 4 acre park plus some part timers. I work with a city park in Manhattan that has 8 full time staff people for the 120 acre park that includes a staffed swimming pool, numerous sports fields, etc. We are lucky to have that level of care for our small park.

Kids drinking and making noise in the park are going to be an issue that has to dealt with by law enforcement whether the park closes at 9pm or 1am. Putting up a couple of french barricades up is not going to keep troublemakers out just because the park is technically “closed.” Noise ordinances are noise ordinances no matter when the park closes- after 10pm, if someone’s being loud, you can call the cops. If they’ve got an open container, that’s against the law any time. Address the negative behavior, but don’t try to limit the access of law-abiding folks just because there are a few bad apples in the bunch.

My wife and I have walked through Gantry many times between 9 and 11 after dining out. It’s perfectly reasonable for responsible adults to be in the park at that time.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:43:52 +0000

thank you #29, I guess that is the point I was trying to make (#24). If these parks are going to stay nice, than we should have them patrolled through the night and they should stay open later than 9. It’s still a little light outside at 9 in the summer!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:41:21 +0000

The hammocks are closer to the ‘old’ section of gantry park. If facing the water from Center Blvd, to the left of the first Eastcoast building.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:37:29 +0000

This has come up before, with the WTB situation… why don’t we start a neighborhood watch group? It’s very common, and safety is really in our own hands (always) especially since 108th precinct is a bit overstretched (and comprised of neanderthals – not all, but mostly). I would volunteer.

By: anonymous

anonymous — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:29:59 +0000

Stating that the park closes at 9pm is meaningless! There is no way to lock the park unless they build a wall with a gated entry. The Park Rangers leave at 10PM and from then on there is no patrol to stop vandals. We had some ugly incidents last season on the piers and I predict more this summer both in the existing and new expansion. As soon as the PS1 Warmup crowds start migrating to WTB we will see an increase in after hours activity. It is really time for the state to provide an overnight patrol if these parks are to be properly maintained.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:15:53 +0000

#25, I’m not sure how I’m being stupid or moronic, when they obviously have the money to build such a great park, maybe some of that money should go into hiring more people to patrol the park. You know more jobs=ecomonmic growth! How am i being a moron, please tell me?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:07:52 +0000

#23, #11 here – glad I wasn’t the only one that didn’t notice them. I wonder if they removed it because of safety hazards…?

By: anonymous

anonymous — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:58:54 +0000

#24 If you read you’ll see that’s what some of us are saying, keeping the park open later but it needs to be patrolled. You sound like sour grapes and seems like the only lights you should be worried about are your own but nobody’s home.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:58:31 +0000

So please #24, you’re tired rant about ‘tower people’ is so old now.

And if we’re in an economic crisis, where would they get to money to hire people stupid?!? Moron.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:30:18 +0000

did anyone stop and think that if it were open late, and we hired more people to patrol the park at those hours, than it would help keep out late night trouble makers. Since you can get into the park after hours either way, wouldn’t it be nice to know that it is at least being patrolled? And why is it such a bad thing to “have to” hire more people, aren’t we in an economic crisis? Aren’t people in need of work? Oh wait, I forgot, people that live in the towers don’t concern themselves with those things, they only worry about a light shining through their precious windows. Give me a break!!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:25:09 +0000

I’m for 1o or 11 at night. I didn’t see the hammocks there either? Didn’t walk towards East Coast one. Smells of soil and manure……earthy, not trashing it…I really like the extra ozone it’s creating with all that grass.