Harris Clean-up Costing Other Parks

Construction at Harris Field, this October (file photo by Layza Garcia)

Editor's note: this article is from this week's Norwood News, our special 2010 year in review issue, which hits the streets today.

By Alex Kratz

There’s a new twist to the saga that has become the remaking of Harris Field in Bedford Park.

Last year, the Norwood News uncovered the Parks Department’s finding of heavy lead contamination underneath the soil at Harris, which caused delays and cost the city $5.2 million to mitigate.

While the city searched for a company to do the clean-up work, residents continued to use the contaminated site, but it wasn’t until a decomposing dead body was found inside the park’s weak fencing in July that the Parks Department got serious about keeping people out.

Now apparently free of contamination, construction of the new ball fields has re-started and Parks is hoping to complete them in time for youth baseball leagues to start using this spring.

The twist is that it is now clear how the problems at Harris are affecting other parks that were in line to receive funding from the Department of Environmental Protection, which injected more than $200 million in capital funding for Bronx parks in exchange for taking public parkland (in Van Cortlandt Park) to build the Croton Water Filtration Plant.

Regatta Park, which sits on the Harlem River and is more of an idea than an actual park, was supposed to receive $1.6 million to help transform it into something public and usable. But now, the clean-up at Harris has sapped all but $93,000 earmarked for the project.

Councilman Fernando Cabrera is working with the DEP, Parks Department and the Department of Transportation (which currently controls the Regatta Park space) to see if they can still get the project going forward.

Bronx News Roundup, July 2

Bronx assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo is defending her aide, Wilfredo Nazario, claiming that his arrest on charges of burglary, grand larceny, criminal impersonation, possession of stolen property and trespassing was "a big mistake." The Daily News has the story.

Two wild deer were rescued from the parking lot of the River Plaza Target in Kingsbridge yesterday. At around 3 p.m., the deer were taken from the superstore to Animal Care & Control on 110th St. in Manhattan.

The Bronx Zoo's flock of endangered Waldrapp ibis have produced six chicks after listening to soundtracks of mating calls. The babies are the birds' first offspring in seven years.

The New York City Police Department is increasing its overnight patrols in parts of the Bronx in an effort to deter violence and respond to criminal acts faster. The Times has the details.

Bronx assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz is proposing free bus transfer cards for riders of the Bx20 in Riverdale and the Bx34 in Woodlawn. The recent MTA service cuts have resulted in a 100% fare hike for riders in these areas, he says. Read more here.

The murderer of Mary Bea, whose body was found in garbage bags in several locations around the Bronx in 1990, was sentenced to 12 years in jail. Smail Tulja will serve his sentence in Montenegro, where he was arrested and charged.

After hosting a charity dinner last November for the Bronx River Arts Center, Natalie Jeremijenko and Mihir Desai are treating guests to a good meal, and a lesson on environmental health. The Scientist has the story.

Twelve Bronx assistant district attorneys will lose their jobs this month as a result of the New York City financial plan, which significantly reduces the office’s funding for the fiscal years of 2011 and 2012.

The Riverdale Press reports that personal information of Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy students littered West 236th Street yesterday after records that were set out for paper recycling got lose and were blown by a stiff breeze.

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B.P. Diaz Talks "Green" Initiatives with Dominican Delegation

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and with a delegation of representatives from the government of Dominican Republic today to discuss environmental protection and other "green" initiatives. Above, (right to left) Diaz, Manhattan Assemblyman Adriano Espaillat and the Dominican Republic's Secretary of State for Environmental and Natural Resources, Dr. David Fernandez plant a tree at the New York Botanical Garden to symbolize the need for reforestation.

City turns down school for green jobs

The city Department of Education has rejected a proposal to create a high school based on the ideas of the founder of Sustainable South Bronx and devoted to training students for jobs that can improve the environment.

The Majora Carter Achievement Academy was the brainchild of its namesake, the former executive director of the Hunts Point-based environmental justice organization. More than two years in the making, the proposal was developed by Stephen Ritz, an award-winning teacher and coordinator of student affairs at the Millennium Art Academy in the East Bronx.

Read the rest of the story in The Hunts Point Express