Perhaps you have shared an experience that was quite memorable when it happened to me—driving along the busy, fast-moving stretch of central Mosholu Parkway when a ball comes flying out in front of your car.  You brake quickly, bracing in fear that a child will scamper out into the street to retrieve the ball, then breathe a sigh of relief when that doesn’t happen.

New York City Parks Department maintains the six-lane parkway’s trees, shrubs, flowers and benches, restful spots in the shade on a hot summer day.  Parks also maintains the paved bike lane and fenced recreation areas spread out within the parkway’s borders for children and teens–Kossuth Playground, Knox-Gates Playground, Mosholu Playground, and Frisch Baseball Field.

The neighborhoods that surround the parkway have recreational space, but it is in need of improvement.  The most dated, 85-year-old Kossuth, has a recreation building, play equipment, sprinklers, basketball, volleyball and shuffleboard courts. Yet, several years ago, we still saw pick-up games of soccer, volleyball, and football occurring in open spaces in the parkway’s median.  Some believe that hundreds of dogwood trees were planted along Mosholu Parkway in 2014, specifically to deter ball sports.  The point is that trees are a far more appropriate use of the median space in its present configuration than large group barbecues and sports games.

Recognizing that Mosholu Parkway must serve those seeking play space as well as motorists, I have brought together stakeholders in the community to gather ideas on improving the corridor for both.  A town hall meeting was held in April 2015, and later that year, Parks and New York City Department of Transportation accompanied members of the community board on a walk-through of the parkway.  Community visioning events to come up with user-inspired design ideas were held at two playgrounds in fall 2015 and spring 2016, spearheaded by Friends of Mosholu Parkland.

Recognizing this interest, I allocated over $600,000 of capital funds towards renovating Kossuth Playground in the 2016 budget, and $300,000 in the 2017 budget.  Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. allocated an additional $500,000, so a combined $1.4 million will go to Kossuth. We acknowledge that more funds will be needed to renovate all of the aging, but much-needed play space along the parkway.   I recently wrote to Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver to request that a playground along the parkway be designated as a Community Parks Initiative (CPI) site, due to its dire need for improvements and the passion of its local advocates. CPI was created to focus on making unprecedented investments to upgrade small, neighborhood parks with committed local advocates.  The recreation space along the parkway perfectly fits CPI’s goals.

The original plan for the parkway should be respected.  Barbecues are prohibited, and ball sports are, quite simply, unsafe. It is imperative that groups use the designated spaces set aside at Frisch Field, Williamsbridge Oval Park, Van Cortlandt Park and Bronx Park for these activities.

Mosholu Parkway should remain a venue for passive recreation.  Working together with community advocates is our best option for creating the safe recreational space people want in their parks.     

Andrew Cohen is Councilman for the 11th District, which includes the communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Kingsbridge, Riverdale, Van Cortlandt Village, Wakefield, and Woodlawn.

admin

Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.