The city is once again reopening Jerome Park Reservoir for one November weekend, throwing a bone to residents who’ve longed for permanent access to the closed-off site.
“No restrictions,” said Adaline Walker-Santiago, Community Board 7 chair and member of the Filtration Monitoring Committee (FMC), the group that campaigned for access. “All residents will be able to go inside the gates of the reservoir. We’ll walk around the reservoir.”
The city Department of Environmental Protection has kept the public off the reservoir grounds, citing safety concerns to the millions of gallons of drinkable water to the city.
This is the second year the DEP allowed public access to the reservoir, with FMC members declaring it a success despite the presence of police officers carrying heavy military-grade weapons.
Access will take place Nov. 19 and 20 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Reservoir. Entry will be at the intersection of 205th Street and Goulden Avenue, across from the Bronx High School of Science.
Editor’s Note: The Jerome Park Conservancy, an advocacy group, is scheduling formal tours of the reservoir on both days starting at noon. To RSVP to the tour, email Anne Marie Garti at annemarie@garti.net.
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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.
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DEP had police dogs automatic weapons and would not allow residents to have cell phones on the walk. This is not community relations. They also do an absolutely terrible job taking care of trash and trash receptacles all around the reservoir. In fact, their presence in the neighborhood makes the neighborhood worse, and the environment filthy and neglected. They have broken their promises to the neighborhood and neighbors should boycott this insulting pseudoaccess to the reservoir.