Flushing Meadows-Corona Park is the largest, most used park in Queens and has been the home of two World Fairs, home of the NY Mets, tennis stadiums for the US Open, large festivals, concerts, museums, a zoo, a theater, ice skating and swimming facilities, boat and bike rentals, many fields for sport activities and lots of grassy areas for family picnics.
For 25 years I have been advocating for improving the conditions in the park. This has included letters to the NYC Parks Commissioner, Queens Parks Commissioner, meetings and phone calls to the Park Manager, letters to the local papers and yearly updates to the Juniper Berry. As a senior and someone who has been going to the park since I was a child, I just accepted the poor conditions until one day I was biking in the park, and I wanted to see the Flushing Bay Promenade, newly completed at a cost of $21 million. To get to the promenade one must cross a one-lane road, which sounds easy, but there is no crosswalk, no traffic signal, and no curb cuts and on that road are many speeding trucks and cars. This area is by the World’s Fair Marina, the most used part of the promenade. There are also two parking lots, and everyone must cross that road. How could a $21 million project forget to connect the promenade to the rest of the park safely?
So, I did all the things the city says to do. I called 311, sent letters to public and parks officials. DOT said it’s not their job, it’s Parks and Parks said it’s not their job, it’s DOT’s. I asked Councilman Moya to request a traffic study, they found no problem, go figure. The letters and meetings from Parks were always the same. There is a Master Plan but there’s a problem getting funding; meanwhile, this is in a park that hosts the Mets, US Open and many festivals and concerts. Where does the money go from all these great events? It goes into the general city fund and only a small portion comes back to maintaining the park.
Finally, a chorus is growing with groups like the Center for an Urban Future, The Waterfront Alliance and the Flushing Meadows Conservancy publicly making statements about the poor conditions of the park, and that it is not getting its fair share of city funds. Historic structures like the Aquacade were demolished for lack of funds and the NYS Pavilion was on the brink of demolition, but then received funds for its much-needed maintenance.
Many of the roads in the park are in terrible condition and often flood. There are neither bike lanes nor signage telling drivers to share the road and drivers often speed, treating the park as an extension of the many highways that surround it. At large events, cars often park on the grass and grass areas have been converted to parking lots, adding to the many parking lots in and around the park.
I had a list of 311 requests that were unanswered by the Parks Dept., so I decided to call the Queens Commissioner’s office to get an answer why. I had a nice conversation with an assistant parks manager, and she apologized and sympathized and they are aware of the problems. She sent me the plans you see here which include correcting the dangerous traffic conditions at the Marina but also include a Greenway through the park. The Greenway would connect with other parks for bikes and walkers. Why it has taken this long to remedy a dangerous traffic condition baffles me, one death or injury is too much, and insurance claims could be in the many millions of dollars.
It could be that NYC officials are banking on the promises of the billionaire Mets owner with his plans to build a casino, hotel, theater, restaurant, and a parking garage with parkland the city has given up with the promise of tax revenue and jobs. The casino plan will only bring more traffic and congestion to an already overburdened park.
With all the new developments in Willets West and downtown Flushing this will only mean more people using the park.
A wise man once said, “God only made so much parkland.” We better use ours wisely and take good care of it.
