Alley Pond Park

An Examination of Alley Pond Park’s Role in its Community
By: Cyril Abraham, Kush Patel, Pawandeep Singh

Contents

1. History
2. Geography
3. Uses of Alley Pond Park
4. Interview
5. Conclusion/Personal Response

1. History


2. Geography


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Alley Pond Park is out of place in its urban Queens setting. It has two highways, the Cross Island Parkway and the Long Island Expressway, bordering and sometimes cutting through it and wilderness sometimes turns into suburban neighborhood or expressway.

An impromptu baseball game picks is underway as the serenity of the park contrasted with overpass in the back. This is the southeaster border of the park where urban life and wilderness often meet.

The exit for the Grand Central Parkway passes right through Alley Pond Park. While at first it may seem out of place, us regular visitors see it as an important part of the park.

The geography within the park is also just as varied. Meadows and open fields are just as common as dense forest and ecologically vital saltwater and freshwater wetlands. Tidal flats and  The park is representative of the natural, moraine environment of Long Island.

Wetlands in the park, more evidence for the park’s diverse geography.  During the winter, this pond freezes into thick ice, which some adventurous but reckless people try to walk on.

The geography of the park is important to us personally. We frequently visit the park for ultimate frisbee, walks on the hiking trails and picnics. The different sights and backdrops isolate us from our normal lives and give us an important outlet.

3. Uses of alley Pond Park

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Here is another adventure course feature, a rock climbing wall.

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Here is an adventure course open to children of older ages. This one in particular is course where kids climb up to the top of the pole attached to a bungee cord and jump off in attempts to touch the ball in the middle of the course.

Alley Pond Features New York City's only adventures course. Everything from zip lines to rock climbing walls are present.

This is one of the many playgrounds built in the park. This playground includes monkey bars, slides, swings, and couple of benches for visitors and their children.

One of the diverse species that we encounter

This is a fence and a sign showing how initiative is being taken to preserve the wildlife and the forest area. Parts beyond this fence are closed to park visitors.

One of the many entrances to the park. Shows how nearby residents have such easy access to this park, as you see some residential homes up ahead.

This is just some street art that is found in the park. Usually this is done by the some adventurous kids who, come to draw this late at night.

Shows the nature side of the park, and this is what engages people to bike or walk through these paths in Alley Pond.

This is the path going to the bike route which runs from Alley Pond all the way to another park called Cunningham Park.

Here is an open field, where kids come to play ultimate frisbee and where the Indian and Guyanese population play cricket.

You can see people here playing softball and the viewing crowd growing.

One of the many baseball parks that Alley Pond has to offer. This is where leagues and some nearby school teams come to practice. The hispanic population also have recreational games along with barbecues and gatherings here.

These courts are filled up year long. They are covered with a huge white tent in the winter and left open in the summer. With a permit, anyone can come play tennis along with their guests. During the summer, tennis classes take place here and some tournaments are played here.

These courts are filled up year long. They are covered with a huge white tent in the winter and left open in the summer. With a permit, anyone can come play tennis along with their guests. During the summer, tennis classes take place here and some tournaments are played here.

This building is the entrance to the heavily used tennis courts Alley Pond has to offer. This specific building sells sports drinks, beverages, and food for the people who come to play tennis and other park visitors.

This is the building close to the entrance of the park where people can get information about the park and use restrooms and telephones

Here is one of the many barbecue grills, where families and friends can have a gathering. During the

4. Interview – Janice Melnick

We received the opportunity to interview Janice Melnick, Park Administrator for Northeast Queens. She graduated from Rutger’s University and worked in a public relations position in the fashion industry for a while. After this, she was appointed to her current position as Park Administrator. The following is a brief interview we conducted with her.

From your personal experience, how would you say different people utilize the park?  Have you seen people do anything that would be considered unconventional use of the park?

People use Alley Pond Park in many different ways. There are different athletic fields including baseball/softball, soccer, cricket, football, etc. The popularity has changed in that we have a lot more interest in soccer and cricket than we used to which has much to do with the changes in ethnic populations in the community. We have tennis courts and of course the only public Adventure Course in a NYC park. We have a tremendous amount of family parties (birthday, reunions, etc), church group parties, and school field days. Alley Pond Park is one of the most popular parks for barbecuing. In addition we are part of the Brooklyn-Queens Greenway so it is heavily used for walking, biking, running, and rollerblading. The Alley Pond Striders are a large non-profit for walkers and runners in the park. We have some of the nicest natural areas in the City with old growth forest and kettle ponds left as remnants of the terminal morraine so Alley is a popular spot for birders and for hiking. Of course we also have the Alley Pond Environmental Center (APEC) dedicated to environmental education for young and old. The Rangers even offer overnight Family camping, as well as canoeing and fishing (catch and release only) in Oakland Lake. People use the park as their backyard – for exercise (Tai Chi, Frisbee, plus all I mentioned previously), entertainment (we offer many different types of special events for all ages), and enjoying the outdoors. (Sun bathing, reading, picnicking) alone or with friends.

In what ways does Alley Pond Park reflect the community?

I think a lot of the information in Question 1 answers question 2 but I will say that as you know we do a lot of volunteer events in the park bringing the community together. We ask Baseball leagues to “Pitch in for parks” by raking leaves and cleaning areas around the fields. We have Million Trees planting, trail restoration, planting of bulbs, Painting of Benches, etc all to have the community take stewardship of the park. We often have Boy and Girl Scouts volunteer in the park including some great Eagle Scout projects.
We do have schools have Field days in the park but we also work with schools through the Urban Park Rangers who do all types of tours including botany and entomology. Some high schools and a couple of Colleges bring students into the park for Research projects.

Key Points from Interview

  1. “… we have a lot more interest in soccer and cricket than we used to which has much to do with the changes in ethnic populations in the community.” Changing ethnic compositions are a fact realized by the parks and an effort is being made to cater to all the communities.
  2. “…we also have the Alley Pond Environmental Center (APEC) dedicated to environmental education for young and old.”
  3. “…do a lot of volunteer events in the park bringing the community together.” Alley Pond Park ties our community together in many ways and we are more than happy to give back.
  4. ” People use the park as their backyard…” Bottom line, parks are essential.

5. Conclusion/Personal Response

 On a personal note, Alley Pond Park means a great deal to us. Pawandeep always had a great relationship with the park. He volunteered in it from a young age and as a result he is the expert in guiding us through its various trails and features. Kush has always relied on the park a site for ultimate frisbee or other sports, visiting the park almost every weekend with friends. Cyril has fond memories of Church events, such as picnics and hikes with friends through the park. Alley Pond Park is unique and provides a valuable service for the community. It has evolved over the years and today it serves a diverse population and as an extension of our community


 

Sources: http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/alleypondpark

http://queenscourier.com/2010/she-finds-being-a-park-person-is-fashionable-8354/

Thank you to Janice Melnick

All photos are original material unless otherwise noted

 

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