A New Field House for Queensbridge Park
Good news for Queensbridge Park—the dilapidated old Field House, closed for many years, is to be demolished and ground has been broken for a new, energy-efficient park house that will serve as a community center and will also house offices for Parks staff. The construction will cost $6.25 million...
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RENOVATION OF ASTORIA POOL TO COST 50 MILLION
The cost to overhaul the Astoria Pool will be in excess of $50 million, according to Council member Costa Constantinides. Constantinides, who plans to fix the rundown pool wants the pool basin, the bleachers and deck surrounding the pool to be renovated. In addition, he wants the unkempt bathrooms...
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Pesticide Bill in Queens
A bill mandating NYC parks and playgrounds be wiped down after pesticides are sprayed has passed the City Council. This bill has been sponsored by Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer of Long Island City/Sunnyside. This bill will require The Department of Parks and Recreation to wipe down the playgrounds 24...
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Rainey Park Community Input Session
Green Shores NYC will also host a Rainey Park Community Input Session on Sunday, December 10th from 2:30pm to 5pm at the Noguchi Museum, 0-01 33rd Road. More Info.
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Astoria Park Alliance Friendraiser
Attend the Astoria Park Alliance Friendraiser Winter Social on December 6th from 6:30 PM to 10:30 P. More info.
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Send In Ideas For Socrates Park Seating
Are you an architect? Do you like to sit? Then send in your ideas for new ideas for single or double movable outdoor seating for Old Astoria’s Socrates Sculpture Park. The park wants an artist to construct outdoor seating for at least 25 people, have a life for...
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Join Green Shores NYC for a Rainey Park Walking Tour
Green Shore NYC, a non-profit organization that advocates for a cleaner, greener and more accessible East River waterfront in Astoria and Long Island City, is looking for feedback on Rainey Park (Vernon Blvd and 34th Avenue). More info.
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Rainey Park Walking Tour and Drop-In Session
Green Shore NYC, a non-profit organization that advocates for a cleaner, greener and more accessible East River waterfront in Astoria and Long Island City, is looking for feedback on Rainey Park (Vernon Blvd and 34th Avenue). They are gathering information on how people use Rainey Park, how they feel...
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Delayed Opening for Charybdis Playground Bathrooms
NYC Parks Departments plan for renovating Charybdis Playground, phase 2 of Mayor DiBlasio’s Anchor Park Initiative, will include renovation of the Comfort Station. Because of this renovation, the facility will not reopen until 2020 (The completion of Phase 2). Initially closed because sewer lines were emptying directly into the...
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Community Input for Chappetto Square Renovation
There was considerable enthusiasm for an upcoming local renovation project amongst the community members who turned out to tell the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation what they would like to see happen at local park Chappetto Square during a recent visioning meeting at the Judge Charles F. Vallone...
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Share your ideas for the redesign of Chappetto Square
The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation wants to hear your ideas! On October 30th at 6.30 pm, there will be a Community Design Meeting at the Judge Charles J. Vallone School, 23-70 31st St, Astoria.
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Chappetto Square Community Input Meeting
It was recently announced that Chappetto Square in Astoria was added to the Community Parks Initiative program and will therefore receive funding from the city for a renovation and upgrades. What will the renovation of Chappetto Square look like? The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation wants...
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“Astoria Character” Neil Herdan is Pitching Whitey Ford Field
Nancy Ruhling’s “Astoria Characters” series in the Huffington Post and collected on her own website, have featured a wide variety of people living in our community—a Tiffany glass curator, a hairdresser, the couple who own the Victory Sweet Shop and Victory Garden Cafe, the principal trombonist for the Astoria...
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Chappetto Square Joins the Community Parks Initiative
Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced that Chappetto Square in Astoria will receive city funding and upgrades since it has just been added to the Community Parks Initiative. Founded in 2014, the Community Parks Initiative (CPI) focuses on improving parks in neighborhoods with dense and/or growing populations. Chappetto Square...
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Whitey Ford Field Clean-Up
Please help Friends of Whitey Ford Field during their Volunteer Clean-Up Day on Sunday, September 17 from 10 am to 1 pm. Supplies and tools will be provided. Find out more.
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Friends of Whitey Ford Field Get Grant from Costa
Councilman Costa Constantinides has allocated a $5,000 grant through the City Parks Foundation on behalf of the volunteer group Friends of Whitey Ford Field. This allocation is part of the City Council’s Parks Equity Initiative, which supports community programming in smaller neighborhood parks. Friends of Whitey Ford Field Chairperson...
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Register to Get Daffodil Bulbs, Starting August 14
Daffodil Bulb Registration Opens in One Week! Don’t miss out on your chance to be a part of New Yorkers for Parks’ Daffodil Project! This is the sixteenth year of the Project, which was founded in 2001 as a living memorial of the events of September 11. To date,...
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Funding for Hallets Point Peninsula
The Hallets Point Peninsula is due to get some major upgrades, courtesy of nearly $7.5 million in funding for capital projects, secured by District 22 Council Member Costa Constantinides. Constantinides secured $3 million for improvements at Hallets Cove Playground that will convert the current blacktop into a multi-purpose ball...
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Whitey Ford Field Cleanup
On Saturday July 8th from 10 am to 1pm, join the Friends of Whitey Ford Field in a cleanup. The Friends will be picking up garbage, painting bleachers, and helping to beautify one of Astoria’s greatest green and recreation spaces. T-shirts and supplies provided by Partnerships for Parks. All...
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Weeknight Summer Fun in Astoria Park
Save the dates for Central Astoria LDC’s amazing Waterfront Concert and Movies on the Waterfront series in Astoria Park! The Waterfront Concerts will take place on Thursday evenings this summer: July 13, 20 and 27 and August 3, 10, 17, all at 7.30, bands TBA. The movies will take...
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NYC Parks Event
Please join NYC Parks to share your ideas on Thursday, May 25 from 7 to 9 pm, at Riccardo’s by the Bridge 21-01 24th Ave. Find out more here.
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Share your ideas for Charybdis Playground
Astoria Park was one of 5 parks chosen to receive $30 million for major improvements through New York City’s Anchor Parks program. The park’s track and field area is currently in the design stage, and the next step is community feedback for the Charybdis Playground area. Please join NYC...
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Socrates Sculpture Park Plans for the Summer, and the Future
At our March OANA meeting, we had an exciting presentation from John Hatfield, the Executive Director of Socrates Sculpture Park. Open to the public all year around, this Astoria gem that provides the neighborhood with amazing art as well as community events, free cultural programming and children’s educational workshops,...
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Phase 1 of the Astoria Park Renovation will begin in 2018
The New York City Parks Department has given Community Board 1 details on the first phase of the renovation of Astoria Park thanks to the $30 million “Anchor Park funding from the City. The proposal includes a reconstructions of the running track, at the center of which will be...
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Whitey Ford Field, A Great American Diamond
There is a gem on Hallets Peninsula on the waterfront in Astoria. Next to the Durst Organization’s new Hallets Point development is a Great American Diamond, with a view of the Hell Gate: Whitey Ford Field. Named after Astoria Houses Native and Yankees star Whitey Ford, this baseball field...
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Visioning For Astoria Park Upgrades Scheduled
Many of you may already know that as part of the citywide Anchor Park program, Astoria Park will receive a $30 million investment for large-scale upgrades. All residents now have the opportunity to share ideas and give input on how to invest the funding. We hope to see you...
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NYC To invest $150 Million in 5 City Parks
Five New York City Parks are about to get upgrades that include new running tracks, hiking trails, baseball and soccer fields. Mayor Bill de Blasio recently unveiled plans to invest $150 million in 5 NYC parks and among those parks slated for improvements is Astoria Park in Queens.
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Funding For Charybdis Playground
Astoria Park’s popular Charybdis Playground, which has not been renovated in many years, is to receive $1 million for improvements. Council Member Costa Constanides, when announcing that he had allocated these funds in the budget, said that the extra funds would go to expanding the play area, new play...
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Art in Astoria: Summer 2016 Movies, Concerts, and More
2016 Roundup of Summer Arts and Culture in Astoria This summer, Astoria residents and visitors to the neighborhood can enjoy outdoor movies, concerts, art exhibits, and performances almost every day of the week. Mondays: Bring a blanket and a picnic to Astoria Park’s great lawn for family-friendly flicks like...
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Astoria’s Parks Need More Officers
When the City recently announced funding for 67 additional Parks Enforcement Personnel (PEP Officers), Queens residents and elected officials cried foul over the fact that only 8 of those PEP officers were being assigned to Parks in Queens. PEP Officers, while not part of the NYPD, have the authority...
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PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING BRINGING IMPROVEMENTS TO ASTORIA PARK
Improvements are coming to Astoria Park as a result of Councilman Costa Constantinides’s 2016 Participatory Budgeting Process. Participatory Budgeting, introduced in 2015 by the New York City council, has been called “grassroots democracy at its best.” It lets local residents decide how their tax dollars are spent, by proposing...
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RESIDENTS DISCUSS IDEAS FOR ASTORIA HEALTH PLAYGROUND
Astoria residents and members and officers of the Old Astoria Neighborhood Association gathered last week to share their ideas for renovating the Astoria Health Playground, on 14th Street and 31st Drive. The workshop, sponsored by the NYC Parks Department was part of the City’s Community Parks Initiative, which has...
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FEBRUARY OANA MEETING: UPDATES ON ASTORIA PARK
Councilman Costa Constantinides stopped by last night’s meeting of the Old Astoria Neighborhood Association with some updates on what’s happening in Astoria Park. First, some bad news: the transformation of Astoria Pool’s old diving pool into a new performance space will take longer than initially expected. It turns out...
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OANA HONORS CREATOR OF BUGSY’S DOG RUN
During its October meeting, the Old Astoria Neighborhood Association had the pleasure of honoring George “Tex” Cruikshank. In 1994 he created “Bugsy’s” dog run next to Astoria Park, and has maintained it since. Over the years, no one has been a more devoted advocate for the Dogs in our...
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