Mayor Bloomberg isn’t the only term-limited politician leaving behind a hotly contested empty seat.  Brooklyn is losing Borough President Marty Markowitz, and we in Fort Greene are losing Councilwoman Letitia James (now running for Public Advocate).  As a whole new crop of candidates competes to fill the void, local voters want to know if any of them can finally deliver a real home field for local sports in our community.  All candidates are hereby officially invited to answer the following three questions, and based on their responses, Turf the Slab will award “Parks and Rec Champion” endorsements.

While other Brooklyn neighborhoods are building new fields and growing sports programs, our local youth still have no home field and our community suffers the continuing division of the soccer dustbowl in Fort Greene Park.

1. If elected, will you commit to building at least one field for soccer and other local sports in our neighborhood?
2. Do you support building a turf field with lights on the empty concrete slab in Commodore Barry Park?
3. Would you go a step further and push for a total renovation of Commodore Barry Park, including a Mondo running track for local runners and other mixed-use fields for a variety of local sports?

We will post the candidates responses as they are received.  Follow us and stay tuned! If you have other questions about local sports and parks improvements that you would like the candidates to answer, please feel to share them in the comments.

It is hard to stitch Commodore Barry Park into the fabric of Fort Greene without addressing traffic on Park Avenue.  The Myrtle Avenue Revitalization Project and Architecture for Humanity New York have put together a Park Avenue Pedestrian Safety Plan that should be required reading for local leaders and concerned citizens alike.  What do you think could or should be done to make Park Avenue safer?

Just a friendly seasonal reminder that Commodore Barry Park pool will open for summer on June 28 and keep us cool through Labor Day.  There is also a water feature on the playground for the kids.

BREAKING NEWS:  The proposal to turf the slab in Commodore Barry now includes lights!  Lights mean more fun for everyone.  When adults take advantage of extended hours that leaves more daytime play for kids, and we all get a safer park in the bargain. And while we’re talking upgrades to Commodore Barry, it is worth explaining that “turfing the slab” is only the beginning.  The ultimate hope is that a new multi-use sports field with lights will promote a total makeover of the baseball fields and other facilities to serve even more sports.  The Parade Ground in Prospect Park is a good example:

Prospect Park Parade Ground boasts baseball, soccer, football, and multi-use fields

And for the growing population of joggers beating their knees and ankles on the Fort Greene Park loop, the cherry on top could be a rubberized “Mondo” running track like the one in McCarren Park.

Rubberized “Mondo” running track in McCarren Park in Williamsburg

Let’s hear from you.  What other sports or activities would you most like to see find a home in Commodore Barry?  Please vote in the poll below.  Choose a sport, or add your own in the “Other” box, and press the vote button.

The Commodore Barry Park proposal got some nice ink in DNAinfo today.  Click here to read all about it.  Excitement is finally building for a real home field in Fort Greene!   The plan promotes organized youth and adult sports, but if the Dustbowl players do get displaced, my door is wide open to discuss possibilities for pick-up play in Commodore Barry. Itai and Dwayne know how to reach me directly, or just reach out here in the comments.  Speaking of the Dustbowl, I noticed that grass is really thriving in the area recently fenced off for re-seeding on the Dekalb side of the oval.  Goes to show how quickly, and robustly, the lawn could come back when given a chance to do its thing.  Does this mean the cicadas are next?!?

Let’s address the drainage problem on the East side of the oval, along Washington Park.  The ponding seems to be getting worse.  As you can see from the close-ups below, it extended all the way to the Willoughby Avenue entrance this afternoon.

A petition is circulating to bring grass back to the dustbowl, that further intends to install a dedicated astroturf soccer pitch in the middle of the oval.  The grass part sounds wonderful, but the astroturf is problematic on several levels…

•  Astroturf is not just a carpet.  It would require a concrete slab to be poured under the entire footprint of the pitch, and might require a fence.

•  The oval would necessarily become a permitted sports area just like the tennis courts, meaning soccer players would need to organize teams, secure permits, and schedule playing time.

•  Fort Greene park is a landmarked park, and astro-turfing a central lawn in an historically preserved Olmsted and Vaux designed park would be next to impossible.

That last one is the real kicker.  Fort Greene Park was landmarked along with an adjoining swath of brownstone blocks back in the 1970’s.  Many people living within the landmark district know how stringent a concept landmarking can be.  Preserving the historical character of our park is a burden we bear, but it is also what makes our neighborhood so popular, for better or worse.

Some may say, “But what about the tennis courts?  Why do they get to be there?”  It may be that tennis courts were part of the Olmsted and Vaux design, and so any update would have been permissible.  Curiously there is some unsubstantiated evidence to suggest that the oval was originally a croquet field!  As referenced above, the tennis courts are permitted athletic fields, and any proposed soccer pitch would fall under the same regulations.

On a somewhat related note, the dustbowl players are circulating a photograph that claims to show “football” players in Fort Greene Park in the 1870’s, tagged with the comment “As Olmsted and Vaux envisioned it!!!!!”  In the sense that there is grass on the ground, yes.  Otherwise, one can’t really tell whether the activity captured was soccer, or football, or rugby…or whether a dot in the air is a ball, or a dot.  One thing is for sure, the photo was taken before Olmsted and Vaux’s park even existed.  Their plan was implemented after that photograph was taken, in fact, Fort Greene Park was not even officially Fort Greene Park until 1897…until then it was known as Washington Park.

From nycparks.gov website:

In 1867 landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, designers of Central and Prospect Parks, were engaged to prepare a new design for Washington Park and a crypt for the remains of the prison ship martyrs. At the top of the hill was a trellised walk approaching two flights of steps that led down to a circular parade ground in the northwest corner of the park. Olmsted and Vaux proposed that the rest of the hilly site would be “somewhat closely planted, and . . .so laid out that it will offer a series of shady walks that will have an outlook over open grassy spaces.” Washington Park was renamed for Fort Greene in 1897, less than a year before Brooklyn was consolidated into greater New York City. The street that bounds the park on the east is still known as Washington Park.

That “outlook over open grassy spaces” line certainly strikes a chord today.

And while we are on the subject of history, did you know that Commodore Barry Park was the first park in Brooklyn?  Fort Greene Park was a close second!  Regardless of which came first, our neighborhood is blessed with two amazing, historically significant parks.  One is landmarked, increasingly crowded, and suffering a dustbowl.  The other is not landmarked, underutilized, and suffering a desolate concrete slab.  If we can find a way to serve the needs of both our parks, they can serve ALL of Fort Greene, and take a positive step towards bridging the divide that has existed across Myrtle Avenue for a century or more.  There is so much density in our area today, from housing projects to glass and steel high-rises, and since Fort Greene’s growth shows no signs of slowing down, we need both our fine parks to thrive.  Let’s come together and get to work on a greener future for our historic hood!  Anyone who wants to get involved in the conversation about the Commodore Barry Park proposal, click here, and speak up in the comments, and click here to make your vote count in our community polls.  Thank you!

I had hoped to keep the movement focused on ideas and community dialogue, and keep the spotlight off myself, but thanks to the message boards at the Fort Greene Local, it’s unfortunately all about me all of a sudden.  Just so there is no lingering mystery:

I am TC, and yes, I am Tom Wentworth. I was not concealing my identity, but rather hoping to make Fort Greene Soccer about the ideas and not about me. Comment boards allow us all privacy for a reason, but since I know you’re all curious now: I am a writer and documentary producer, a local business owner, and a family man. I have served on the board of the Fort Greene Association and with Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn. I have lived within a block of the park for 13 years, and until 2009, I spent every day of the year in the park with my dearly departed dog. Since then, my wife and son are my regular park companions. We have a personal connection to the oval as it’s where I first met my wife at a Brazillian Girls show, and we moved on to court (entirely platonically) on the benches and fields near the tennis courts every afternoon for weeks. Over the years, I have rescued 3 stray dogs from the park. I am inspired by our park, it’s history, it’s famous architects, it’s denizens, and I am proud to see community dedication return it to life after years of neglect. Though my playing days are behind me, I am a tremendous soccer fan, and I’m saving up to finally see a World Cup in Brazil this time around. I grew up idolizing Pele, and curiously, I was once bitten by Johan Cruyff’s doberman. My son actually takes soccer lessons from Itai and Dwayne, who are totally amazing, so I have nothing but love for the players. I am just over the dust and the division, as are many folks, and so I am trying to find a way for everyone to rise above the BS. I believe we can care for our park, and make soccer a force for good in our community, at the same time. I have seen all the amazing soccer pitches Parks has brought to Brooklyn, and I think Fort Greene deserves one, not least because the sport has been growing here for years. My vision is totally distinct from the dustbowl. I’m talking about a permitted pitch for leagues of all ages sponsored by local businesses like mine; one local schools can share and food trucks can encircle. Clearly none of this can take place in Fort Greene Park, so my idea need not concern the dustbowl players, although I’d love to have them on board. In the end, my mission will continue whether they stay or go. If they go, they know where to find me now. If they stay, I think they should show some real community spirit and take charge of helping Parks seed and maintain the oval instead of playing “tragedy of the commons” with our park. To the rest of my neighbors, I say this…if you want to help “green” Fort Greene Park, let’s work together. If you want to help win an official home field for soccer in our hood, let’s work together. My bet is most people want both. So, that’s me. Anyone else want to divulge their identities? Thought not. Thanks for listening and I’ll see you in the park!

But enough about me, let’s hear from you.  Got any bright ideas?  Got a post you’d like to submit for publication?  Reach out in the comments, and we’ll get a conversation going!