McKinney’s smoke and mirrors

To the editor:

Inclusive Parks Department Employee or Smoke and Mirrors Actor?

I am writing in response to the March 3 editorial “Betwixt and Between” to present a different point of view on how Charles McKinney has been operating.  You presented him as “particularly adept at working with community members to improve their neighborhood parks,” and as having “an inclusive style.” 

Mr. McKinney is the Parks Department’s Principal Urban Designer.  My husband Matt and I attended a draft Master Plan for Van Cortlandt Park meeting with him on April 10, 2013.  Many of our concerns were not addressed at that meeting, but in an e-mail exchange, Mr. McKinney suggested to my husband that they “take a walk” together to discuss the fate of the Putnam Trail.  

Matt tried to arrange for a date for a walk, but Mr. McKinney was “swamped” and it was never arranged. We were not invited to subsequent Master Plan meetings.

We did, however, attend the Community Board 8 Parks and Recreation meeting in May, 2013 to discuss the fate of the Putnam Trail.  At that meeting I asked why an environmental impact study had not been conducted, as the trail is located in a wetlands area, between a marsh and a lake.  

Mr. McKinney responded with a loophole — that such a study did not have to be done because the trail is a multi-use path.

The concern still remains about the impact of widening and paving this nature trail.  

At an Oct. 23 Community Board 8 Parks and Recreation Committee meeting, Mr. McKinney cut off my husband when he brought up the toxicity of asphalt and why the National Parks Service does not recommend it near wetlands.

Van Cortlandt Park is unique in its diverse habitat.  It is, however, a fragmented park bisected by highways, and care must be taken to preserve what is there.  

Instead of commercializing our park, to make it “self-sustaining,” the city should allocate more than the current half percent of its budget to the park system. For example, Cleveland and Minneapolis allocate seven percent of their budgets to parks.  An increase to one percent for New York City parks would be an achievable goal.  

Let’s have more transparency and real community input into decisions that impact public parks.

Mr. McKinney has a soft-spoken manner but is he really listening to community concerns? He has not shown that he is.

Deborah Dolan