Memorial Grove opens in Van Cortlandt Park(Page 2 of 3)
By Adam Wisnieski Posted 6/6/12
Marisol DÍAZ/THE RIVERDALE PRESS Korean Veteran and Kingsbridge resident Herb Barret, takes a walk in the newly renovated Memorial Grove in Van Van Cortlandt Park on June 1. Thirty-nine bronze plaques — to commemorate 37 fallen soldiers, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the Gold Star Mother’s Group, for women whose sons have died in combat — once again sit at the bases of pine oaks, red oaks and Norway maples at the grove, enclosed by a black fence. Originally built in 1949 — with plaques for Korean War veterans added later — the grove’s bronze plaques were damaged or buried over the years. Of the original 39, 21 plaques were missing. The contractor resurfaced the 15 remaining ones (some of which Mr. Barret and Mr. Tannen dug out of the ground themselves). Parks planted new shrubs and bushes, trimmed the trees and planted new ones to replace fallen ones. Part of the project was regrading and reseeding the grove, which Mr. Barret says still needs work because a few big patches of dirt remain. Because of that, Mr. Barret said he was not “jumping up and down.” But he said that he was pleased. Mr. Tannen and his wife of 66 years, Lillian, said they were happy the grove was open, but were confused about why there was no unveiling. Even though they frequently called the Parks Department and have made themselves known, no city official called them to tell them the Grove was completed. The last they heard was from Andrew Sandler, who works in Mr. Koppell’s office and told Mr. Barret on May 25 that the construction crews were about to finish their work. “I would think they’d make a bit more of a fuss about it,” Mr. Tannen said at the grove on June 1. “It’s been a silent struggle in the sense that the Parks Department has never once called us [for input].” His wife was not as easy on the city. “You would think they would do something, but that would mean you have a brain,” she said. Both Mr. Koppell’s office and a spokesman for the Parks Department said an opening ceremony was in the works, but had not been scheduled yet. “We were looking to get it open for Memorial Day for obvious reasons and pushed to have it completed,” Parks spokesman Zachary Feder said. But it seems Parks had its hands full over Memorial Day weekend.
KeywordsMemorial Grove, Van Cortlandt Park, Herb Barret, Don Tannen, Adam Wisnieski, Jeffrey Dinowitz, Oliver Koppell, Parks Department
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it is very sad indeed to realize that most of the folks that benefit every day from the sacrafices of the fallen, could care less about any form of reverance in remembering them. considering that a growing number of immigrants from all over the world now occupy the homes of the dead soldiers from years ago have no loyalty to the riverdale community or this country is disgusting. the same people honor the flags of the cuba, mexico, el salvador, hatti, jamica, brazil, africa and every other country on the face of the earty, but they could care less about the sacrifices made by the sons and daughters of these red white and blue riverdale heroes .
i feel sorry for this old dude standing alone in the park on memorial day. the realization that no one gives a dam must really hurt. true riverdaleians need to be outraged at the take over of a wounderful place by people who could care less.
it wasn't that way when i lived and grew up in riverdale. SHAME on the riverdale press, shame on the local B.S. politicians, shame on the parks department and shame on the people of riverdale. Friday, June 8, 2012|Report this
The absence of an official ceremony and the past neglect is very shameful but blaming the parks department or politicians is not the answer. Instead, lets ask what we can do. We can visit the the Memorial Grove. When we visit, we can pick up the litter that will surely find. We can make a note on our busy calendars to bring a flower to the memorial the next Memorial Day. We can make sure "the old dude standing alone" will not be standing alone on future Memorial Days. Most importantly, we can ask what we can do to help a returning vet today.
And as for the jcaljcal's comments, the commenter should take a moment to review the names of our recent fallen soldiers and note the DIVERSITY of those who are making the ultimate sacrifice right now. Tuesday, June 12, 2012|Report this