More vital than ever to protect parks

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To the editor,

Some years back, I was talking with a ranger in the Parade Ground in Van Cortlandt Park. Looking northwest, he pointed up to a mansion on top of a hill that he hadn’t noticed before and asked “what’s that?” I told him it was one of several mansions in an area called Villanova Heights; that until a few years earlier it was a 16-acre forest and that for months after it was cut down, lots of rainwater flowed down to Fieldston Road.

Now we sit on the threshold of another huge development project, namely the proposed high-rise building on Post Road that will extend to Broadway (“Developer plans high-rise on Broadway,” Oct. 29). It will entail the demolition of one of the most beautiful remaining natural features in Riverdale outside of protected parkland. I’ve met local residents who think that North Riverdale is protected by “Special Natural Area District” zoning (SNAD). Not really, as this zoning is limited in area and scope. I’ve given just two examples of this. SNAD doesn’t even come close to protecting all of Riverdale’s unique natural features, and developers have their ways of getting around it.

Thus once again, it becomes increasingly clear that the only way to preserve what’s left of the vanishing nature in the Bronx is in our parks, especially those such as Van Cortlandt Park, with its many acres of Forever Wild natural areas. I’m not optimistic about preserving privately-owned natural land. Real estate values keep climbing, so “undeveloped” properties will succumb to pressures to develop. Natural ecosystems within parks must be preserved, and all development plans that make such natural areas less so must be questioned.

The Van Cortlandt Park BioBlitz last May was a great success, as it introduced young people to the natural beauty of the park. In an increasingly urbanized world, preservation of nature takes on ever-greater importance. This is essential to promote the experience of ecosystems and to improve the lives of residents. And when it comes to endangered wetlands such as the Putnam Trail, maximum protection must be a priority. We have to discard the Manifest Destiny paradigm as it applies to the few natural areas left. The developers will have their way outside of our parks, but we can and must draw the boundaries to make sure they don’t extend inside our parks.

Matthew Turov

Van Cortlandt Park, parks, Matthew Turov

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