Park plan is brilliant, but...

The following letter about the Van Cortlandt Park 20-year Master Plan was submitted to the Department of Parks and Recreation during the public comment period.

Dear Charles McKinney,
Principal Urban Designer, NYC Parks,

I wish to make use of the public comment period reserved for the Van Cortlandt Park (VCP) Master Plan 2034 to express my thoughts on the plan. I am a Community Board 8(CB8) resident and was present at the April 23rd Parks and Recreation Committee meeting where the plan was presented. 

There are many things about it which strike me as brilliant. The elements which, in my opinion, are especially worthy are: the plan to rehabilitate the wetlands and work with the DEP to bring Tibbetts Brook above ground, and the plan to connect the network of designated trails to eliminate dozens of unneeded paths which increase erosion.  There are also several issues which are of great concern to me. I would like to present them here:

• Maintenance plan: Several questions were posed to you by the audience and by board members about a maintenance plan to match the grand scale of the proposed network of trails and amenities. 

What raised a red flag for me was that your answer to each of those questions was a variation of “We hope to get lots of volunteers.” You did not offer any concrete details about a maintenance budget that really should be in the works for a concept plan of this scope. 

Has research been done, have connections been made with other city and state agencies to get a reality check on a budget that can be carved out for all the development and future maintenance? If not, then perhaps having community boards pass resolutions on this plan is a waste of time for everyone at the moment.