Enforce park rules before adding lights to Sid Augarten Field

To the editor,

Now residing in a building in the Spuyten Duyvil area, our property surrounds Henry Hudson Park — including its baseball field and recently renovated basketball courts. Like Laura Spalter, we too enjoy watching the little league youngsters and the basketball players who practice during the daytime hours, most finishing by 8 p.m.

Some basketball players, however, play amplified music — which is both disruptive and against park rules. Yet enforcement of those rules has been lax, to say the least.

Despite the lack of lighting, some older baseball players continue for hours past that time, with a few even violating the rule that declares the park closed at 11 p.m. The after-hours reverberation of baseballs and loud voices echoing through the park is disturbing to residents of the surrounding buildings. While the baseball area is securely locked after practices and games, the basketball court is not.

Why doesn’t the Parks Department enforce its own rules? And why doesn’t the Police Department conduct after-11 p.m. patrols, as it used to?

From experience, I believe that installing powerful lights inside Sid Field will, without a doubt, have a negative impact on the quality of life for most residents and homeowners in the area. Should an entire neighborhood be subjected to the whims of a couple hundred youngsters, and their self-centered parents, who seem to lack empathy for the older residents nearby?

Beyond the token support of local politicians who have encouraged this proposal, what assurances have they offered residents regarding enforcement of Parks Department rules, regulations and police monitoring?

Lastly, and most importantly, instead of spending tax dollars on night lights for one baseball field, perhaps it’s time to fix or replace the broken benches, dangerous cracked steps and walkways, and the overgrowth in our increasingly dilapidated local Riverdale parks.

Lou DeHolczer