The Villager reports that The Delancey Underground—a project to turn an abandoned underground trolley turntable into a public park—looks to The Friends of Gulick Park as a model for community involvement:
“There are a lot of different communities, like the business community, affordable housing advocates, artists, restaurateurs, and we need to listen to them,” [Delancey Underground co-founder James] Ramsey said. “Part of our proposal is not to specifically dictate what’s going to be going on in the space.”
Gulick Park (a.k.a. Sheriff Park or Elephant Park), bordered by Delancey St. and Bialystoker Place, is their role model.
“The revitalization and renovation was spearheaded by people who live next to it,” Ramsey noted of that park. “They had design charettes and brainstorming sessions on how the community wanted the space to be used.”
“Some of the best design is to create a beautiful space and then allow the uses to come after it’s built,” Barasch added.
The Lo-Down confirms that The Delancey Underground is committed to winning broad community support from many area organizations and leaders.
To learn more about the project and to hear our own Dave Bolotsky speak about the difficulties of trying to revitalize neglected public space, RSVP to the upcoming Tenement Talk at the LES Tenement Museum, 16 February 2012 at 6:30pm.
