Thanks to all who came to paint the sprinkler fence; it was a lot of work but the area looks better for it. However, we didn’t get a chance to garden as much as needed that day.
So we are hosting a Weeding and Watering Wednesday on July 21st from 5:30 to 8:00pm–in the area long Willett St. A few plants and seeds need to go in; the new flowers, trees, and shrubs are very thirsty this time of year and need to be cleared of weeds. We’ll take a break for some pizza and drinks. Come by to meet your neighbors and help care for your park. As always children are welcome.
Funding Success
We are happy to announce that $1,050,000 in capital funding has been allocated to Luther Gulick Park. City Council Member Margaret Chin secured $550,000 in this years city budget and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, $500,000. This combines with $360,000 in previous City Council funds and $100,000 from State Senator Daniel Squadron to total $1,510,000.
Input on the Renovation
The Parks Department has indicated that the design process will begin when earmarked funding reaches two million dollars. Meanwhile, we have more time to gather our neighbors’ ideas for the park, process these into a report, and work with Parks’ design team to make the renovation responsive to the community. The Friends of Gulick Park is finishing organizing this input and will begin drafting a report by end of summer. Expect to hear more about this as it happens.
As always, we will continue to engage our other elected representatives to secure the rest of the funds needed to make Gulick Park some truly special. We have also recently approached The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation to see if we can work together on improving our park space.
Donations
We have also established a new fiscal sponsor: The Open Space Institute. They will allow all donations to the Friends of Gulick Park to be tax deductible. Your donations will help us green the park now, hold events in the park, etc. Checks can be made payable to “OSI/Friends of Gulick Park” or “OSI” with “Friends of Gulick Park” in the memo field. In the next few weeks I will update the Web site so that donations can be made securely on-line.