Part II: Park Profiles Table of Contents Part II: Park Profiles Overview ....................................................................................................................................................... ii Bayswater Park Profile .................................................................................................................................. 1 Beach Channel Park Profile ......................................................................................................................... 11 Brant Point Wildlife Sanctuary Profile ........................................................................................................ 20 Broad Channel American Park Profile ......................................................................................................... 28 Brookville Park Profile ................................................................................................................................. 37 Canarsie Park Profile ................................................................................................................................... 47 Dubos Point Wildlife Sanctuary Profile ....................................................................................................... 58 Four Sparrow Marsh Profile ........................................................................................................................ 66 Fresh Creek Nature Preserve Profile ........................................................................................................... 69 Idlewild Park Profile .................................................................................................................................... 78 Jamaica Bay Park Profile ............................................................................................................................. 87 Marine Park Profile ..................................................................................................................................... 95 McGuire Fields Park Profile ....................................................................................................................... 107 Plumb Beach Profile .................................................................................................................................. 116 Rockaway Community Park Profile ........................................................................................................... 126 Spring Creek Park Profile .......................................................................................................................... 136 Springfield Park Profile .............................................................................................................................. 145 Reading the Landscape: A Social Assessment Page | i Jamaica Bay Social Assessment Part II: Park Profiles Overview These park profiles summarize and explain findings in each of our 17 park locations surrounding Jamaica Bay. Data presented in each profile are from three visits to each park in summer 2013, with three types of data collection: human observations, signs of human use, and rapid interviews. The profile format is as follows: a site map; narrative syntheses of findings; illustrative photographs; summary bar graphs and tables of quantitative observations; and statistics and discussion of major themes that emerged from onsite park user interviews. Parks are presented in alphabetical order. Reading the Landscape: A Social Assessment Page | ii The Jamaica Bay Social Assessment: Understanding Park Users Bayswater Park Profile Zone Names Recreation Courts Recreation Ballfields North Natural Area South Natural Area Jamaica Bay Social Assessment Part II: Park Profiles I. Park Narrative Bayswater Park is a 25-acre park1 located on the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens, adjacent to Jamaica Bay. Overwhelmingly, the primary reason people choose to visit Bayswater Park is that it is a form of nearby nature and open space. Many interviewees discussed the site as a “local park” that serves primarily people in the nearby community—which can be juxtaposed with the beaches of Rockaway that serve both local residents and visitors from outside the neighborhood. Some interviewees commented on the absence of other local parks nearby, with this park serving as a critical local resource. Users are primarily African American and Hispanic. The park is playing a role in the everyday lives of residents, with 67% of interviewees indicating that they use the park on a daily or weekly basis. It is also a crucial local resource, with 76% of users traveling from less than 10 blocks away – and the most common thematic response to why people choose to come to this park is that it is local or proximate (57%). The most commonly observed human activity was socializing in place (51%), which was even more abundant than sports and other physical activities; this is a highly social park. There are zones of high human activity clustered along Beach Channel Drive. People were clearly using the tennis and basketball courts, the play area, and the sitting area. Fewer park users were directly observed in the park’s large natural areas. In particular, very few people were observed in the northern natural area, which also contained some dumping of debris, likely a result of Hurricane Sandy. However, well-worn informal trails and sitting places reveal years of community use in that section of the park. The entire Rockaway Peninsula was affected by Hurricane Sandy and crews observed signs of construction and rebuilding occurring near the park. 1 Park acreage was calculated by using the NYC Parks park_property.shp, with water bodies removed from acreage using the city_DPR_Hydro_Region_2001 feature class. Natural areas acreage was calculated by using the Natural_Areas.shp and Preserves.shp , clipped to park_property.shp and with water bodies removed from acreage. Bayswater Park Profile Assessed 2013 Page | 2 Jamaica Bay Social Assessment Part II: Park Profiles II. Park Observations When did we see people in the park? [Note that people were counted on the edge only during weekday visits. Humans were observed along the edge of parks, as this is a crucial zone of interface between the neighborhood and the resources.] People observed in Bayswater Park by visit 450 407 400 350 300 Number of 250 people 200 observed Park interior 129 150 Park edge 80 100 60 50 0 Weekday Weekend Evening Visit Who are they? Ages observed over three summer visits to Bayswater Park 350 306 290 300 250 Number of 200 people observed 150 100 50 0 0 Youth (under 18) Adults (18-65) Seniors (65+) Age group Bayswater Park Profile Assessed 2013 Page | 3 Jamaica Bay Social Assessment Part II: Park Profiles What are they doing? [Activities are clustered by: physical activity, passive use, nature-based activity, and other activity.] Activities observed over three summer visits to Bayswater Park 306 350 (51%) 300 250 Number of people 200 130 (22%) observed 150 76 (13%) 100 32 20 13 2 13 50 (5%) (3%) (2%) <1%) 0 0 (2%) 0 0 Activity observed Where did we observe them? People observed in Bayswater Park by visit 600 499 500 400 Number of people 300 observed 200 100 62 11 31 0 North Natural Recreation Recreation South Natural Area Ballfields Courts Area Zone Bayswater Park Profile Assessed 2013 Page | 4 Jamaica Bay Social Assessment Part II: Park Profiles Detailed Counts Human Activities Observed by Zone, Time of Visit, and Age Group in Bayswater Park Park Zone Time of Visit Age Group North South Activity Observed Recreation Recreation Natural Natural Total Weekday Weekend Evening Total Youth Adults Seniors Total Courts Ballfields Area Area Bicycling 7 4 2 13 3 10 13 11 2 13 Jogging / Running 2 2 2 2 2 2 Walking / Dog Walking 42 11 1 22 76 11 11 54 76 37 39 76 Sports 113 7 10 130 20 86 24 130 111 19 130 Educational Group / Tour 0 0 0 Nature Recreation 8 16 24 2 8 10 24 8 16 24 Stewardship 0 0 0 Sitting / Resting / Standing 30 2 32 23 1 8 32 11 21 32 / Waiting Socializing in Place 292 5 9 306 288 18 306 112 194 306 Working 9 2 2 13 2 10 1 13 13 13 Other Activity 0 0 0 Total 495 31 11 59 596 60 407 129 596 290 306 0 596 Bayswater Park Profile Assessed 2013 Page | 5 Jamaica Bay Social Assessment Part II: Park Profiles Signs of Activity Observed by Zone Because you can’t always see people “in the act” of interacting with the site, the assessment team documented signs of human use to capture traces of activities and practices that occur across different timeframes and over longer time horizons. We will miss the birders at dawn, or the slow erosion of grass under feet. So we look for traces, for signs of human use, for the imprint that park users leave on the landscape. We note desire lines and well-worn trails. We document counter-narratives in the form of graffiti, hand-made signs, dumping, and vandalism. We note murals, gardens, impromptu seating, and temporary shelters. All of these signs are evidence that humans are ecosystem engineers, that our parks are co-created, by the Parks Department, of course, but also by the broader public. Zone South North Recreation Recreation Natural Sign Natural Area Ballfields Courts Area Total Bird Feeder / Birdbath / Bird Box / Pond 1 1 Damaged / Vandalized Building 1 3 4 Graffiti, Art, Murals 1 1 Substantial Dumping or Debris 2 2 1 5 Other (Note)* 1 1 2 4 Other Signs, Flyers & Stickers 2 3 5 Sitting Places & Dining 2 1 3 Trails 6 5 1 2 14 Total 13 13 7 4 37 *Crews were instructed to take note of any other noteworthy