The Park Slope Civic Council CIVICApril 2010 Volume LXXII, No. 8 www.parkslopeciviccounciNEWSl.org From Building New Gardens to Feeding the Hungry Peter Bellamy PSCC Awards 2010 Neighborhood Grants he Park Slope Civic Council has awarded grants to 15 neighborhood groups for the year 2010. This year’s grants range in size from $500-1,000 and total $8,100. In keeping with longstanding tradition, they are entirely funded by money raised by Tthe Park Slope House Tour, which will celebrate its 51st anniversary on Sunday, May 16. Over the years, the Civic Council has channeled hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Park Slope community. Recipients are carefully screened on the basis of applications submitted in the fall, and awards are given to schools, charities, cultural institutions and other organizations for Tupper Thomas: projects deemed of benefit to Park Slope and the people who live, work, learn and play here. Job Well Done This year’s grants were awarded to: CAMBA, Inc.: Park Slope Women’s Shelter Garden Project. Funds will be used to hen a much-admired person steps purchase rain barrels and accessories, contributing to the ongoing garden beautification Wdown from a job well done after project at the armory shelter. many years, it is expected that the praise P.S. 124 K PTA: Performing Arts. PS 124, which is more than 100 years old, was built and hyperbole will flow. In the case of without an auditorium. Our grant will help students mount a production in the nearby Tupper Thomas, who has decided to retire Gallery Players performance space, providing them with an important educational from her dual positions as administra- opportunity. tor of Prospect Park and president of the Park Slope Christian Help, INC.: CHIPS Pantry Program. Among CHIPS’ many other Prospect Park Alliance, it is safe to say services, its pantry provides 150 bags of groceries to individuals and families each Friday. that the praise and accolades will not do Our grant will help fill those bags. justice to her remarkable 30-year career. P.S. 321 PTA: School Garden. The school plans a 300 square-foot garden plot in a sunny Nor will they adequately describe Tupper’s spot along 1st Street. Our grant will success in turning Prospect Park into the The 51st Annual help support the garden’s construction world-class gem that we enjoy along with Park Slope House Tour and ongoing maintenance. millions of others each year. P.S. 372-The Children’s School For those of us who go back to the Sunday, May 16, noon-5pm PTA: African Drum Making. Our dismal days of the 1970s in Brooklyn, the The tour funds thousands of dollars in grant will help fund lessons in images of a neglected, crime-ridden and neighborhood grants each year. African drums and drum making scary park are all too well-remembered. Tickets go on sale May 1 at local merchants with Ibrahima Diokhane, a local Buildings were abandoned, repairs were (see p. 2), or reserve your tickets now at drum maker. Students will showcase non-existent, a threadbare corps of park parkslopeciviccouncil.org their skills at a performance for their workers could not keep up with the main- fellow students and parents. The tenance of 585 acres and the park had few school will also purchase drums for amenities. Some attractions managed to future use. hang on, like the zoo and the skating rink, BAX (Brooklyn Arts Exchange): but both were sad, run-down remind- Internship Program to Provide Free ers of better times. You had to have a fair Festivals for Young Artists. BAX amount of confidence (or ignorance) to sponsors programs bringing together walk through parts of the park even when artists, students and community the sun was shining. Those were the days members to create and perform of a near-bankrupt New York, the Bernie new works. Two of its offerings, Goetz fear factor and garbage and rat See Grants , page 6 See Tupper , page 2 Tupper, continued from Page 1 adjacent to the park caused a foul wind to blow and made for infestations that threatened to consume the city. a quality-of-life issue, Tupper solved the problem with sensibly Many things contributed to the rebirth and renaissance of designated cooking areas. The list goes on and on. Prospect Park, but each connected at some point through Tupper How does one person get so much done for so many years? Thomas. When the Prospect Park Alliance was created, Tupper It might be a testament to her skill that she has thrived under was there (and she brought along such Civic Council stalwarts as four mayors and a similar number of park commissioners. She Henry Christensen III and Barbara McTiernan). Under Tupper’s certainly has the political instincts of a master politician: Any- leadership, fundraising entered a new dimension in which it be- one who has attended the Carousel Ball has witnessed the conga came possible to host operas and orchestras and provide haunted line of elected officials queuing up to pay homage (and fund the walks at Halloween. park budget). But it is more than politics and money. There is With financial and administrative engines working in sync, the leadership, judgment and fairness that Tupper Thomas has Tupper went on to tackle the Parade Grounds rehabilitation, displayed in handling any given issue. Most people are probably allowing untold thousands each week the opportunity to play not even aware of the flare-ups between sports leagues seeking the soccer and baseball. The Tennis Center was taken over by the limited permit allocations, or the territorial struggles between the Alliance and is now competently managed. The Boat House, once early morning dog walkers and the 9am baseball games, to offer a shell of a bygone era, was converted into the Audubon Center, just two examples. Tupper deals personally with such issues and and the zoo (excuse me, the Wildlife Conservation Center) is no handles each one fairly and competently, thank you very much. longer the inhumane home of mangy giraffes, surly polar bears Each of us, regardless of what we do, should share the pas- and smelly chimps but a respectable destination for families mak- sion for our jobs that Tupper has for the park. I remember a few ing up the melting pot that Brooklyn truly is. years ago when a civic issue boiled to the surface because a large Ditto for the Bandshell, which has become a nationally recog- group sought to hold a sizable festival on a street adjacent to the nized venue for first-rate performers. The Woodlands, the Long park. Some argued that the festival should be inside the park but Meadow, the Carousel and much more were brought back to a Tupper anticipated the damage to the Long Meadow would be state that its creators, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, too great and would not have it. Tupper proved to be correct, and would appreciate. the Brooklyn Pride street festival has thrived for many years on I have my own personal admiration for Tupper Thomas as Prospect Park West. During this episode, I teased Tupper that she a person who worked closely with the Civic Council and who reminded me of the Alec Guinness character in The Bridge Over inherently understands that the mission of the Civic Council and the River Kwai, who was so proud of the bridge that he and his the objectives of the park are one and the same. When Christmas fellow British prisoners of war had built that he could not bring tree recycling came to the park, the Civic Council was asked to himself to destroy it to derail Japanese trains. She laughed at the help, and many of us have fond memories of sipping hot choco- gibe, but those of us who have gotten to know Tupper appreciate late by the mulching machines. When barbecuing on the streets how the park has been valiantly protected under her watch. At the Little League opening day ceremonies on April 10, As- semblyman Jim Brennan declared that Tupper Thomas should be Specializing in Park Slope since 1987 recognized at all upcoming public events. She was cheered that day (and will continue to be) but it will be bittersweet to see her step down. Tupper Thomas has been a great public servant whose success is immeasurable. And that is not an exaggeration. –Bernie Graham, Trustee and former PSCC President CALENDAR For details and additional listings, go to parkslopeciviccouncil.org. PSCC Monthly Meeting Thursday, May 6, 7pm, New York Methodist Hospital Executive Dining Room 51st Annual House Tour Marc W. Garstein Ellen Blau Sunday, May 16, noon-5pm. Starting point: Poly Prep Lower School, President VicePresident 50 Prospect Park West at 1st Street. Tickets may be reserved through Marcie Bachar, Terry Baum, Tom Curtis, Lisa Garcia, our web site or purchased May 1-15 at Aguayo & Huebener, Astoria Katinka Goertz, Sue Hagen, Jennifer Hero, Michelle Herrera, Federal Savings, Brenton Realty, Brown Harris Stevens, Dixon’s Virginia Hunter, Aaron Isquith, Dee Joseph, Bicycle Shop, Dizzy’s Diner, Ideal Properties Group, tb shaw realty Michele Kaye-Kertesz, Margaret Laurens, Judith Lief, associates, Warren Lewis Realty and Windsor Café. Luis Martinez, Justine McLaughlin, Judith Rivera Schneider, PCCC Annual Meeting Ron Saltarrelli, Lori Snerson, Jennifer Thompson, Jack Walsh All members are welcome to our year-end meeting for the election Please call for a no-obligation of officers and new trustees. Lovgren Awards will be presented home valuation and market analysis to two people who have made significant contributions to the 123A 7th Avenue, Park Slope, community: one volunteer and one professional.