PARCnassau

Park Advocacy & Recreation Council of Nassau. A coalition of 150 park advocacy and/or user groups with a combined membership of over 250,000 county residents.

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

A New Year with many old problems

As 2006 rapidly approaches, Nassau County appears to be committing the same mistakes of the past. They are trying to get more private day camps in more parks though there seem to be little interest so far. They are also trying to get a private "Equestrian Center" in a section of the Muttontown Preserve, which they have renamed the Jericho Preserve. This is an attempt to avoid the alienation of park issues Muttowntown would automatically activate.

All of Parks is buzzing about who will stay and who will go in the next incarnation of the Nassau County Parks System. An educated guess who be anyone who cannot help in a gubernatorial campaign will go to be replaced by those who can. Suburban Park background and experience will not be a consideration.

We are hoping that the county will finaly begin to hire and train sufficient annual workers to keep our parks alive. We also hope the ill-advised plan to tranfer county parks to North Hempstgead will be dropped, though we doubt it.

In any case PARCnassau wil be here watching, reporting and lobbying for a park system that benefits all the residents of Nassau County.

- Bruce Piel
Chairman, Park Advocacy & Recreation Council of Nassau
(516) 783-8378