All the West Kensington Action Group wants is a little green and it’s not money.
WKAG was lobbying at the recent Community Board 12 meeting for more green plantings at their small triangle in the Dahill section of Kensington,
The triangle is located between Church Avenue and 35th and 14th Streets. The isosceles triangle measures 52 feet at its base (35th Street) and 140 feet at its width.
After three years of intensive lobbying, the Parks Department planted shrubbery in the triangle and put in a walkway. Now the WKAD wants to add greenery to the 35th Street base, which is the length of roughly three cars.
“It would be an ideal public square and could give a much-needed boost to the commercial vitality of Church Avenue west of McDonald [Avenue],” said WKAG president Maggie Tobin.
Tobin explained that out of the 59 community boards citywide, the area is ranked 49th in terms of green space.
There is one park on Dahill Road and an asphalt school playground at P.S. 230 on McDonald Avenue and Albermarle Road, she explained.
The organization held its first event at the tiny park in the street last Saturday that drew several hundred people to watch and participate in the ethnically diverse neighborhood.
Among the participants were professional story teller Robin Bady, guitarist Paul Millman, 11-year-old singer Subnom Mimi, who sang the Bangladeshi National Anthem, members of Cynthia King’s B-Boys and Girls’ hip-hop dancers and ballet.
The group also passed around a petition requesting more green space along with some park benches and perhaps a chess table or two. Over 160 people signed the petition, said Tobin.
While the WKAG is very vocal about what they want, the city’s Parks Department, which turned the triangle green last July, appeared noncommittal on more improvements.
“We are pleased to have planted a new Greenstreet in Kensington and as the fall planting season approaches, we look forward to further opportunities to ‘green’ our communities,” said Parks Department spokesperson Philip Abramson.