No-name parks
To the editor,
We have two local parks along the Prospect Expressway which have casual names with the Parks Department personnel who service them but only “park” on their signs (“Brooklyn’s parks without names,” Aug. 6).
The real problem with the mere designation “park” is that when you need service for them, they are not listed in the 311 parks drop-down list, and therefore don’t exist!
Our local orphans are: Pigeon Park at Sixth and Prospect avenues, due to numerous avian residents, and Barney Park on 17th Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues, also named Purple Park due to its light purple fence.
A name or even a displayed unique number for each space, referenced in 311 databases would put all greenspaces on the official radar, where they belong.
Thank you to Natalie Musumeci for her article.
Barbara Eidinger from South Slope
Hollywood East
When we opened our doors in 2005 in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, our very first customers were from a television series that was being shot at Broadway Stages (“Re-action! Levin wants film execs to answer to upset neighbors,” Sept. 5), across the street from our cafe. Luckily for us, hard-working cast and crew members drink plenty of coffee, and large orders soon became a regular occurrence. Our cafe even ended up getting a small cameo in one episode of that series.
Being located in a part of Greenpoint that, at that time, was still not considered cool, we were struggling to attract customers. If it were not for the business that we received from that television shoot, we would not have been able to keep our doors open during those initial slow first few months.
Like with many of the other small businesses in the neighborhood, the cast and crews of the productions filming in and around Greenpoint become our regulars and friends. We see them on their lunch breaks at the local restaurants and shopping along Manhattan Avenue. These individuals, like the productions themselves, are helping grow the local economy. In our case, the boost in sales we have received because of filming in Greenpoint has kept us in business as well as helped keep us growing and hiring more staff.
New York is a city in which hard work and industry are positive for the entire community, and a thriving film industry benefits everyone. We definitely do not mind moving our car to another street when the No Parking Film Shoot signs go up. Even though it might be an inconvenience at times, we know it is worth it because we know that sign means business for dozens of small businesses in the neighborhood. We are also always pretty excited when our out-of-town friends and family call us to tell us they recognized a Greenpoint landmark on the latest episode of Blue Bloods or Girls.
Caroline Bell from Greenpoint
The author is the owner of Cafe Grumpy, which has several locations in New York, including one in Greenpoint and one in Park Slope.
