Activity 8.1 and 8.2 by Patricia Fraser

For this activity our group suggested a visit to Riverbank State Park. I've always loved this park and was excited to show the group around. Because of its location in Central Harlem, a lot of people in the group had never been there. It was fun showing everyone around and telling them about the history and all the activities available to do there. James Kunstler wrote that Central Park "established the value of this sort of landscape as a cultural necessity". With the possibility that Riverbank might close due to state budget cuts, the people of the surrounding Harlem neighborhoods would miss their "cultural necessity". The park provides adults, children, seniors and people with disabilities who live in the area with a place to enjoy nature, Hudson River views, and many athletic and cultural activities in the middle of a city setting.

The second place we visited was Yankee Stadium. I hadn't been to the new place yet, so I was curious to see the new space. What I saw was a newer version of the old stadium, as opposed to Citifield, which looks very different from Shea Stadium. Driving there during the day, and then another time at night, I started to see what some of the locals had been criticizing during the planning stages of the build. The new space seems to take over the area and the lights at night, I kept thinking were obnoxiously bright. The old stadium is in the process of being torn down and I hope that the neighborhood regains useful park and activity space.

This activity made me think about how priorities are set when it comes to allocation of space, especially in low income areas. Yankee Stadium is used exclusively for professional baseball and for months out of the year it goes unused. Riverbank, on the other hand, can be used year round, in many cases for free. The stadium makes money for the players associated with the team, not the community, but at Riverbank, all revenue goes into the maintenance of the park. It seems unfair that this park is being threatened with closure and Yankee Stadium can get torn down and get built bigger, better and more expensive than before.