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Q&A
Discussion on field permitting and demand at Riverside Park
1:30:02
·
114 sec
Council Member Shekar Krishnan inquires about the impact of new permitting rules on Riverside Park Conservancy's fields and courts. Merritt Birnbaum, representing the Conservancy, discusses the high demand for fields and the challenges they face.
- The Conservancy doesn't handle permitting directly, but demand remains very high
- People are frustrated with the system but are navigating it
- Challenges arise when fields are closed for repairs, requiring rescheduling
- The park's multiple fields allow for some flexibility in relocating reservations
Shekar Krishnan
1:30:02
One question, Mary.
1:30:03
Thank you.
1:30:04
And Riverside Park Conservancy for all that you do for such a wonderful park.
1:30:08
And appreciate your testimony in support of the two piece of legislation today.
1:30:13
Switching gears for a second.
1:30:14
On the topic of permitting itself, you all have incredible ball fields and courts that I'm sure there's high demand for them too.
1:30:22
So how can you speak a bit about how the permitting the new permitting rules has affected you all?
1:30:28
What has the demand been like for for your fields?
1:30:33
And how have you all tried to navigate that?
Merritt Birnbaum
1:30:36
Yeah.
1:30:37
Demand remains very high.
1:30:39
The Conservancy also we don't handle the permitting, so I can't really speak to it.
1:30:45
I know that, you know, the the Parks Department continues to handle extraordinary number of reservations for a limited number of fields.
1:30:55
And,
Gale A. Brewer
1:30:57
you know
Shekar Krishnan
1:30:58
Well, to the best of your knowledge, are you hearing any feedback from from park goers about it at all, or just curious?
Merritt Birnbaum
1:31:04
We hear that people are frustrated.
1:31:08
People are navigating the system.
1:31:13
What is challenging is when fields are closed.
1:31:18
And so we recently were able to undertake repairs.
1:31:23
Our parks department staff worked very hard to make sure that we can move people around if something comes up where a field is reserved and scheduled maintenance and repairs are happening and then changes have to be made, and we have to actually find other places to put people.
1:31:46
We're fortunate that we have so many fields in the park that we can often figure out alternative locations, but it's really challenging.