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Overcast They don’t take county parks for granted
Nassau County Comptroller Elaine Phillips and Darcy Belyea, the county commissioner of parks, recreation and museums, shared their findings from an examination of the parks’ amenities, revenue, budget — and future — in a news release earlier this month, and concluded that county residents are getting a substantial bang for their buck.
Grant Park, in Hewlett, and North Woodmere Park were among the 70 or so facilities whose operations Phillips and Belyea reviewed.
North Woodmere Park, on Hungry Harbor Road, features lighted amenities including baseball, softball and football/soccer fields and courts for basketball, tennis, paddleball and handball.
“It’s right near our house, so it’s very convenient,” Zachary Gellman, a 20-year-old Woodmere resident who plays tennis at the park, said, adding that he appreciates being able to play for free in the off-season. “Especially before Memorial Day . . . it’s not so packed over here, so we can have a fun, chill game.”
The park also has a playground and picnic areas.
“We love the playground,” Richie Grossman, another Woodmere resident, said. “In the summertime they have the sprinkler park with the water. This is where my daughter, for the first time, was able to do monkey bars.”
Grant Park, on Broadway in Hewlett — with an entrance on Sheridan Avenue — offers baseball and softball fields; basketball, tennis, paddleball and handball courts; paths for bicycling, running or walking; lake fishing; a playground; outdoor ice skating; a picnic area and workout stations.
For their report, Philips and Belyea turned comptroller’s office college interns into data analysts to collect information on what the parks have to offer — and many of those offerings came as a surprise even to Philips, she admitted.
“What came out of it was this education to my team, so we kept saying, ‘Did you know we have an archery field and these thousands of acres of park land?’” Philips said. “We thought, here we are working for the county (and) we didn’t know this. What we think is the residents of Nassau County don’t know how extensive our parks are.”
The annual budget for the parks department is just under $32 million, Philips and Belyea noted — less than 1 percent of the county’s spending.
“And what the Parks Department provides for that — from Sands Point on the north shore to Bay Park on the south shore — is truly impressive,” they wrote.
Richard Kahn, treasurer of the Hewlett-Woodmere Little League, which plays its games at both Grant and North Woodmere parks, grew up playing baseball in Grant Park, and now oversees the league’s use of its facilities. He once managed the county’s hockey program at Grant Park, and regularly uses the walking paths near the lake.
“I’ve been at the park more than anyone else since my childhood,” Kahn said.
In 2012, the county installed artificial turf on Grant Park’s baseball fields, which Kahn said was huge for the Little League, deterring geese and making playing conditions much better in inclement weather.
The Five Towns Flag Football League uses North Woodmere Park.
“It’s a great park for everyone,” Eli Brazil, coordinator of that league, said.
Syd Mandelbaum, a Cedarhurst resident, wrote in a text message that he hosted the Tanenbaum Basketball Tournament, in memory of Sid Tanenbaum — a Woodmere resident, Far Rockaway business owner and former New York Knick who was known for helping the needy — at the North Woodmere Park courts for 30 years, and ultimately got the courts named in Tanenbaum’s honor.
North Woodmere Park has an Olympic-sized swimming pool, which residents must pay a fee and use Nassau County Leisure Passes, $36 per year, both to use in the summer.
The park also has a nine-hole golf course. “North Woodmere Golf Course offers an excellent golf opportunity to beginners and seasoned players,” Belyea wrote in an email.
Leisure passes are required for all county residents 13 or older to use the fields and courts at the parks. Permits are required for team use, and there are fees to reserve the picnic areas for groups.
To learn more about county parks, go to NassauCountyNY.gov/1796/Where-To-Go. To view the interactive map that was produced after Philips’ and Belyea’s review, go to tinyurl.com/NassauCountyParks.
