4
BROOKLYN WEEKLY, JAN. 13, 2019
NOT OPEN YET: The Cadman Plaza Park monument will still only be open to the public by appointment or for special events,
such as this 2015 Memorial Day ceremony, following the renovations. File photo by Cate Dingley
SALE STARTS 09
1/09 7AM -1/14 7PM
10
11
12
13
14
BY JULIANNE CUBA
The city this spring will break
ground on renovations to a longshuttered
World War II memorial
Downtown — one year later
than initially planned, due to an
accounting error that left offi -
cials scrambling to come up with
enough cash to complete the project.
In March 2017 , news broke that
the Department of Parks and Recreation
collected the $4 million it
needed to make the shrine inside
Cadman Plaza Park handicap accessible,
and that the memorial —
which is normally open to the public
for special programming and
events — would be brought up to
code within 18 months.
But that pot of money — a mix
of taxpayer dollars allocated by
Borough President Adams and
Downtown Councilman Stephen
Levin, and payments that the
United States General Services
Administration made to the Parks
Department in order to use other
city land as a temporary parking
lot — turned out to be $1-million
short, according to a Parks spokeswoman,
who said the agency expected
to receive some $2 million
in payments from the Feds, but
only got half that.
“Our records indicated that
there was approximately $2 million
available from the United
States General Services Administration,
but upon looking into it
further we discovered there was
only about $1 million,” the spokeswoman
said.
Agency leaders then tapped
the beep and Mayor DeBlasio
for the extra green they needed
to make the memorial accessible
to all by installing ramps
and an elevator from the ground
fl oor to its basement bathrooms,
according to the rep.
And now, Parks Department
leaders claim they have all the
money they need to make over
the shrine, whose interior features
the names of more than
11,500 Brooklynites who died in
WWII, and will still only be open
to the public for special events
or by appointment following
the renovations.
“The most important thing here
is that the project is fully funded,
on track, and moving forward,”
the agency spokeswoman said.
But some veterans who served
in the war and lived to tell about
it fear they may never get to see
the spruced up memorial, and the
names of their fallen friends within
it, due to the years of delays.
“Before we kick the bucket, my
brother and I want this thing to get
done so people can go visit,” said
Marine Parker Jack Vanasco, 91, a
WWII vet who fought alongside his
now 93-year-old brother, Roy Vanasco
. “A lot of guys we grew up with,
played ball together with, are on
that wall — at least a dozen or so.”
Forward march at
WWII monument
City starting repairs to memorial a
year late due to accounting error