Cyclists travel across borough spreading holiday cheer
The work that is being
done will supplement NYC
Parks Department efforts to
maintain and landscape the
area, said Taylor.
The museum welcomes
school group visits as well
as educational efforts, and
is open to the general public
as well.
It is also in a very visible
part of the park, located
on the southern end of the
Van Cortlandt Park parade
grounds, and is seen by
groups who come to park
for cross country meets and
other events, said Taylor.
Laura Carpenter, Van
Cortlandt House Museum
director, said that the time
period was chosen because
it was more practical to try
to restore the area around
the building to the way it
looked when it fi rst opened
as a museum than it was to
go further back to when the
Van Cortlandt Family lived
there and farmed.
“We are about embracing
what is existing and improving
on it,” said Carpenter.
Carpenter said she hopes
to improve the view of the
house that visitors see and
make it more noticeable to
parkgoers by removal of
overgrown plants.
Removing non-native invasive
plant species is also a
priority, she said.
“I am a fi rm believer
that you have one chance
to make a good fi rst impression,”
she said of the
landscaping improvements.
The Porzelt grant will
fund a series of improvements
that the working
group is calling ‘Phase 1.’
The fi rst phase includes
projects such as pruning
nearby trees in order to
improve the view of the
house, replacing some
shrubs with low-maintenance
plants, as well as
installing a historic old
Albany Post Road Mile
Marker within a herb garden.
Other parts within this
phase include refurbishing
of a knot garden, installation
of an ADA accessible
and labeled sensory
garden, replacing cedar
Kevin Daloia of Waterbury-LaSalle, dressed as Santa Claus with his bicycle decked out in a festive
manner, participated in a ride around the borough where small gift ballons were delivered and holiday
cheer spread. Photo courtesy of Kevin Daloia
posts bordering garden
beds, mulching shrubs and
small ornamental trees.
Parks has been helpful
in providing mulch
and doing some pruning
on very large trees limbs,
said Carpenter.
Taylor said that she
would like to spend the
grant money before the
end of the city’s fi scal year
that ends on June 30, 2019.
A second phase with
different tasks would have
to be completed later on
through a different grant,
she said.
from Page 1
19 BRONX WEEKLY December 23, 2018 www.BXTimes.com
BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
A group of bicycle enthusiasts
put their wheels to
good use this holiday season.
Cyclists from the borough
affi liated with Transportation
Alternatives, an
organization that encourages
alternative forms of
transportation like bicycling
in the city as well as
traffi c safety, held a bicycle
excursion around the
borough to spread holiday
cheer on Saturday, December
8.
Three of the members
of the group were in festive
costumes while others wore
holiday-related headgear,
and their bicycles were
decked out with red and
green lights, ornaments
and other seasonal decorations,
said Kevin Daloia,
Transportation Alternatives
Bronx Committee
chairman.
On the same day as the
ride, Transportation Alternative’s
Bronx Committee
volunteers hosted a holiday
party where they distributed
toys to children at
Concourse House, a shelter
for woman and children in
Bedford Park, said Daloia,
who is a Waterbury-LaSalle
resident.
The holiday party featured
a magician, balloons
by Shemakesballons, a face
painter, gifts for adults as
well as children, along with
pizza, juices and snacks.
After the party, a dozen
cyclists set out from in front
of the Bronx Museum of
the Arts for a 22-mile ride
around the borough both
to spread holiday cheer and
draw attention to alternative
forms of transportation.
Daloia said he dressed
up as Santa Claus, decking
out his bicycle with red and
green headlights as well as
displaying a Christmas tree
effect attached to the back.
“We ride for a ourselves
in order to have a good
time and to spread holiday
cheer,” said Daloia.
The ride went to several
locations, including stops
at Arthur Avenue’s Ciccarone
Park, a Christmas tree
lighting on Zerega Avenue,
and a large Winter Wonderland
display at Metropolitan
Oval in Parkchester.
Daloia said that he
and his fellow riders were
thrilled with the reactions
from the people they encountered,
from children
and their families to police
offi cers and pedestrians.
“It was very festive,” he
said, “We had a radio with
holiday music playing and I
think people who saw us got
into the Christmas spirit.”
Daloia was also joined
by riders dressed an elf and
a reindeer, he said.
“When people see Santa,
it is universal—they wave
out of impulse,” he said.
“You can tell everyone was
enjoying it.”
Groups of volunteers in
other boroughs took part in
similar rides, said Daloia.
Amril Hamer, Transportation
Alternative’s Bronx
Organizer said that the organization’s
toy drive for
Concourse House, in conjunction
with the bicycle
ride, were celebrating its
third consecutive year.
“By having the ride we
engage the community so
that they are aware of our
organization and are willing
to support us when we
come to their community,”
said Hamer. “This brings
awareness to our campaigns
for traffi c calming
and safety, like the one we
recently did on the Grand
Concourse and another we
are currently doing on Boston
Road.”
Juanita Fernandez, Concourse
House director of social
services, said that both
the parents and adults at
Concourse House loved the
gesture and the presents
from the Transportation Alternatives
volunteers.
Van Cortlandt Historic House grounds improvements set
Van Cortlandt Historic House is implementing a new landscape plan for its exterior. Photo courtesy of the Friends of Van Cortlandt Park
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