13 BRONX WEEKLY March 24, 2019 www.BXTimes.com
Bronx Parks Commissioner Rodriguez-Rosa (3rd from l) joined community leaders and NYC Parks
members at the newly renovated Mount Hope Garden’s playground. Photo by Malcolm Pinckney/NYC Parks
Renovated Mount Hope
Garden reopens to cheers
BY ROBERT WIRSING
A long neglected Mount
Hope playground has reopened
just in time for the
spring season.
NYC Parks Commissioner
Mitchell Silver and
Bronx Parks Commissioner
Iris Rodriguez-Rosa joined
Councilman Fernando Cabrera,
Community Board
5 district manager Ken
Brown, P.S. 279 students
and residents on Wednesday,
March 13 to cut the ribbon
for a $5.1 million reconstruction
of Mount Hope
Garden.
The special occasion
commemorated the fi rst
major renovation for Mount
Hope Garden since NYC
Parks acquired the .28-acre
site in 1996.
Silver noted that for
more than two decades
Mount Hope Garden was
underinvested and underserved.
“The added play amenities
and landscape improvements
make this park fun
for our young parkgoers
and those young at heart,”
said Silver.
Located at Creston Avenue
between East Burnside
Avenue and East 179th
Street, the revitalized park
features new playground
equipment for children ages
2 to 12-years-old, a swing
set with an Americans with
Disabilities Act accessible
seat, spray showers, an accessible
drinking fountain
and new shaded seating
areas complete with 1964
World’s Fair benches.
In addition, the retaining
walls around the park’s
perimeter were reconstructed
and landscaping
improvements were added.
Silver thanked Mayor de
Blasio and Councilman Cabrera
for making the reconstruction
possible.
Mayor de Blasio allocated
$4.1 million and Cabrera
contributed an additional
$1 million for the
project.
Its reconstruction commenced
on May 30, 2017 following
a groundbreaking
ceremony.
Cabrera said he was excited
to play a role in the redevelopment
of the former
‘NYC’s Worst Playground.’
“The transformation of
this park is truly amazing,”
expressed Cabrera.
The long-shuttered,
square-parcel park reopened
fi ve years after it
was closed due to safety and
health concerns including
a standing body of water
in the middle of the park
which attracted mosquitos.
The park’s closure occurred
less than a year following
a previous renovation.
After just six months,
sinkholes began developing
in sections of the park
which posed a safety risk
for the community.
“The community is absolutely
thrilled to have its
park back,” said Brown.
Brown confi rmed that
local reaction for the renovated
Mount Hope Garden
has been positive.
Mount Hope Garden is
located in Tremont which
was largely farmland until
1841 when the New York
and Harlem River Railroad
opened a station that
became the center of a village.
In the 1850s, Postmaster
Hiram Tarbox named
the village ‘Tremont’ after
the three major hills
in the area, Fairmount,
Mount Eden and Mount
Hope.
Tremont comprises
several smaller neighborhoods
including Claremont,
Mount Eden and
Mount Hope.
Mount Hope is centered
on Tremont Avenue and
borders East Burnside Avenue.
Burnside Avenue honors
the Civil War general
Ambrose E. Burnside, who
lived from 1824 to 1881.
Burnside’s unique and
extensive facial hair was
the inspiration for the
term ‘sideburns.’
Annual VMA ‘Evening of
Champs’ honors local heros
BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
Villa Maria Academy
continues to honor the
legacy of one of New York’s
great heroes as it honors
students who care about
physical fi tness.
VMA will commemorate
more than three decades
of the physical fi tness
achievement by its
students with the 31st Annual
Detective Steven Mc-
Donald Evening of Champions,
named after the
late NYPD detective who
extolled students with his
message of dedication and
forgiveness at previous
years’ event.
McDonald, who passed
in 2017, is the namesake
for the event, which honors
students with high
achievement on the New
York State Physical Fitness
Test and their families
with dinner and an
awards ceremony, said
Michael Bernard, VMA’s
Physical Education director.
This year’s events will
honor the school’s grades
K to third on Tuesday,
April 9 and grades four to
eight on Wednesday, April
10, he said.
Terence Monahan, the
NYPD’s Chief of Department
and its only four-star
chief will be the keynote
speaker, and will represent
Police Commissioner
James O’Neill, who attended
in the event in previous
years.
2019 Detective Steven
McDonald Courageous
Spirit Awards will
be presented to Pat Barr,
F.D.N.Y. hero and Theresa
Sareo, amputee survivor
and singer.
Special guests will include
Patti Ann McDonald
widow of Detective Mc-
Donald; McDonald’s son,
NYPD Sgt. Conor McDonald;
NYPD Chief Edward
Delatorre; world boxing
legends Gerry Cooney and
Iran Barkley; and 1969
Miracle NY Met Art Shamsky.
Bernard said that over
the years, he has been able
to get big name athletes
and important law enforcement
offi cials to speak to
the children by simply asking
if they would attend
and offering invitations to
many possible dignitaries.
“We try to make this
event uplifting and motivational,”
said Bernard.
“We hope that they give a
message to the kids of not
giving up and trying your
best.”
Bernard, who started
the event when he started
working at VMA, said that
it evolved over the years
from a simple breakfast
into an event in which
some 35 to 40 sponsors donate
trays of food to feed
up to 400 people a night
and other items.
McDonald really captivated
the students attention
when he used to
attend the event, and Bernard
hopes to create similar
memorable moments
again this year.
“That is something that
we hope for: that the children
walk away with more
than a trophy,” said Bernard.
He singled out parents
John McGrath, James
Scerbo, Gimardi Mascia
and Mike Pennisi who
worked tirelessly on planning
the event, along with
40 other parent volunteers.
Pictured at a previous year’s Evening of Champions event are (back, l-r) Michael Bernard, VMA Physical
Education director; Joseph Imperatrice, Blue Lives Matter NYC founder; NYPD assistant chief Edward
Delatorre; Iran ‘The Blade’ Barkley; Zahraa Majeed, detective investigator for NYS Attorney General
Schneiderman; Carlos Delgado, Blue Lives Matter NYC co-founder with Delatorre’s grandchildren
(front, l-r) Dillon, Connor, Annabella and McKenna. Silvio J. Pacifi co
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