Monthly Coffee Bark is Saturday August 4th 9-11am

Dear Friends,

This Saturday, August 4th from 9am-11am we'll be having our monthly Coffee Bark at St. Nick's Dog Park.

Coffee Barks take place on the first Saturday of every month. This social event allows us to get to know one another as well as address dog park issues and discuss future endeavors in St. Nick's Dog Park and St. Nicholas Park. Coffee, donuts and other refreshments will be served.

Hope you can make it and of course please bring your dog! If you have
any questions please email us at info@stnicholaspark.org

Thanks,

Friends of St. Nicholas Park

Hundreds come out to St. Nicholas Park to enjoy Historic Harlem Parks Film Festival

An estimated 600 people came to St. Nicholas Park for the two night Historic Harlem Parks Film Festival. The weather could not have been better for the event nor could the entertainment which included Seneglese Sabar Drummers and Dancers and authentic South African food which was served. Below are photographs.

The Friends would like to thank their member Risa Rottenberg for producing yet another successful film festival. Risa volunteers her time along with other Harlem Park volunteers to put on what is considered the highlight of the Historic Harlem Parks summer season.

If you are interested in volunteering for the Historic Harlem Parks Film Festival in St. Nicholas Park please email us at info@stnicholaspark.org and we will send you information about how to get involved in this and other events we produce in the park every year.

This week the Film Festival will be in Jackie Robinson Park. Click here to view films and location information.

Historic Harlem Parks Film Festival in St. Nicholas Park THIS WEEK!

This week, St. Nicholas Park is host to the 6th Annual Historic Harlem Parks Film Festival. This event is the highlight of the Park’s summer events. All films take place at the beautiful 135th street plaza (St. Nicholas Avenue and 135th street). The events are free. The schedule is listed below. Click here to download a PDF of the Film Festival schedule.

Wednesday July 25, 7:30pm

Live Performance: Sing-Sing Rhythm—Senegalese Sabar Drummers and Dancers

ALL ABOUT DARFUR (Taghreed Elsanhouri, Sudan/UK, 2005, 80m.) Up until now, the perilous situation in Sudan has been seen only from the perspectives of those outside the country. All About Darfur offers an opportunity to hear the story told by eloquent, at times contradictory, voices from within Sudan.


Thursday July 26, 7:30pm

Live Performance: Music DJ l’mani V/DJ Stone

WELCOME TO NOLLYWOOD (Jamie Meltzer, USA, 2007, 63m.) The burgeoning Nigerian film industry, known as Nollywood, is reportedly the most popular cinema in all of West Africa and the third largest film industry in the world. Welcome to Nollywood looks in to this newly emerging industry, exploring its peculiar inner workings, economic challenges and diverse array of colorful films.

Followed by:

MAMA PUT (Seke Somolu, Nigeria, 2006, 30m.) When a gang of three armed robbers arrive one night, a struggling mother soon finds herself feeding and sheltering criminals, in return for money and protection. But this fiery character uses her smarts and talents in the kitchen to extricate herself and her family.

Harlem Book Fair 11am-6pm, Saturday, July 21st

The neighborhood just east of St. Nicholas Park, is hosting its annual Harlem Book Fair on 135th street (between 5th and Adam Clayton Powell), next Saturday July 21st from 11am to 6pm. The book fair is sponsored by QBR, the black book review. Grabbing a good book and taking it to St. Nicholas Park's lawn for a read is a recipe for a great Saturday.

Historic Harlem Parks Film Festival Opens Tomorrow Night

The 6th Annual Historic Harlem Parks Film Festival opens in Marcus Garvey Park tomorrow evening. This years title of the festival is "Through African Eyes" It will be appearing in St. Nicholas Park on July 25th and 26th. Information is below. If you would like to download the flyer click here.

Wednesday July 25, 7:30pm
Live Performance Sing-Sing rhythm—Senegalese Sabar Drummers and Dancers

Film ALL ABOUT DARFUR (Taghreed Elsanhouri, sudan/uK, 2005, 80m.)up until now, the perilous situation in sudan has been seen only from the perspectives of those outside the country. All About Darfur offers an opportunity to hear the story told by eloquent, at times contradictory, voices from within Sudan.

Thursday July 26, 7:30pm
Music DJ l’mani V/DJ Stone

Film WELCOME TO NOLLYWOOD (Jamie Meltzer, USA, 2007, 63m.) The burgeoning Nigerian film industry, known as Nollywood, is reportedly the most popular cinema in all of West Africa and the third largest film industry in the world. Welcome to Nollywood looks in to this newly emerging industry, exploring its peculiar inner workings, economic challenges and diverse array of colorful films.

Followed by:
Film MAMA PUT (seke somolu, Nigeria, 2006, 30m.) When a gang of three armed robbers arrive one night, a struggling mother soon finds herself feeding and sheltering criminals, in return for money and protection. But this fiery character uses her smarts and talents in the kitchen to extricate herself and her family.

Monthy Meeting Tomorrow (Tues, July 10th) at 7pm

Dear Friends,

A reminder to let you know we are meeting for our regular monthly meeting this Tuesday evening (July 10th) at 7 pm. The meeting will be located at the Harlem Visitor's and Community Resource Center. The center is on the first floor at 502 West 142nd street (between Amsterdam and Hamilton Place)

Please come with any ideas you have for our events in St. Nicholas Park, questions about our organization and please feel free to bring a friend and spread the word. Below is a rough agenda of what we'll be discussing.

1. Increasing our membership
2. Fundraising activities
3. Events Calendar
4. Capital Projects Update

Thanks and see you Tuesday evening! If you have any questions please email us at info@stnicholaspark.org

July Coffee Bark Brings out the Dogs!

On Saturday, the Friends of St. Nicholas Park along with Uptown Vets sponsored its Coffee Bark. Over 25 people and their canine companions came out to socialize, enjoy the refreshments and speak with Vet Dr. Mary Mansfield of Uptown Vets. Coffee and donuts were served while dogs received special treats brought by Julia and Vaneik (Kyoko's parents).

Below are some photos of the event. If you missed this one, make sure you mark your calendar's for next month's coffee bark. They are held on the first Saturday of every month. August's Coffee Bark will take place on Saturday, August 4th from 9am-11am. See you there!



Dr. Mary Mansfield of Uptown Vets discusses the services her clinic will provide with a fellow Coffee Barker.




Dogs look on while their owners indulge in some donuts and coffee.




Julia speaks with Justin and mini-pincher Diamond.




The entrance of the Dog Park was kept very busy during the Coffee Bark.




Some of the Friends of St. Nicholas Park members setting up the table with flyers, coffee and donuts.

Harlem Summer Shakespeare Presents Free 'The Tempest'

Pulse Ensemble Theatre, headed by Artistic Director Alexa Kelly, returns to NYC’s Riverbank State Park, 138th Street & Riverside Drive, on August 2nd with it’s third Harlem Summer Shakespeare production. The multi-ethnic, open air production of The Tempest, which begins August 2nd and continues through August 26th, is free to the public on a first come, first served basis and is a feature of Harlem Week.

This is the 3rd season the Harlem Summer Shakespeare has presented Free Shakespeare in Riverbank State Park, overlooking the Hudson River. The company’s first two seasons included critically acclaimed productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream followed by Romeo and Juliet, "where Lord and Lady Capulet danced to Marvin Gaye and Romeo first spied Juliet as she danced to The Black Eyed Peas!," state press notes.

"This 2007 production of The Tempest, where Izod shirts replace Elizabethan ruffs, continues the company’s tradition of updating the visual aspect of the plays while keeping Shakespeare’s language intact...."Set on a mountainous island near North Africa, The Tempest includes music ranging from The Bulgarian women’s choir and Pan’s pipes, to African drummers. Ms. Kelly said: “While last summer’s production of Romeo and Juliet was loosely based on the TV show 'Law & Order,' The Tempest has been inspired by 'Lost.'”

"In The Tempest, Prospero, the ever-gentle Duke of Milan, has relinquished his seat of power, to try to stop war and bring peace to the world. The powers that be, do not appreciate this gesture, and Prospero is kidnapped and sent away. In this visually contemporary interpretation of Shakespeare’s play, we find Alonzo and the noblemen traveling on their yacht with their Secret Service escorts. Ariel, a 3-headed spirit, executes Prospero’s magic, and the yacht’s crew is shipwrecked on Prospero’s magical island. Trinculo and Stefano, lost from all they know, search this new terrain and besport themselves in true 'drunken sailor' fashion with the drunken creature, Caliban."

Directed by Pulse artistic director Alexa Kelly, the production will feature sets by Joe Spirito, with lighting by Steve O’Shea, costumes by Courtney McClain and sound design by BrIan Richardson.

The Tempest will feature George Tynan Crowley as Prospero, Richard Vernon as Gonzalo, and Raushanah Simmons as the main body of the 3-of the headed spirit, Ariel (also played by Hannah Sloat and Linda Lee McBride), as well as Lauren Davis as Miranda, Bashir Solebo as Caliban, Dan Burkarth as Alonzo, Kevin Hauver as Antonio, Brian Cade as Ferdinand, Enrico Spada as Sebastian, Kate McCluggage as Adrien, Sheldon Shaw as Captain of the Ship, Manabu Ueyama as Master of the Ship, Udi Razzin as Trinculo, Joseph Raik as Stephano, McCluggage as Iris, Ryman Sneed as Ceres and Renee Threatte as Juno.

The Harlem Summer Shakespeare Project invites young people from the Harlem community to work with the professional acting company, and also offers free acting workshops. The project is sponsored in part by Con Edison, The National Endowment for the Arts, Hot Topic Foundation, Councilman Robert Jackson and the Department of Cultural Affairs and the NY State Office of Parks and Recreation & Historic Preservation

Pulse Ensemble Theatre, founded in 1989 by Alexa Kelly, is dedicated to making the Classics accessible and exciting to the youth of today; to multi-ethnic casting; to creating a nurturing environment for actors, and providing outreach programs to the community. While based on Theatre Row for 13 years, Pulse presented outdoor Shakespeare in their courtyard. After losing their theatre in 2002, Pulse began presenting free Summer Shakespeare in Harlem’s Riverbank State Park. The company also runs a weekly Playwrights’ Lab from which it develops a new play each year – they are currently working with the Indian American Arts Council on Reuters’ writer Anuvab Pal’s play “Chaos Theory.”

Harlem Summer Shakespeare presents free performances of Shakespeare’s The Tempest at Riverbank State Park, 138th Street & Riverside Drive. August 2-26 with performances Thursday-Sunday at 8 PM. For additional information call (212) 695-1596 or go to www.pulseensembletheatre.org.

Coffee Bark Scheduled for Saturday July 7th 9-11am

Sponsored by:



UPTOWN VETS
295 WEST 112TH STREET
www.uptownvetsNYC.com





Dear Friends,

This Saturday, July 7th from 9am-11am we'll be having our monthly Coffee Bark at St. Nick's Dog Park. This month’s bark is sponsored by Uptown Vets. Dr. Mary Mansfield of Uptown Vets will be there on Saturday letting everyone know about the services they provide in the neighborhood.

Coffee Barks take place on the first Saturday of every month. This social event allows us to get to know one another as well as address dog park issues and discuss future endeavors in St. Nick's Dog Park and St. Nicholas Park. Coffee and other refreshments will be served.

Hope you can make it and of course please bring your dog! If you have
any questions please email us at info@stnicholaspark.org

Thanks,

Friends of St. Nicholas Park

June Commissioner Monthly Meeting Minutes

This report can also be downloaded in a PDF from our website at:
http://www.stnicholaspark.org/PDFs/Minutes_June2007.pdf

Minutes of Monthly Commissioner Meeting
St. Nicholas Park
June 28, 2007

Administration Building CUNY

Attendees:

William Castro, Manhattan Borough Commissioner of Parks
Sabina Saragoussi, Partnership for Parks
PO M. Palmer, 26th Precinct
SGT Taneese Tulloch, 26th Precinct
Robert Santos, CCNY
Martin Smith, Councilman's Robert Jackson's Office
Paul Evans, Manager of St. Nicholas Park
Barbara Allen, Assistant to William Castro
William Mullin, Friends of St. Nicholas Park
Risa Rottenberg, Friends of St. Nicholas Park
Yuien Chin, Hamilton Heights-West Harlem Coalition

Police Report: Sergeant Tulloch, NYPD

In 28 day period there has been 1 incident involving a robbery with a fake firearm. 2 arrests have been made associated to this incident at St. Nicholas Avenue and 135th Street.

Since the start of the year a total of 6 incidents have been reported in the park.

Update on the robbery pattern around St. Nicholas Park a few months ago - 2 arrests have been made.

Police would like to know if there are areas in the park that park users have seen kids or others lurking and ready to mug or rob. The group listed a few places and police took note.

CCNY Report - Robert Santos

A plan to provide closed-circuit TV cameras along St. Nicholas Terrace. There would be a total of 12 cameras along the Terrace which would be web-based for viewing for CCNY students, staff and security.

The Towers dormitory feels isolated from the rest of the campus; the campus will be putting up CCNY banners along their side of St. Nicholas Terrace in order to show people that College continues all the way down to the Towers dorm.

Lighting has been installed in the past few months along the terrace from 135th to 133rd street at the Towers. They have improved visibility at night as well as believed to have deterred crime.

Manager's Program - Paul Evans

NIGHT MANAGER ROTATION
Night Manager Rotation program: Managers are participating in night rounds. Rotating to check in on parks during the night.

HAMILTON GRANGE UPDATE
Meeting was held for Parks and National Park Service about security at the Grange once it was moved as well as parking proposal in the plan.

NEW BULLETIN BOARDS
There is a new Bulletin Board at 133rd and 140th street storage houses. Paul encourages the Friends group to post their events at the boards. Paul will get the keys to the group soon.

SUGAR HILL GROUP
Paul mentioned a group interested in becoming more involved in St. Nicholas Park. They also want to be involved in helping o financially support Friends group. Paul will email the Friends the contact info.

TREE STUDY
A hard copy of the tree study was handed out among meeting attendees. The report is the result of a tree survey performed a few years ago in the park. A PDF of the study has been requested from Friends in order to provide electronic copies to their members.

HOMELESSNESS IN THE PARK
An increase of homeless individuals in the park during the summer months is a normal occurrence. Usually homeless individuals come out from Subways which become too hot in summer. This year is no exception with a drastic increase of homeless individuals sleeping on the lawn of in wooded areas.

Park Manager Paul Evans has contacted the Bowery Residence Committee, which is an organization which runs shelters throughout the city. Paul will give us an update on their effort to curb the problem next meeting.

CAPITAL PROJECTS UPDATE (with Steve Simon)
4 Projects anticipated beginning between now and ending of the year.

Upper Path Reconstruction from 132nd to 135th
Cost: 1.2 Million

This project is delayed because it had to be re-bid since the company who was granted the job had a history of discrimination toward women and minorities.

Parks is expecting a July re-bid contact and construction to commence in the Fall.

Friends asked if proper drainage would be addressed during the capital project and Park confirm it would be.

Friends also requested that a water line be considered for the dog run during Upper Path construction. Commissioner Castro confirmed that Parks will provide a change order to this scope of work (since it has not been finalized yet) to include a water line, spigot to the dog run for water to be accessible during spring/summer months.

Upper Path Reconstruction from 135th to 138th street
Cost: $750,000

Bid has been finalized for this capital project which involves renovation of the upper path as well as paving the wood chipped road that police and utility vehicles use to gain access to the northern park of the park. Drainage is a problem in this area and Friends asked if this would be addressed and Parks confirmed that drainage issues would be addressed for this capital project.

Construction is expected to begin by end of Summer.

Basketball Court Resurfacing

The basketball courts from 140th to 139th streets in the Ollie Edinboro Playground will be resurfaced during the fall months. Currently there is a requirements contract out for bids. Parks will update us on exact dates once a contractor has been chosen.

Sidewalk Repair 135th street to 139th street

The DOT is expected to start repair of the sidewalks from 135th street to 139th street soon. Parks did not have an official date of when they would start but said they could get once for us. This capital project is managed through the DOT and not Parks.
The Friends expressed concern over the danger of the sidewalks and the urgency to get this project completed.

For all capital project scope Steve Simon will be sending Friends (c/o William Mullin) all scopes.


Friends Report: William Mullin, Friends of St. Nicholas Park

GARBAGE
Friends expressed concern over Garbage situation in the park on Memorial Day weekend.

Some other suggestions included:

-More Garbage Can
-Staff giving out trash bags during holiday
-Schedule for packer drivers
-Bring staff in early on July 5th to begin clean-up.
-Have staff come in evening of July 4th to be ready to pick up after picnics, etc. (more expensive alternative)

DOG RUN UPDATE
Friends would like a ribbon-cutting for the dog run. Commissioner Castro confirmed that all press releases go through Park Department. Friends to send talking points to Steve Simon for inclusion of Press Release.

Date for Ribbon Cutting to be determined but can happen August since it may be more opportunity for press to pick up story.

REPAIRS AND MAINTENANCE ISSUES
Friends presented print outs of areas around the park that needed attention. These included:

• Railing on 140th street staircase
• Iron Fence on 141st street
• Temporary Fencing in middle of path between 139th and 138th street
• Toppled tree on 137th street
• Concrete debris on 139th street

EVENTS UPDATE (with Risa Rottenberg)
Friends reviewed events for summer which includes a couple of film festivals. Risa Rottenberg of Friends confirmed the 2 films being shown in the Historic Harlem Parks Film Festival. 1 will be documentary on Dafur and the second night will feature a film about the film business in Nigeria.

An issue that Friends and the film committee were having is with a rain facility for the films. In the past that has been Jackie Robinson Recreation Center - but this is not ideal since it is too far from the original location. Robert Santos and Yuien Chen proposed reaching out to Aaron Davis Hall and the Harlem Stage at Gatehouse for possible venues. Aaron Davis Hall was probably a better bet since CCNY is not in session. Steve Simon and Robert Santos to follow-up on possibility of using this facility.

Commissioner Castro wanted to confirm a date for an event involving the Jazz Museum of Harlem's 16 piece swing band. An August date was discussed - possible Thursday, August 9th. Commissioner and Sabina from Partnership for Parks to let us know availability of the band during that time and if it conflicts with any other events.

Partnership for Parks Update, Sabina Saragoussi
New Historic Harlem Parks Calendar of Events were published and distributed among Parks groups.

Next Meeting
Discussion was interrupted because of a fire alarm in the building. Friends have asked Barbara Allen a request to move the meetings up to 9am so as to take up less of the workday.