MarineParker.net

Courtesy of Wikipedia

This past weekend’s New York Times Metropolitan section reported that Parks Department negotiations to purchase the Wyckoff-Bennett Homestead and turn it into a house museum have stalled.  In 1999, the city offered $2 million for the house and its historic contents, among them a sword etched with the royal crown and initials for George Rex III and windowpanes with the initials of two Hessian soldiers who stayed there during the Revolution.¹  In addition, the current owners, the Monts, would have been able to live there rent-free provided this deal went through.

However, the Department of Citywide Administrative Services has now offered the Monts considerably less than originally promised and a deal is no longer close to being done.  I sincerely hope this deal gets done because this treasure of a house deserves to be a public space for all history buffs to marvel at.

Click here to read the entire article and as well as see fantastic pictures of the house.

¹Blumenthal, Ralph. “A Prewar Home, to Say the Least.”  The New York Times.  29 January 2010.

Thank you to bagels, JD and blueMagoo for the following information concerning the Ecosystem Restoration Project ensuing at Gerritsen Creek:

From the US Army Corps of Engineers:

This ecosystem restoration project seeks to improve the aquatic and coastal grassland habitats located in the northeastern section of Marine Park, Brooklyn, NY near the junction of Gerritsen Creek and Mill Creek, immediately west of Floyd Bennett Field. The project purpose is to ameliorate the adverse impacts of past filling activities related to the construction, maintenance, and improvement of the large network of navigation channels within Jamaica Bay. The recommended plan is designed to increase the twice-daily  tidal inundation across of the project site, and to convert the Phragmites dominated areas that lie adjacent to the existing salt marsh fringes to more healthy tidal ecosystems. The project will restore 31 acres of salt marsh and 23 acres of rare coastal grassland. Located adjacent the Marine Park Nature Center, this project will provide a highly visible and accessible contribution to the overall restoration of greater Jamaica Bay.

While the Army Corps of Engineers estimates the total construction cost of this project to be $6,650,000, the New York Post reports that this project will total $8 million.  The nature trail will be closed throughout the duration of this restoration project. 

The New York Post spoke to Dan Falt, project manager ACE’s New York District, who stated:

“We are working to restore the habitat,” stressed Falt, who said the project would encompass 67 acres adjacent to the nature center on the north side of Gerritsen Creek. In total, he went on, “We will be creating approximately 32 acres of marsh and 25 acres of coastal grassland.”

The entire project, Falt went on, will take approximately one year, with construction beginning early this month. The first step is grading, which, said Falt, will take place over the winter, with planting occurring in the spring, “So people will be able to see big changes rather quickly.”

As a result of the project, he added, “The nature trail will be closed to the public for the construction duration.”

However, once the project is complete, “There will be additional trail area,” and visitors will “be able to see a lot more, because the really tall phragmites will be gone,” Falt said.

Besides revamping the vegetation growing in the area, ACE will also be putting in what Falt called “features,” such as poles for osprey, in hope of attracting the birds to the area.