New York Times: City Reneges on Deal for Wyckoff-Bennett Homestead
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.
Filed in Culture, Government, Historic Marine Park, Homeowners, Local Landmark, Media, Parks Department, Politics | No responses yet
Marine Park: Mulch Madness!
Congratulations MarineParkers. We are responsible for chipping down nearly one-third of the Christmas trees (2,164 trees to be exact) sent to Brooklyn shredders during MulchFest 2010 – way to be GREEN!
From New York Post/Courier Life:
Marine Park was responsible for 29 percent of the 7,477 trees mulched in Brooklyn, which had the second highest number in the five boroughs. King of the mulch heap was Manhattan, which cut down 10,533 trees.
All told, 23,615 trees were mulched throughout the five boroughs — the highest in the city’s history.
“New Yorkers helped the city stay green by bringing their Christmas trees for chipping at Parks’ annual MulchFest,” explained Commissioner Adrian Benepe. “By recycling their Christmas trees, New Yorkers support the environment and the MillionTreesNYC initiative by providing wood chips that help trees, flowers and shrubs grow.”
Residents were asked to take as much mulch as they could for their own tree-pits, gardens and planting beds.
Mulch was still available for the taking at the park, members of Community Board 18’s Parks Committee was told Wednesday.
The remainder would be used by the city Parks Department for their trees and gardens.
Area residents were all smiles over the achievement, especially if one considers that 80 locations throughout the city were deemed mulch centers.
Yet some wondered if Marine Park was cooking the books, or should we say bark.
“Two-thousand of those trees probably belonged to the guy who was selling them there this Christmas,” Community Board District Manager Dottie Turano joked when told of the news.
Filed in Christmas, Marine Park, Nature, Parks Department | One response so far