Morningside Park Blog

The critically-acclaimed movie Nha Fala – My Voice, My Life, My Destiny, by Flora Gomes is part of Cinéma Sur l’Herbe | Films on the Green, a free French movie festival happening in NYC Parks. The sub-titled screening will take place tonight Friday July 18 at sunset (around 8.30 pm) near the waterfall in Morningside Park at 114th Street and Morningside Ave.

Bring a blanket and picnic or pick up something to eat from a food vendor on site.

Here is a synopsis of the film:
“In Cape Verde, singing is fundamental to life. Marriages, burials, get-togethers, break-ups, elections and inaugurations are all accompanied by song. Only young Vita doesn’t have the right to sing. In her family, an ancestral legend promises death to any girl that tries. No song can ever pass her lips. In Paris, Vita meets a young musician, Pierre, and falls in love with him. Exhilarated, she lets herself go and hums a few notes; she has a magnificent voice. Slowly, Pierre convinces her to record a disc and defy the curse. Vita decides to return home and to laugh at fatality. She organizes a lavish party in which she stages her own funeral and resurrection, thus showing her family, friends and neighbors, that anything is possible for whoever has the courage to dare.”

This morning an audience of several hundred children and adults came out for a performance by the Paper Bag Players in Morningside Park.

The performance will be repeated Saturday, July 19 at 10:30am

The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) will be voting on the designation of Morningside Park as a Scenic Landmark at their meeting on July 15. The last such scenic designation was made 25 years ago.
As the last collaborative work of Olmsted and Vaux to be substantially complete before Vaux’s death in 1895 and a work cited by contemporaries as “perhaps the most consummate work of art” Vaux had ever created, Morningside Park has always merited this designation and it’s thrilling to think that the designation will be voted on next week.
The Public Meeting items will be presented in the Landmarks Preservation Commission Hearing Room at 1 Centre Street, 9th Floor, Borough of Manhattan. The Morningside Park Designation is scheduled to be taken up at 1:45 – 1:50 P.M.

As the final touches are put on the parks’ new playground in the coming weeks, I thought it might be fun to look back and compare some before and after pictures. Here is a picture looking south from the comfort station before the renovation.

Take a look at the transformation in this picture taken earlier today.

Today was a great, productive day in the park, despite the cold weather! After Maxine and I ran some errands on the Park’s car, we pruned the hilly area at the northern end of the park. Then we went to the compound and on Morningside Avenue planted six small Christmas trees. It was a great time, and both places look beautiful. Next week will be our last week. It’s hard to believe that an entire semester has passed!

Today was another great day in the park… we moved locations from around 122nd st., where we have been working for the last few weeks, to 110th. We spent a majority of the time pruning along the edge of the park that borders 110th st. We got a lot of work done even though our numbers were almost cut in half because so many volunteers were sick. That definitely is expected at this time of year.
This will be the last post for a couple of weeks as we will all be taking next week off for the Thanksgiving holiday. From the Friends of Morningside Park, everyone have a happy and safe Thanksgiving and stay healthy!

Today was a really productive day even though there was a lot less volunteers today since a lot of the volunteers are out of town because of a school break. We made considerable progress in planting in the area at 122nd street. It is going to look great in the spring when all of the plants are full grown and I can’t wait to see it!

Today in the park was a great fun. We worked around 122nd street again. George taught us about how to prevent erosion by first smoothing the soil, then lying down a net-looking object, and putting staples/hooks throughout it to hold it in place. The holes in net are where the plants are placed, not only to help them stay in place, but also prevent water from moving them. This weekend volunteers are getting together to plant bulbs in that area, so hopefully by the spring time the area will be flourishing with lots of color!

Today in Morningside me and the other Columbia students worked near 122nd street on two different plots of land. We first raked leaves off the area, and then turned the soil. We added topsoil to it, fertilizer, and continued raking. We cleared the leaves up by putting them into big black bags – there were probably 7 or 8 bags! The day was a lot of fun, and though it’s not sunny, it was still very hot. The area will be used to plant approximately a thousand daffodils bulbs tomorrow and next weekend. It should look beautiful! I will plan to be there tomorrow morning to plant! See you then!

Today in the park was great. There were even more Columbia students who decided to join the rest of the volunteers at Friends of Morningside Park than there were last week. Again, working with George’s crew was as fun as always. We started off by watching Proctor and the others saw down a branch that was hanging a little too low on the North end of the park near the compound. Later, we all worked together in shoveling woodchips that were then spread around various bushes and trees near 119th street.

On my way home, I met Greg, who is the park assistant at City of New York Parks and Recreation and ended up talking to him for a while about the park and the surrounding community. This is just an example of another reason why volunteering in the park is a great experience – you get to meet natives who have seen this area progress.

Have a great weekend!