A Petition To Extend Carroll Park's Seasonal Worker's Assignment

A few days ago, I was contacted by Andrew Bartolomeo, a Carroll Gardens graphic designer and massage therapist,who is petitioning to keep our current seasonal park worker, Frederick Sweezer, in Carroll Park longer. Frederick is a temporary job training program employee, and his assignment to the park will run out at the end of June.
Andrew writes:
"In 15 years that I have been living here, I have never seen the park maintained as well as it has been since he started in the winter. In addition to the sidewalks and ballfield being cleared of snow, ice and debris, the restrooms have NEVER been taken care of and as clean as they are now. Not even when there was a crew of three or more workers was this accomplished. Mr. Sweezer takes tremendous pride in his work and of the park. It would be a shame to lose him."

Below is his petition, for which he already gotten quite a number of signatures.

6/14/15

To the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation,
We, the undersigned, are taking action in acknowledging the hard work and dedication of Carroll Park worker, CPW Seasonal Frederick Sweezer. His position is seasonal and we are hoping to get his assignment extended.

Carroll Park in Brooklyn has been extremely well maintained since he started earlier this year.
In addition to the sidewalks and ballfield being cleared of snow, ice and debris in the winter, the restrooms have never been taken care of and as clean as they are now.

Mr. Sweezer takes great pride in his work and of the park, and he does this work on his own.
It would be a shame to lose him.

Just for a bit of background: Many of New York City Park's Department workers are temporary job training program employees, who are hired for six month. This means that we are constantly getting new people who take care of Carroll Park.
Some are better than others. Frederick Sweezer has been fantastic.
Friends of Carroll Park, the all volunteer group dedicated to improving the park, has also noticed Frederick's efforts and has just sent a letter to the Parks Department, recommending that he be hired permanently.

If you agree and would like to support Andrew's petition, you can take action by contacting the Parks Department either directly or through 311 online. Here is the link:
http://www.nycgovparks.org/contact-parks.
You can also contact Councilman Brad Lander here

And please, say hi to Frederick the next time you are in Carroll Park and tell him you appreciate his hard work.

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Mulchfest 2011: Start The New Year Green By Recycling Your Christmas Tree

Yes, of course we are still a few days away from Christmas and your tree still looks fantastic, but soon enough, those branches are going to droop and those needles are going to fall. That's when you will have the chance to start the year off green. Simply take your tree to one of the New York Park's Department's MULCHFEST locations and have it chipped. And don't forget to bring a bag, so that you can take some mulch home with you.

Chip in! Mulch your tree! Help NYC grow!

Bring your holiday tree to a designated city park to be recycled into mulch that will nourish plantings across the city!

Join the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation , the New York City Department of Sanitation, and GreeNYC to recycle your Christmas trees into wood chips. These wood chips are used to nourish trees and plants on streets and gardens citywide. Or, take home your very own bag of mulch to use in your backyard or to make a winter bed for a street tree .

Last year, close to 24,000 Christmas trees citywide were recycled. Please help us top this number!

This year, MulchFest will take place on January 8 and 9, 2011. Parks will host 35 chipping sites and 35 additional drop-off locations: 70 sites in all!

Please remember to remove all lights and ornaments before bringing the tree to a MulchFest site. Biodegradable bags will be provided if you wish to take some free mulch home. Mulch is available at the sites marked with an asterisk (*) below.

Want to volunteer at MulchFest? Register to join the GreenTeam and MillionTreesNYC volunteer group.

MulchFest Locations In Brooklyn

Location	Address	Service
The Amazing Garden*	Columbia Street at Carroll Street	Chipping
Cobble Hill Park*	Verandah Place & Clinton Street	Chipping
Coffey Park	Dwight Street & Verona Street	Drop-off only
Fort Greene Park*	Washington Pk. & Willoughby Avenue	Chipping
Green-Wood Cemetery	25th Street & 4th Avenue	Drop-off only
Hattie Carthan Garden*	Across from Von King Park: Lafayette Avenue & Clifton Place	Chipping
Lincoln Terrace Park	Buffalo Avenue between East New York Avenue & Eastern Parkway	Drop-off only
Maria Hernandez Park	Knickerbocker Avenue & Suydam Street	Drop-off only
Marine Park*	Avenue U & East 33rd Street	Chipping
McCarren Park*	Driggs Avenue & Lorimer Street	Chipping
McGolrick Park	Monitor Street & Driggs Avenue	Drop-off only
Owl's Head Park*	Colonial Road & 68th Street	Chipping
Prospect Heights Community Garden*	252-256 St. Marks Avenue	Drop-off only
Prospect Park*	Third Street at Prospect Park West	Chipping
Prospect Park Circle*	Parkside Avenue & Prospect Park Southwest	Chipping

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