Have you ever been to Gateway National Recreation Area? The likely answer is 'no', although I'm sure you have passed through it a number of times while driving on the Belt Parkway on the way to Nassau County or JFK Airport. You know that long stretch of natural beaches, trees and plants out past Coney Island? That's Gateway, and believe it or not, it's a real National Park that stretches across 26,607 acres -- roughly the size of all of the parks and playgrounds owned by the City of New York, including Central Park.
The problem is, Gateway isn't well visited or funded, with a lot of infrastructure in poor condition. What's to be done? For many years the answer was...nothing! Recently, though, a unique partnership between the Van Alen Institute, an architecture-focused non-profit, the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), and Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation has launched a design competition for Gateway which may one day transform it into the destination park it deserves to be -- and improve people's appreication for the vital role it plays as habitat for wild animals and plants in the metro area.
Six finalists have come up with fresh design alternatives for the Gateway park system, all available for view on a special website hosted by NPCA. So, here's where you come in. You may not visit Gateway regularly, but your opinion is needed to help it become a place you'd want to visit. Go to www.npca.org/gateway, take a look at the cool new designs, and vote for the one you like best. In fact, follow the advice of Chicago's infamous Mayor Richard Daley and "Vote Early and Often." New York City's park lovers -- and its habitat-hungry marine flora and fauna -- will thank you.
