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Running along the north and south flanks of Pelham Parkway in the Bronx, the Pelham Parkway mall is a nearly two-mile urban oasis. Stretching from the Hutchinson River Parkway almost to the Bronx Zoo, it draws residents to play catch, walk their dogs or just hang out.
"It's one of the reasons I moved to this area," said Joanne Russo-Rubino, a Parkway-area resident for more than 40 years and Community Board 11's chairperson of parks and recreation.
Not surprisingly, when the city budgeted $1,357,395 to fix up the Frederick Law Olmsted-designed greensward more than a decade ago, Ms. Russo-Rubino and many others were thrilled. Little did they know, however, how long they'd have to wait to see the promised enhancements, ranging from new seating to landscaping.
Today, that wait drags on, as it does for about a dozen other park projects that have been languishing in various stages of capital improvements since September 2004. That's when the city promised Bronxites it would spend a whopping $200 million to spiff up the borough's parks.
The commitment came as the city sought to compensate residents for the temporary loss of 28 acres in Van Cortlandt Park, the borough's equivalent of Central Park.
That swath was about to become a construction site...