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Nosy Neighbor: What happened to the gas lamps at City Hall Park?
This is my own nosy neighbor question: was coming through the park at night and missed the gas lamps that I *thought* were usually on in the park. (I also missed the evergreen display that used to fill the fountain in winter.) Clearly my memory does not serve, since this is what I learned from Skip Blumberg, who runs the Friends of City Hall Park:
“The central gas lamps are part of Giuliani’s botched $38 million 1999 CHP renovations,” he wrote. “The lamps were poorly designed, at first kept on even in the daylight — super poor modeling in our civic center — because it was too expensive to turn off after hours and during the day and then relight every evening. They blew out frequently in light winds and releasing pungent gas into the air, requiring unavailable maintenance.
“So, after a few years of mishaps, the gas lamps have been kept off, with FCHP encouragement.”
Skip said that Community Board 1 recommended replacing the lamps with LEDs several years ago (hmm, seems like a bummer, but maybe the most expedient solution) and are in line among other capital requests. The Parks Department said repairing them will require a capital project with funding from local the elected officials.
“The solution for this, all of CHP’s and all NYC parks’ shortcomings, is for Mayor Adams to be a hero for all parkgoers by fulfilling his campaign promise to adequately fund the Department of Parks and Recreation for both capital improvements and operations,” he added.
Sigh.
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The deterioration of City Hall Park’s hardscape and landscape is sad. It’s only been about 25 years since it was renovated and it looks awful.
The area around the fountain is quite dark at night. It needs additional lighting. Fitting the gas lamps with led lighting should be a mandatory project for safety.
what happened to the squirrels that lived in the Park?
When your mayor’s office’s front yard is this poorly maintained it says a lot. My child and I do not feel safe walking through here at night; and my heart really goes out to elderly neighbors and those with challenged eyesight or other physical conditions. The combination of poor lighting and broken, uneven paving is a huge fall risk for anyone really. And tourists continue to come to the park (they read about it’s historical significance and beautiful fountain?) which is so embarrassing!
I truly hope they can keep the gas going…we need more beauty not more LED.