The OSA Trilogy: Part One

January 13, 2010 by
Filed under: 11206, 11211, 11222, East Williamsburg, East Williamsburg Brooklyn, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic, Williamsburg, Williamsburg Brooklyn 

After much ado and two extensions, OSA; Opace Space Alliance North Brooklyn has released their financial statement for 2008. Of particular interest to yours truly is this:

OSA Presents, Inc. (per the New York Department of State Corporation Database) hails from 79 North 11 Street, Brooklyn, New York. The Brooklyn Brewery. Steve Hindy, Proprietor.

Now let’s compare OSA Presents, Inc. with OSA’s mission statement:

For decades the Greenpoint/Williamsburg communities have been severely under served for park space. OSA is dedicated to filling that need. By supplementing the New York City Parks Department’s basic operations with private funds, OSA proposes to initiate a large array of capital projects and community programs.

OSA will boost public awareness of the crucial role parks play in the urban environment, while gaining support from donors and volunteers for restoration and new development projects. Through a formal partnership agreement with the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, OSA allows the community to have a voice in the management and maintenance of existing parks– and the creation of new parks…

Greenpoint has not fared well under OSA’s oversight. A glorified campsite with wood chips and assorted industrial detritus does not a “park” make, OSA. “Interim” or otherwise.

This sucks.

How can the “community” have a voice when “certain members of the board” of OSAnb elected— without “community” knowledge or feedback— to start an organization whose purpose seems to be perpetuating said org? Why is OSAnb (for all intents and purposes) a government-sponsored “event organizer”? It’s rather Kafka-esque and/or Orwellian when you think about it.

I’ll leave up for you, dear readers, to decide. Here’s Part I.

Miss Heather

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Comments

7 Comments on The OSA Trilogy: Part One

  1. franklin122 on Wed, 13th Jan 2010 1:56 pm

    2. i live near this “park” and my biggest gripe is that it is not dog friendly. at least not legally. people ignore the leash restriction and let the kids run free (which is fine by me) but having been hassled by the police before, i’d rather have the law on my side. there is no dog park on this side of greenpoint right now. also, it closes at sundown which means i can only use it on weekends during the winter. ridiculous.

  2. Polishpower on Wed, 13th Jan 2010 6:26 pm

    3. The hours for this “park” are ridiculous. I’ve tried to go in twice at around 8:00 am and the entrance was chained shut both times. What kind of park is open only 9-5?? This park sucks.

  3. palaganda on Thu, 14th Jan 2010 10:18 am

    4. what also is a shame is that the park doesn’t extend all the way out to the river.
    it feels kind of boxed in. it would be nice to sit along the river.

  4. missheather on Thu, 14th Jan 2010 10:57 am

    5. As I understand it there is a sink hole on the property. This is why the park does not extend to the waterfront. Regardless (and I write this as someone who has seen the plans for the park which is is supposed to grace this lot) I fail to see how this serves as a satisfactory “open space”. Somehow I cannot shake the feeling this “interim” park came into being so the Parks Department can state they opened a park in Greenpoint. It was clearly not designed with the enjoyability of the patrons in mind. It’s depressing.

  5. SpillConspirator on Thu, 14th Jan 2010 2:00 pm

    6. Transmitter “Park” doesn’t even fit the Parks Department’s own definition of a park. According to the Parks Dept, parks include grass/lawn. A playground is hard surfaced. Transmitter park is niether. Calling it a campsite seems pretty darn accurate.

  6. d on Sat, 16th Jan 2010 12:36 pm

    7. I actually spent many enjoyable afternoons there last summer, hardly anyone was there and it actually was a nice place to relax and do school work for me (and get out of the house on nice days). I hate the wood chips though and it makes people think it is a dog run despite signs saying to leash dogs – I had the misfortune of slightly stepping in dog poo one afternoon while I was taking photos, some people were not cleaning up after their dogs. I *love* dogs but I do not want to step in poo. Hopefully the construction that is supposed to happen this spring will go as planned and it will be more of a real park. Yes it could be *much* better but I’m happy to have waterfront access since so much is still blocked off.

  7. Rebecca11222 on Sun, 17th Jan 2010 8:12 pm

    8. To be fair, “OSA allows the community to have a voice” (and thank you for deigning to “allow” the rights a Representational Democracy affords) does not specify either the volume of that voice or if/when that voice will be listened to by OSA.

    YAAAAY POLITICS!!!!

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