Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Trespassing at radium-tainted Great Kills Park (commentary)

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Technically...

We're not supposed to even be here. But huge swaths of Great Kills Park have been closed for years, and we wanted to see what we've all been missing.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

And seriously...

That gate's not going to keep anybody out.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

And it wasn't all that long ago. So the place isn't totally abandoned. We ran in to a couple of people jogging and biking.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Dumping ground

We saw all kinds of trash dumped in and around the park.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Spoiled long ago

Areas of the park were poisoned by radium back in the 1940s, when a wetland was being transformed into parkland. Old medical equipment has been blamed for the contamination.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Poison discovered

The contamination was discovered by accident in 2005, when anti-terrorism helicopter flyovers detected radiation hotspots in the park. The information was concealed from the public for 14 months and the 265 affected acres weren't closed until 2009.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

We haven't seen any progress

Just for some perspective, Vito Fossella was still our representative in the U.S. House when the problem was discovered. That was three congressmen ago. And the park still hasn't been cleaned.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Covered over

Nothing to see here.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Disused

Ballfield complex was one of the park's biggest draws.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Nearby

Property abuts beautiful Great Kills Harbor, and you can see boats through the trees.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Picturesque

And this neat little footbridge.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

What's that for?

We couldn't figure out why people would leave candles in the trees like this. We found some on the ground as well. Some kind of strange rituals in the park???

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

The signpost up ahead

No parking? No problem. Nobody's coming here anyway.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Road to nowhere

Been a while since a car passed this way.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

But what a view

Just one of the things we're missing by not having the park.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Nature hike

Not anymore.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

This is where the real trespassing starts

We did have to jump the fence in order to get deeper into the park.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Abandoned

Bathroom built for use by parkgoers. Doesn't look like it was built all that long ago, either. More on that later.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Overgrown

Ballfield #1.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

And this one

Kind of a post-apocalyptic feeling.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Put me in. coach

I take a seat on the bench.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

No kidding

The sign says it all.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Batter up

The view from in front of where home plate used to be.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Still an open gate

Like you could just walk in and start playing.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

So disheveled

Ballfield #3 is so overgrown you can hardly see where the diamond used to be.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Ghosts

How many people sat on these benches over the years, waiting their turn at bat or to play in the field?

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Remains

Were these old water fountains?

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Been closed so long...

...even the graffiti is old.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Still in decent shape, though

Wouldn't take much to get these ballfields up and running again.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Simply wrong

A shame that these ballfields go unused when people all over the Island are crying out for recreational areas. Great Kills resident Joe D'Agostino, who we ran in to in the park, told us he played on these fields all his life. He said it was sad that the park was closed and had turned into a dumping ground. He said the radium should be taken care of. "It should be cleaned up," he said.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

But when will it be open?

No idea.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Ball's not all

This was also a place where people went to fly model airplanes.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Wide open spaces

Look at all that room.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Faded

You can hardly read the sign anymore.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

The way it was

We'd like to see it again someday.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Blank

Nothing to see. Nothing to say.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Z)]'

Look close and you'll see the deer that was eyeballing me while I wandered around. Saw lots of deer in the park. Worried a lot about ticks! Should have worn long sleeves and a hat.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Taking flight

Some majestic geese flee at my intrusion onto their habitat.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Infrastructure

Wonder when the last time DEP was by to check on this?

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Endless vista

How many soccer fields could you put here? Or baseball diamonds? Or just hiking paths?

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Nature

Colonial birds? Seabirds, in other words. They may be here, but we're not allowed the park to see them.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Emergency! Emergency???

"Emergency conditions" have been going on for years. Is there such a thing as a permanent emergency?

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Definitely keep out

A reminder that we are indeed trespassing.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Outflow

Wonder where that water's coming from?

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Damaged

Brush fire? Lightning strike? Something happened here.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Spooky

Kind of unnerving in that Pennywise-the-Clown kind of way.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

In the middle of nowhere

Must be something pretty important in there if they built a shelter around it.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

On second thought

Just some type of water spigot.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Tried to get a shot of this hawk in flight. You can't do everything with an iPhone.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Speaking of the bathrooms

No, those water fountains don't work.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Busted

And somebody broke in.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

A mess

Frankly, I thought I'd find more beer cans and the like.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Interrupted

Looks like the workers were going to be back any second.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

njYr

Judging by the rust, it's been a good long time since anyone was here.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

A puzzle

Looked like some kind of tile strewn all over the road.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Plates?

It was actually pieces of broken plate I was seeing. Who left the stuff there?

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Trash

The lack of activity in the park also means that the exterior areas on Hylan Boulevard don't get any attention either, a double-whammy.

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Plastic sidewalk

Don't know if it's actually plastic, but it's definitely not concrete. Anybody remember what material they used for this sidewalk on Hylan between Keegans Lane and Bay Terrace?

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Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com

Everything is broken

Some kind of electrical junction box? Nothing in and around the park works. It was all depressing to see.

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