每日跟讀#568: New York Seeks to Make Parks More Inviting Spaces

For years, chain-link fences a dozen feet high have been a fixture of some of New York's parks, a reflection of a time when the city was a more dangerous place, erected to protect the children playing inside.

But now, those fences have become barriers, city officials say, dividing a park from its neighbors, and so at some parks the high fences will be knocked down.

多年來，十幾英尺高的鐵網圍籬是一些紐約公園的固定裝置，反映出紐約市曾是個比較危險的地方，須豎圍籬來保護在公園裡遊玩的孩童。

但現在，市政府官員說，這些圍籬已成為障礙，把公園與附近的居民隔開，因此，將拆掉一些公園的高圍籬。

On Tuesday, the city announced that eight parks will undergo ambitious face-lifts that are about more than just rehabilitation — it is a plan that represents an evolution, officials said, in New York's approach to parks by making these public spaces blend better and be more welcoming to their neighborhoods.

Mitchell J. Silver, the city's parks commissioner, said that besides lowering or removing fences, the plan also involved installing new benches, greenery and distinctive walkways, as well as treating the sidewalks that border parks as part of the parks themselves.

市政府5月24日宣布，8座公園將進行極具企圖心的大翻修，不只是整修而已─官員說，這是一個代表紐約對待公園態度演進的計畫，要讓這些公共空間與附近地區更融為一體，更親民。

市政府公園管理處長米契爾．席佛說，除了把圍籬降低或拆除外，這項計畫還要設置新的長椅，加強綠化，闢建具特色的步道，並把公園旁邊的人行道當成公園的一部分。

While the high fences were once seen as a deterrent, Silver said that creating more sight lines along the edges of parks and breathing new life into deserted patches would make them safer.

As part of a citywide plan, $40 million will be spent on the eight parks. The parks were chosen in a nomination process that included commentary from neighborhood residents. Silver said about 690 of New York's more than 1,700 parks were recommended for an overhaul.

席佛說，雖然高圍籬曾被視為嚇阻力量，沿著公園邊緣創造更開闊的視線，並為廢棄的小區塊注入新生命，將使公園更安全。

這是一項全市計畫的一部分，將有4000萬美元用於8座公園。這些公園通過一項提名程序而中選，過程中納入附近居民的意見。席佛說，紐約市1700多座公園中約有690座上了應該整修的推薦名單。

"That's proof positive of how excited New Yorkers are to increase accessibility and openness in their favorite parks," he said in a statement.

A park's accessibility to neighborhoods was also a consideration. Overall, city officials have set a long-term goal of having 85 percent of New Yorkers living within walking distance of a park.

他在聲明中說：「這證明，紐約人對於讓他們最喜愛的公園更便於出入也更開放這件事，感到十分興奮。」

公園的近便性也納入考量。整體而言，市府官員已設定長期目標，要讓85%的紐約人住家附近有走路便可到達的公園。

In the Parkchester neighborhood in the Bronx, Hugh Grant Circle is not just uninviting, it is also largely off-limits, blocked by a gate that is often locked, said Nilka Martell, a community activist who pressed for the circle to be selected for the city program, called Parks Without Borders.

But as she sees it, the park has potential to be a neighborhood hub, used for art installations and community programs and as a complement to a farmer's market held nearby.

在布朗克斯區的帕克契斯特住宅區，葛蘭特公園（譯注：以紐約前市長Hugh Grant命名）不只不吸引人，而且大體而言不得進入，被一扇經常鎖著的門擋住，推動這座公園入選市政府「無邊界公園」計畫的社區活躍人士妮爾卡．馬泰爾這麼說。

不過，她認為這座公園有潛力成為附近居民的活動中心，供裝置藝術和社區活動計畫使用，並支援附近的一個農夫市集。

Source article: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/299114/web/#2L-7596942L