Christopher O.Ward was appointed by the Mayor to the Department of Environmental Protection in April 2002. He, and his predecessors made many nice promises to the Jerome Park Community. Then they ignored them, and just went and did as told. Everyone at DEP was insincere even as they spoke to us at the Citizens Committee Meetings. I attended them as a representative of BxScience. The reservoir is ringed with schools, so there the Educational, Institutional and Residential Communities organized under the Jerome Park Conservancy Education Committee, while the protest continued under the the Friends of Jerome Park Reservoir.

I suspect that Comm.Ward was told by the NYC Unions (and who knows who else?) that if he could manage to make the NYC Site look better, with all its many obvious flaws, both environmental and otherwise, he would be well-rewarded. He pulled it off, with false cost estimates, many faux facts in the environmental review, false statements. bribes, and promises. Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (Science and Lehman Alumni) had to suffer the slings and arrows of his colleagues who cared first for themselves, last for our community. Council Member G.O.Koppell (Science HS alumnus) was another lone voice among his colleagues.

The local Educational Community around the reservoir was promised, among other things, an Outdoor Urban Environmental Laboratory, open to local learners of all ages. Then Parks Com.Henry J.Stern, and BxParks Com. Bill Castro (BxScience Alumni) were both highly supportive of an OUEL. We were promised the land first where the hoe ramming is proposed, and then under the DemoPlant (currently being dismantled). When Dr.VR asked Adrian Benepe about the OUEL, he replied, “That was a promise of a previous administration.” She hasn’t mentioned it since )-:

But according to Karen Argenti, that is not true, as the OUEL and is MENTIONED in the 2004 Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement signed by Chris Ward, under orders from his honor, Mayor Mike. Dart Westphal is concerned that if we don’t claim that site soon, the present admin will find another use for it that suits themselves, not the community. It’s ironic that everytime I attend a meeting where I ask Adrian a Question, I always ask, “How can we be sure that the next city admin will continue the progressive ideas of Mayor Bloomberg, i.e. the PlaNYC2030?”. He always confidently answers, “It’s up to you citizen activists to make sure the next admin continues our PlaNYC”. I agree.