Starlight Park was built on the site of a former amusement park and framed by the Sheridan Expressway and the Bronx River.
The park is a favorite spot for park-goers Philip Botwinick and Simon Chung because it gives them access to the water.
What You Need To Know
- Starlight Park provides waterfront access to Bronx residents
- Residents worry about the water quality of Bronx River due to pollution, surrounding construction
- Since 2001, NYC Parks and the Bronx River Alliance have planted nearly 100,000 trees along the river corridor, removed over 650 tons of garbage and nearly 7,000 tires from the river itself
“I was glad to learn because we know that you can ride the Bronx River Parkway on Sundays when they shut it down to traffic, but we did not know they had the kayaking,” Botwinick said.
The Bronx River Alliance helps run the Community Paddle program — which is free on Fridays and available for a small fee on Saturdays all summer long.
But the city’s Parks Department also teams up with other local organizations and volunteers to provide services to the community, like free fruits and vegetables and tips on how to prepare them.
“Definitely in our community we don’t have those types of resources on a regular basis, so just to have a place where we can come together and give advice, share our ideas to one another is excellent,” Keyla Arzu, owner of Banana Fish, said.
Arzu highlighted the importance of preserving the park and worries about the quality of the water.
Trash can often be seen floating down the river, causing kayakers to clean it up themselves.
There’s also a building going up right next to the park and construction inside the park, which has placed some parts of it off limits and increased worries about pollution.
“The plastic litter is just terrible,” Chung said.
A spokeswoman from the city’s Parks Department told NY1 they do daily maintenance, including trash pickup in the Starlight Park.
She mentioned NYC Parks and the Bronx River Alliance have planted nearly 100,000 trees along the river corridor, removed over 650 tons of garbage and nearly 7,000 tires from the river itself since 2001.
The contractors have fencing and mesh fabric up to prevent any construction debris from going into the river.
However, some park goers would still like to see the city do more.
“I think just making people aware that there is a problem with garbage and pollution,” Chung added.
Chung said he will do his part and continue to visit Starlight Park. Soon there will be about 2.7 acres more of it for park-goers to enjoy.
The newly gained portion that has been under construction will be opened to the public for the first time later this year.