Daily News from New York, New York • 229

CO CO 'Friends' Want Parh Sprnced-m Corona Lions Give Wheelchairs By RICHARD MESEROLE Residents of Ast6ria are upset because, they say, their local green space, Astoria Park, doesn't get the service it deserves from the Parks Department. Some members of the Astoria Civic Association are trying to said the current fiscal crisis in the city has made its effects known in the parks. "In times of no money, it is our responsibility to get the community involved in parks," do something about it. she said. "We want to try and encourage the community to get The park, a 64-acre belt run involved." She said she would be glad to meet with civic groups to arrange a park cleanup pro gram.

Need Money in 05 TO 2 -Joseph Davidson, the city's recreation commissioner, also cited budget problems as the biggest obstacle to better services in the parks. 1 vj Y( Xv; xiNhxxM.x S'5- Ha said parks personnel were doing the best they could, but that "we've taken a tremendous drop in personnel and we've tried to improve service through productivity increases, but when you lose so many people through attrition, it bound to declme." power needed to properly maintain the park." "We think we have a very unique situation here in regard to other Queens parks," continued Mr. DiBiase. "We're readily accessible to the heart of the city. We're within walking distance of Manhataan, over the and bus and subway lines are nearby." "We have one of the largest outdoor swimming pools in the world there are only three others in the city and they are all in Brooklyn.

A large percentage of people from all over the cuty use this park because of its accessibility. To. get to most other Queens parks you have to drive." Ask Data She said she and other group members, Norma Georgetti, Susie Otero- and Mary Anne had been trying, unsuccessfully, to get usage statistics from the Parks Department. As a result of efforts gy the "Friends," parks department officials were invited to an Astoria Civic Association meeting last week to explain problems at the park. Paula Weiss, assistant administrator for community development in the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Administration, ning along the East River from Hoyt Ave.

to Ditmars and passing under the Triborough Bridge, sees an average of visitors a day during the summer, according to association president Frank NicolazzL Nicolazzi said the park is suffering from physical deterioration, with fencing along the river broken down, and the rest-rooms "in dire need of repair. Also the large crowds attract all kinds of vendors, who sell around the park, and we've had many complaints from people who live in the perimeter." Lucille DiBiase, a member of the association, and chairman of the newly formed Friends of Astoria Park, was even more vocal in her complaints. Much-Used "There is a steady deterioration of facilities in the park, and it not due to vandalism, but rather because the park is used to such an extent. There are only five or six men there and they're doing more than their share, but its just not enough. "After a nice day in the summer, -there are just mounds of garbage all over the park," she said.

"We feel very strongly that not being fiven the man admitted Astoria Park "is not getting the kind of maintainence it should," adding that there has been a tremen dous upsurge in the need for outdoor recreational land, and 'its difficult to find land for recreational uses in Queens." Little Help He said federal funding is available to construct new recreational equipment, but that Congress should be encouraged to release some of that money for maintainence of current facilities. There are 1,10 Ocity parks, comprising 24,000 acres, maintained by a full-time staff of only 4,800, he said. Sister Thomas Francis, executive director of St. John's Queens Hospital, Elmhurst, accepts two wheelchairs given to the hospital by the Lions Club of Corona. With Sister Thomas are Dr.

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