Daily News from New York, New York • 549

"Jt AMD DRONX Daily News, Sunday, September 30, 1979 -1 1 "'Vlf, i -3 7 Leonard Oct rick Daily News 'il. Or. George Murphy, Asphalt Green director, surveys badly damaged 90th St fireboat station r. that Is to be converted into an environmental and maritime studies center. -V O0pJDClLl0, Youngsters play on basketball court on 412-acre park called Asphalt Green.

In project office, director Murphy goes over plan3 for project's future. fSi'i" vr -w By JOHN LEWIS i i-Wiftfj lis ff i 11 if1 A TRIANGULAR SHAPED PARK 0' I at 90th St and the East River Drive, the soaring arches of the city's vacant David Mosher, fireboat house director, conducts after-school maritime course for neighborhood youngsters. municipal asphalt plant stand as a symbol of the dedication of some Yorkville citizens who overcame heavy odds to preserve the area as a playfield for neighborhood youths. Called "Asphalt Green," and starting modestly in 1972 with a temporary grass playing field and two outdoor basketball courts, the project has grown into a sports, arts and environmental studies complex, serving some 85,000 children in nearby public and parochial schools. $2 million conversion It includes a $2 million conversion of the asphalt plant into a multi-level gymnasium, theater and arts center; reconstruction of the badly-damaged 90th St fireboat station for an environmental and maritime studies center and the use also for environmental studies of the 3ft-acre Mill Rock Island in the East River off 96th St Through the efforts of the Neighborhood Committee for Asphalt Green and senior citizens from the Stanley Isaacs Center, De Kovats Park, on 92d St, previously called "Needle Park" by the junkies who had taken it over, was recovered and a rose garden for the elderly, tennis and handball courts installed.

In addition, the State Energy and Research Development Authority is working with Asphalt Green in an experiment to study how solar and wind power can be harnessed to provide the energy needs of old structures that are being renovated, such-as the asphalt plant and. fireboat station. tinowt advorstty ViDr. George Murphy, a professor of pathology at Cornell Medical College, is one of the founders of Asphalt Green. As chairman of the neighborhood committee, be has learned the meaning of adversity.

was born in Kansas City. and of open space in the neighorhood was going to be used for high-rise housing, making this one of the densest sites in the world, I felt there was an urgent need to preserve the open space." It was the beginning of a long battle with the city and powerful developers who wanted to use the site for a school for 875 students combined with of housing, including two luxury towers 40 and 45-stories high. Yoan of hearings After hearings with governmental agencies that lasted several years, the city finally turned over the site to the Asphalt Green in 1976 to create "recreational services for the youth of the area." The next year, the Department of Ports and Terminals gave it the use of the abandoned fireboat station for environ-! mental and maritime studies and then, disaster struck. First, a heavily-loaded barge crashed into the pier in the middle of the night causing extensive damage to the station. But with a $35,000 matching grant from the Vincent Astor Foundation and other contributors jsuch as Exxon and Manufac- turers Hanover Trusty the pier was repaired.

"Community volunteers, some as Struck by arson Then an arsonist set fire to the fireboat station. "I felt enormous anger but I was absolutely determined to get on with it and build Asphalt Green and the fireboat station because both were so important to the community," he said. The committee held an emergency meeting and many urged that the fireboat station project be forgotten after the twin disasters and because they would be so busy with conversion of the asphalt plant Others said the fireboat station was too important as an educational facility to abandon. A vote was taken to go forward on both programs. More money was raised, the fireboat station rebuilt and the state energy authority became involved in the program.

Meanwhile, School Districts 2 and 4, covering Manhattan's East Side, joined Asphalt Green in a unique education program in which the fireboat station is to be used as a "Neutral Site Planning Cooperative." 4-wk school program Classes from each of the school districts are involved in a four-week program there, exploring the New York City water- was developed by representatives of Districts 2 and 4 with help of experts in the field of nautical education. Next, the Mill Rock Islandsituation arose. First settled in 1664 and used by the federal government during World War II for secret activities, the property was put up for auction after the war. A large American corporation wanted to erect an enormous neon sign on the island, but Robert Moses, then head of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, assembled a group which outbid the corporation. The old buildings were removed, trees and shrubs planted and the island was turned over to the Department of Parks and Recreation.

Last year, it was offered to Asphalt Green to be used in conjunction with its environmental and maritime center. Funds now available Murphy said that funr 'ire now available in the city's capita' iget to begin construction on the co -sion of the asphalt plant In the meantime, other cities, as far away as Los Angeles and San Francisco, are studying Asphalt Green as a model for their own grassroots projects. When asked how he felt about the long struggle to preserve Asphalt filihy tutetedbkespejr -f csJove of the out-of-doors got me started young as 12 and 15 years old, helped with front It provides the cnuaren witn tne marirte feMvirtdM on this project," the 60-year-old Murphy a lot ortnYreTOTSTrTrcnoTl, BpiJoTWraty" to Study 1v "Sweet are the uses of adversity. ment in a natural setting. Thetdfriculum said.

"When I heard that the last 5H-acres said..