Slope Armory on Track to Open in September
The long-awaited opening of an athletic center at the Park Slope Armory is set to happen in September, according to Sean Andrews, executive director of the Prospect Park Y. The new, $16 million center that the Y is running was supposed to open early this year, but contractors are still putting the finishing touches on…
The long-awaited opening of an athletic center at the Park Slope Armory is set to happen in September, according to Sean Andrews, executive director of the Prospect Park Y. The new, $16 million center that the Y is running was supposed to open early this year, but contractors are still putting the finishing touches on construction. While the centerpiece of the armory’s renovation is the overhauled drill floor (above), which will be used primarily for track-and-field purposes, Andrews says the Y wants the facility to be a destination for community recreation. To that end, the armory will be outfitted with what Andrews calls 10 “very large” multi-purpose rooms and the Y will offer programs like mom-and-baby yoga at the center. Andrews says that basic membership will cost $40 a month for adults and, as at other Y’s, financial aid will be available. Open houses and tours of the center are supposed to begin soon.
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slopefarm- I never heard that term before but it fits perfectly. I’m just not sure how many corporatists, however put aluminum foil on their heads or windows :-).
No insult to Park Slope intended- I think its great that they were able to pull this off, but I wonder if the city will now decide to make them the intake center for women for the whole city? Somehow I don’t think so.
Funny, Bob. In all seriousness, I would term pole a corporatist. He wants government to pave a clear path for purely market-limited build-out by developers, opposes any kind of government regulation of property use, yet wants to station the army in our hoods to keep the rabble in line. That, with no overt bigotry, seems like corporatism, to me.
I love how this entire thread was “reverse slope-jacked”. The posting was about park slope, but the discussion is all about Crown Heights and Bed-stuy (and Berlin). Take THAT park slope!
Polemicist suggests stationing permanent garrisons in our cities and calls those who question this reactionary! How ironic. When I read P’s posts I always get the impression that he thinks it’s 1848 and his side has just won. I agree with him though that the Nazi comparison was inappropriate–his thought seems WAY to the right of any kind of fascism.
Polemicist, I don’t bring Nazis up lightly, or at the drop of a hat, but since they are the best example of troops marching through the streets harassing innocent people that I can think of, there you go. Since humor, irony, or even sarcasm are not your strong suits, claiming such after the fact is rather specious. And who appointed you the tester of people’s reactions to illogical and ridiculous statements, anyway?
If that makes ME a nut, then so be it.
Arkady:
I have to let you know that Crown Heights has been trying to have the armory at Bedford and Atlantic purposed into something that would add to the private market vitality for a looooooooooooooooong time. The last halfway viable attempt for a recreation centerlike the one that is about to be complted at Park Slope was during the Pataki era. It didn’t happen because the then Assemblyman Roger Green would not kiss Pataki’s proverbial a#$.
As such, the powers that be are now trying to foist the homeless men’s intake center. Could it be that the PTB believe that there will not be any consequences for their actions? Do they believe that Crown Heights and Bed Stuy are powerless communities? Why?
Sam- that’s a great idea! Would be nice if it was in one of the armories in CH or Bed-Stuy. Don’t think that’ll happen, sadly- but it would be a great boost on the nabe.
It’s true that most people today do not realize that the old armories were built to keep the locals under control much as the Czars and Kings of Old Europe had their armed forces stationed in their capitals to crack heads in case of “peasant uprisings”. But as times evolved. the armories served many purposes including support centers for the military fighting in foreign wars. Today they serve as homeless centers and recreation facilities in many neighborhoods. The Seventh Regiment Armory on Park Avenue hosts the famous and prestigious Armory Antiques Show every year as well as other “big tent” activities. Mr Stoner should be looking at one of the armory spaces in our hoods for his “winter flea”.
good luck with that slopefarm. I have to agree with you based on his previous posting history.