{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/q814m9290v/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Casey Chamberlain Oral History"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/010/original/Aviary_QPLlogo_192x192.png?1578574261","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSummary of full Interview\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCasey Chamberlain is Hunters Point Parks Conservancy’s (HPPC) manager of Programming and Development, whose mission is to enhance and advocate for the green spaces and waterfront of Long Island City, and to ensure the parks remain an indispensable asset to the community.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn this interview Casey Chamberlain discusses the new waterfront parks in Long Island City and Hunters Point in Queens, one of the fastest growing areas of the city, and about how these parks creation is tied to development projects championed by the Economic Development Corporation of New York City. He discusses the history and topography of land that is now Hunters Point Park \u0026amp; Gantry Plaza State Park, and the nearby Newtown Creek – from marshland, to farmland, to a heavy industrial zone, and now to tall apartment developments and parks. He talks about his work for HPPC getting the community and volunteers involved to keep the park healthy and used, with events and workshop. Also discussed is the planning and design of the parks starting in the 1990’s, how they are designed to be “flood-able” for protection from storm surge, and for coastal resiliency, with bioswales and other sustainable features.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Rights Statement"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eCC BY-NC-SA Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Source Metadata URI"]},"value":{"en":["http://digitalarchives.queenslibrary.org/search/browse/40574"]}},{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["2020-12-09 (created)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Type"]},"value":{"en":["Video"]}},{"label":{"en":["Agent"]},"value":{"en":["Casey Chamberlain (Interviewee)","Shelby Schwartz (Interviewer)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Source"]},"value":{"en":["Interview recorded as part of the Changing Landscape of Hunters Point project at Hunters Point Library."]}},{"label":{"en":["Coverage"]},"value":{"en":["1990s-2020 (temporal)","Hunters Point, Long Island City, Queens, NY (spatial)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Language"]},"value":{"en":["English"]}}],"summary":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSummary of full Interview\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCasey Chamberlain is Hunters Point Parks Conservancy\u0026rsquo;s (HPPC) manager of Programming and Development, whose mission is to enhance and advocate for the green spaces and waterfront of Long Island City, and to ensure the parks remain an indispensable asset to the community.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn this interview Casey Chamberlain discusses the new waterfront parks in Long Island City and Hunters Point in Queens, one of the fastest growing areas of the city, and about how these parks creation is tied to development projects championed by the Economic Development Corporation of New York City. He discusses the history and topography of land that is now Hunters Point Park \u0026amp; Gantry Plaza State Park, and the nearby Newtown Creek \u0026ndash; from marshland, to farmland, to a heavy industrial zone, and now to tall apartment developments and parks. He talks about his work for HPPC getting the community and volunteers involved to keep the park healthy and used, with events and workshop. Also discussed is the planning and design of the parks starting in the 1990\u0026rsquo;s, how they are designed to be \u0026ldquo;flood-able\u0026rdquo; for protection from storm surge, and for coastal resiliency, with bioswales and other sustainable features.\u003c/p\u003e"]},"requiredStatement":{"label":{"en":["Attribution"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eCC BY-NC-SA Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},"provider":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["Queens Public Library"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["Queens Public Library"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/010/original/Aviary_QPLlogo_192x192.png?1578574261","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/130/374/small/Casey_Chamberlain-aviary.png?1637319827","type":"Image","format":"image/png"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 1 - Chamberlain-Casey-full.mp4"]},"duration":1847.28,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/130/374/small/Casey_Chamberlain-aviary.png?1637319827","type":"Image","format":"image/png"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-queenslibrary.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/130/374/original/Chamberlain-Casey-full.mp4?1637319190","type":"Video","format":"video/mp4","duration":1847.28,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["Full Transcript [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Shelby Schwartz: I am Shelby Schwartz. I am here with Casey Chamberlain at the Hunter's Point Park Conservancy on December 9th, 2020 and this interview is being recorded for the Queens Memory Project. Now we can start with the questions. I'm sure you've had some time to look at them. And like you said, it's very to similar to the program you did a few weeks ago, which I tuned into. It was really interesting and it is kind of definitely overlap, so we'll get into that. So, obviously our project is about the changing landscape of Hunter's Point and obviously the parks are a big part of that. They've definitely really become well-known in the area in the last few years and I work right by that cause I work at the Hunter's Point Library and I really enjoy them, so it's interesting to be able to share this with other people. So, I think we'll start with why does this area specifically need a park and why did it need it in the format that it was built in?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=1.0,56.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Casey Chamberlain: Sure. So, I guess I can start with a little background about the parks themselves too, and sort of some of the nuances that people might know if they just kind of stumble upon. So, there's actually two different parks in Long Island City - I'm sure you know that, but maybe some others don't - that are connected. So, Gantry Plaza State Park is the Northern section of the Hunter's Point waterfront park area. And that is a park that's maintained and operated by the New York State Department of Parks and Recreation. There's actually only eight state parks in the New York City region, so it's a fairly unique space in that aspect of things. And so that park goes from 50th Avenue north of the Anabel Basin and is 12 acres. And that park first opened in 1998 as a first six-acre phase.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=56.0,110.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Casey Chamberlain: And then a second six-acre phase opened in - I believe - 2007, if I'm getting that right. It's all before my time. I've actually only been working with the Conservancy for two and a half years now and only been in New York for three and a half or so, so a lot of my knowledge of the parks has come from other people who have been in the neighborhood longer and my readings and learnings. And so then the South section of the park along the East River is Hunter's Point South Park is what it's called, and that is operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Again, built in two phases. So it was opened initially in 2013, the first phase, just the Northern part. And then the Southern part that goes all the way to Newtown Creek opened in 2018.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=110.0,159.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Casey Chamberlain: So it's a fairly new park, one of the newer sort of waterfront destination parks in New York City. And to your question of why was it built and why was it needed, is they were really both actually tied to bigger development projects of the neighborhood of Long Island City. So, Gantry Plaza State Park, again, the first part built was tied into a bigger development called Queens West. So, a lot of the tall high rises, the older ones, were part of that original sort of rezoning, redevelopment of the neighborhood. So, that was a New York State run project, and that is why it's a New York State operated park. So it was a project of the Empire State Development company and they established Queens West Development Corp that basically was intended to rezone, revitalize kind of fix up the Long Island City neighborhood.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=159.0,209.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Casey Chamberlain: Becase, as far as I've been told at least, that area was a little bit undesirable for a long time, kind of abandoned, not residential, a little dangerous, some undesirable activity going on. And so this was a plan of the state to kind of change up the area and the park was a major factor in that. This is maybe a little bit of a stretch, but I do believe the parks are kind of the main reason of Long Island City sort of re-energizing because it was kind of the main draw of the neighborhood, why people want to be there now. And then the same thing for Hunter's Point South. That was part of a larger project that was done by EDC.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=209.0,255.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Casey Chamberlain: So the Economic Development Corporation of New York City. So, all of Hunter's Point South area now is kind of tied into that. So there's several large high rise towers that are there now, and several that are going up - going to be some more mixed-use towers that are in construction now, mixed-income residential with some ground floor retail and other other community spaces. So it was nice that the city was kind of thinking a little bit bigger when they were doing this rather than piecemeal tower here and there. It's still only a small section of the Long Island City neighborhood as a whole. It's just like this Hunter's Point section, but that I believe is the main driving force of why the parks were built. It was to make this neighborhood feel like a neighborhood in a way, kind of do this whole bigger planning for the whole Hunter's Point region.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=255.0,308.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Shelby Schwartz: That's great. And I'm fairly new area as well, so I wasn't really there to see what it was like before, but you could definitely see the difference that it's made in the neighborhood in last few years. So that's really great. I think you touched on this a little bit, but before the addition of the park, what was this space used for and what did it really look as a neighborhood?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=308.0,328.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Casey Chamberlain: Well - and that's a great question cause it really depends on how far you want to go back. So back in the 1600s and before, it was Lenape territory of the indigenous people who were there and most of the Hunter's Point actually was either underwater or fully marshland. So, Hunter's Point neighborhood goes all the way up to Newtown Creek, and Newtown Creek is, nowadays it's very industrial - it's channelized, but it was a huge sort of tidal-influenced marshland. So, most of Hunter's Point was either totally underwater or tidally-influenced underwater sometimes. And it started being colonized by the Dutch first, I believe, back in the mid-1600s. And then it became mostly farmland for 200 plus years. It's actually called Hunter's Point because it was owned by the Hunter family, at one point, I don't remember the exact name, but it was the Hunter family.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=328.0,385.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/9","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Casey Chamberlain: And so it was Hunter's Point farmland cause big space, but it was owned by one person, basically one family. And then by the mid-1800s or so, it started to become very industrialized. So that whole Newtown Creek region on both sides was very much oil, refineries, sugar factories, shipping ports. And so, the Long Island City neighborhood was a huge hub for train shipments, boat shipments. Gantry Plaza State Park has those two large - they're called gantries - the two large black structures that say' Long Island' on the top. And those are what was basically used at that time to transfer freight from trains coming in from Long Island to boats docking there to bring it to Manhattan and for other parts of New York.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=385.0,438.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/10","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Casey Chamberlain: So it was really a centralized sort of shipping hub to bring things to and from the farmlands of Long Island. And then after that, once the neighborhood changed and the sort of scope of New York City as a whole changed and some of that heavy manufacturing industry either moved out or those industries that don't exist much anymore - it kind of fell to pretty much nothing. So it was kind of abandoned land for a long time. There was a proposal actually, back in the late - I guess it was early 2000s to possibly make it the Olympic village when New York City wanted to host the Olympics and then once that fell through, I think that was part of another thought of, okay, now what do we do with the land?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=438.0,484.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/11","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Casey Chamberlain: And that's why it became this park and this mixed-use neighborhood. So for a long time, at least the South part, the Hunter's Point Park was what you might call like an informal park. Like people used it and it was just kind of this empty, abandoned kind of overgrown space and to some, that was kind of great [laughs] and they actually wanted it to kind of stay in that sort of wild state. So, it had sort of informal uses of the park land for a little while until the city decided to sort of make this bigger, more formalized park.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=484.0,528.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/12","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Shelby Schwartz: Yeah, that makes sense. I like that you started with the 1600s because that was sort of [unclear] aspect of Hunter's Point, so I did a lot of research on that, so it's interesting to hear about that. And how it really started as just marshland and it was Native American land and then the [unclear]. So, that's really interesting and [unclear] a little bit. And then going onto the next question which is - you kind of touched on this too, but why did this area need the green space?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=528.0,558.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/13","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Casey Chamberlain: Yeah, I think for me at least, I mean, I'm sure I'm not alone in this belief is like, you can't really have a successful and thriving community if you don't have active green space or healthy green space. In New York City, biggest city in the country, it has lots of people [laughs]. It has lots of industrial spaces, office root spaces, but I think what really makes the city thrive and then individual communities thrive is having these public open, accessible green spaces that anyone can use at any time. So, I think the city thought this through a bit and I think they did a good job of - you can't just build a new neighborhood, if you're not gonna give them infrastructure in some ways.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=558.0,605.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/14","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Casey Chamberlain: And I know there are definitely some complaints about the Long Island City neighborhood in lacking in some other types of infrastructure, but I would say at least in Hunter's Point, we have the green space and green infrastructure to create, or at least to have the beginnings of the makings of a healthy and thriving community. And fortunately, there's lots of people who care about the parks, such as the Hunter's Point Parks Conservancy, our board, our donors, our supporters, our volunteers who have kind of helped us to try and make that green space even better. That's our goal as an organization, essentially. We have this great space but the city oftentimes will build a space and then they'll just leave it. And, then it's kind of on the community to program it, to really care for it.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=605.0,650.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/15","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Casey Chamberlain: So that's part of our job is to bring in volunteers to maintain the space activated a lot. This year, obviously 2020, it's a bit different, but in past years we've done 150 plus free events for the community. So that's fitness classes, movie nights, music, concerts, kids programs. And a lot of that is - I think we're fortunate that we have this incredible space to do those things in. But I think it's those types of activities and the people wanting to use it and to do things there that then kind of work together to make the community a more welcoming and fun place for everybody.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=650.0,688.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/16","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Shelby Schwartz: That sounds great. That's kind of like a symbiotic relationship, like the people help the park and the park helps people and the community kind of thrives from that. It's really interesting, and then, so obviously after the park was built and more people started to come in, how did the community kind of change with this park being built and what were the environmental aspects that kind of came from that, as well?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=688.0,711.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/17","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Casey Chamberlain: Well, I think, if we touch on this a little, I think the green spaces, the parks, were really the driving factor of the larger sort of neighborhood change and it's interesting that we're talking at this time because we're still in the changing period. There was a stat from 2012 to 2016: Long Island City was the fastest growing neighborhood in the entire country. I think online, there were like maybe - I think it was 11 to 12,000 new apartment units that came online in those four years. And that was just the start really. It's happening in phases a bit. Court Square is almost done and it's built up and Queens Plaza the same, but the Hunter's Point area, it seems like it might be kind of done, but there's still this other section, the Southern point that is in transition still.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=711.0,764.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/18","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Casey Chamberlain: So, we have three buildings that are currently being built that will house - I don't know the number off the top of my head, several hundred to a thousand residents each - and then there's another two parcels of land that are yet to be developed and yet to be put out to the RFP phase of things. So, the neighborhood is changing and, you know, for good or for bad. I not going to say. I can't really say, but it's symbiotic in a way. The parks are helping the neighborhood grow, but the neighborhood growth is helping the parks gain prominence. And so I think they're really kind of working in tandem and that was intentional. Now it's our job as the residents and people who are working there now, to make sure that the parks remain beautiful and healthy and that also the neighborhood kind of maintains its integrity, its community feel that's there now. And it's interesting that it's been built in so many phases. It's been a growing community since 1998 really, or before that. And so we're still adding and we're still changing and I'm sure it will continue that way for several more years.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=764.0,845.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/19","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Shelby Schwartz: Yeah, definitely hope so. So, it's kind of interesting, like the thought behind the park and how it was designed. So, how was the design determined? How did they come on that? And what factors are considered in the design of the park?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=845.0,860.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/20","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Casey Chamberlain: Yeah, so I can't speak personally, of course I wasn't there for it, but I know the ideas for these parks have been around since the 90s really. As I said again, Gantry Plaza first opened in '98. I know it was the same landscape architect that actually did both parks and all the phases, with different partners here and there, but this guy Thomas Balsley. So, he was at Tom Balsley Associates when he did Gantry Plaza and then it was SWA Balsley for the Hunter's Point South. And that was in partnership with another landscape architect called Weiss/ Manfredi. But I know Tom, I've spoken to him or heard him talk is that when they were first having these ideas for Gantry back in the 90s, there was already this idea in place that it should be a continuous waterfront green way park.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=860.0,908.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/21","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Casey Chamberlain: I'm sure those original plans and ideas have changed than what actually is there now, but there was always this idea - from the community as well - that we should have park land all the way around. And so I know that the community was definitely consulted a big part of the design and the construction of the parks. I know the Hunter's Point Parks Conservancy, our current vice-president, it's a guy by the name of Mark Christie, who was actually a co-founder of the organization as well, and has been around in the neighborhood forever and was part of all of these kind of scoping decisions. So he was instrumental as long as many other community members sort of put the vision of the community of what they wanted in the park. And of course it took a lot, I'm sure, to get them done. Lots of different partners and organizations that were part of the final project.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=908.0,970.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/22","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Casey Chamberlain: But I think it was done - it seems, at least from who I've spoken to, that it was done in a way that was inclusive in its design or at least intended to be and involved the right people, at the right times. And I know a big part of the thought process in designing the parks was the concern over being a coastal, floodable community. And so, you actually can see if you walk through the parks from the beginning original design, the 1980s park to the 2018 park, there are some advances and some changes in the way that they decided to design this sort of waterfront park to account for and understanding of the inevitability of climate change affecting this neighborhood. So, in particular, Hunter's Point South phase two is remarkable in its way that it's been designed for coastal resiliency in mind.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=970.0,1031.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/23","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Casey Chamberlain: The park's won - I can't even count the number of awards - like 40 plus awards. And it's been written up in the Times and Curbed and also international journals about the sort of unique and innovative ways that they were able to marry both effective practical design, so like this park that people really want to use and be in, but also designs that can help the community withstand storm surge. So, most of phase two is fully floodable or it's built up a bit so that it would, in theory, if a storm of the magnitude of Sandy hit it, all of the buildings that are being built behind, would not be damaged at all. And there's some incredible smaller features too, such as there's this big turf oval.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=1031.0,1081.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/24","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Casey Chamberlain: That's kind of like the centerpiece of phase one, right by the concession stand. And it just looks like a great playing field. You walk out on a summer day, there's kids playing soccer, guys lifting weights, there's a yoga class going on. But that oval also can hold 600,000 gallons of water. Right. So you wouldn't know that if you walked by, but that's another one of those sort of very well-thought-out features of the park that you can tell has this sort of understanding of the effects of being an East River waterfront park baked in throughout the whole thing.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=1081.0,1122.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/25","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Shelby Schwartz: Oh, wow. I didn't know that there's a lot of different factors that were considered. I read some about different sustainability against architectural design, but that's a lot, wow. With the storm surge, you have to protect all those buildings. I think about that. I see them being built and these storms are happening and where the library is, [audible] right on the water is the building next to it. And I think what would happen if there was a flood in that building - I wouldn't want to live there, but that's great that the park kind of put that in mind and protect all the Hunter's Point South area. Thta's really great.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=1122.0,1156.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/26","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Casey Chamberlain: Yeah. And it's really cool because it does kind of show how our collective knowledge of how to build coastal communities has changed. Especially if you're walking through, like I said, just from one phase of the park to the other, you can see changes. But then if you look across your right at Manhattan across, beautiful views of Manhattan, some people are looking up and seeing the World Trade Center and Empire State Building. But if you look down, you see the FDR and this just flat concrete and the roadway is like below the park. So you're looking and you're like, that might be underwater. So, the way that we've sort of adapted and changed in our collective understanding and knowledge of how to build a safe and effective coastal city is clearly changing. And even if you go around the park to Newton Creek and you see Brooklyn across, and they're going to go into a waterfront design too. And they're sort of almost in between these two, where they're like a little higher, there's some bulkheads, there's some green space, but it's not as well kind of thought out and integrated as what you get in Hunter's Point.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=1156.0,1222.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/27","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Shelby Schwartz: Okay. So you can see like, just throughout the city the different building ideas and where people got their inspiration from, or how they learned the education happening and how we're learning about type of construction and things like that. That's interesting. So, I think you kind of touched on this with the last question, but in what ways did this park addition kind of focus on sustainability in the Hunter's Point neighborhood?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=1222.0,1250.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/28","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Casey Chamberlain: I've touched a bit on the sort of coastal resiliency stuff, but there are several other features of the park throughout that are sustainability-minded and focused in the design as well. In addition to what I said about the turf field and the marshland flooding helping with storm surge, throughout the whole design, there's a shoreline. The shoreline design is used is what's called the rip rap. So it's basically like big boulders that are essentially loosely fitted and a sloping shoreline. And that is really effective for preventing any sort of erosion from wave effects because the East River is extremely active and it has really strong tides. It goes up and down twice a day, high tide, low tide. And it's swirling tides cause - to get too much scientific - it's actually not a river.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=1250.0,1309.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/29","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Casey Chamberlain: It's a tidal estuary or a tidal strait cause it's connected to the ocean on both sides. It doesn't actually have a start point. So that's why it has like these sort of strange swirling tides that are unpredictable. And so, it has lots of effects on the coast. So they designed with that in mind. Throughout Hunter's Point South Park, the entirety of it actually, that's an interesting feature called a bioswale. So, bioswale essentially is designed to store and filter storm water. So, rain comes down, it hits the streets and things and picks up heavy metals, it picks up toxins. And it'll kind of fall into this ditch where it's like sloped on one side and a little straighter on this side, and it'll kind of hold there and slowly filter back through the soil, through these rocks, into the water. So, rather than bringing all of that in right to the East river, it kind of settles.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=1309.0,1369.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/30","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Casey Chamberlain: And then slowly filters down. This is also very useful in preventing what's called combined sewer overflow. So, if people don't know, New York City has what's called a combined sewer system. So basically our storm water, like from the rain and our sewer water from toilets, showers, sinks is processed in the same sewage treatment facilities. So you have pipes from the storm water, pipes from houses and they go together and they're processed in the same plant. And we have very poor sewer capacity. So if it rains - even, I think, like an inch, no, like half an inch, even a quarter of an inch - essentially the filtration plants can't handle that much water. So instead of filtering it at all, they just dump all of it directly into the river. So, if it rains and you flush your toilet, it's going into the harbor somewhere.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=1369.0,1435.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/31","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Casey Chamberlain: Either Newtown Creek, East River, Hudson River, depending on where you are. That's just where it ends up. So if you can add in sort of green infrastructure features to neighborhoods such as these bioswales that hold water and divert them from the storm drain, it can prevent, or at least reduce those overflows. Our problem is substantial. So one bioswale doesn't do a lot, but it does something at least to the local waterway there. Um, let's see, what else, what other sustainability features. Oh, and then the other one that's important is most of Hunter's Point South park, particularly phase two and some of the Gantry as well, is mostly planted with native plantings. So, plants, bushes, trees that are native to this region and that is really helpful because it needs less maintenance, so it doesn't need as much water. It doesn't need fertilizer. A lot of the plants in that whole bioswale trench don't need to be watered at all, essentially, unless there's big drought issues. And then they're are also some more tied into the local ecology. So, birds love them. Insects love them. It's really good for pollinators and migratory birds. And so it just gives a better ecological health to the park and the neighborhood as well.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=1435.0,1519.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/32","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Shelby Schwartz: Okay. So it's kind of [inaudible] back to the original - the way [inaudible] kind of like that, like bringing that back and kind of put in the park. That's interesting. Yeah. Yeah. I walk around the park sometimes and it's done in such a way that you don't notice. It's very subtle, so you don't really know [inaudible] interacting around, I think that people may not really think about it. It looks very natural and you can't really even notice [inaudible] done there","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=1519.0,1553.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/33","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Casey Chamberlain: Yeah, I think that's intentional. I mentioned that earlier. There's a very well done sort of marrying of many, many different positives of a park. And so it blends the natural and the built very well. It blends this ecologically-minded and human active recreation very well, as well. So, it's trying to do a lot at once in a very small space. And I think it does that well. Some of these things about like how it's benefiting the neighborhood or how it's benefiting the environment are maybe, in my opinion, a little too hidden. I think it would be nice if people knew what was going on but, you can't have it all [laughs].","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=1553.0,1600.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/34","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Shelby Schwartz: Yeah. [laughs] As long as people are enjoying it, then that's great.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=1600.0,1605.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/35","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Casey Chamberlain: Yeah. Exactly.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=1605.0,1606.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/36","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Shelby Schwartz: And then, so kind of last question to sum up everything we've spoken about - you definitely touched on this, but in your opinion, how did the park overall kind of add to the changing landscape that we've seen and spoke about in the last few years?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=1606.0,1621.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/37","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Casey Chamberlain: I really don't think I could overstate its impact and its importance. I think it's the most impactful thing that a neighborhood at all can do for the health and well-being of its residents is to have an active and healthy and safe and accessible park. I don't think you can really be happy or as happy as you can be, or as healthy as you can be without having access to high quality green space. And so, I feel very fortunate that we have these ones here, cause I know many of the neighborhoods in New York City, especially throughout Queens, that don't have access to these high quality green spaces. So I would say - yeah, I mean, that's really all I could say I think about it. It's done wonders and I don't think it's really even possible to quantify the impact that the parks have had on the local residents","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=1621.0,1679.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/38","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Shelby Schwartz: Yeah, I think mentioned before, people get involved, unfortunately not as much recently but in the last few years [inaudible] and they can have meetings and things like that. Even the library, it's been very involved with the park in a environmental [inaudibe] the global organization, individually but on a [inuadible] scale and people want to become part of it. So, that's great.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=1679.0,1707.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/39","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Casey Chamberlain: And I guess that, especially in 2020, the park became people's place for everything because of our issues with the coronavirus pandemic and not being able to gather indoors. I think it's telling that some of the neighborhoods that had good active, accessible, easy to get to green spaces were the ones I think that kind of managed this better. The people who were able to get out and do things in the park, it became kind of our space for everything. And I think, I and our organization have kind of always understood the park as being that essential space, essential infrastructure, necessary thing for neighborhood. And I think it didn't become maybe so much public knowledge or clear to everyone across the city until this year when people were like, I need to find a park, I need to go to a park. And so, if there's any one positive thing that comes out of this, I hope that that's it, that people begin to value public green space, as equally important as sewage infrastructure, roads and garbage pickup. I think it really becomes that important.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=1707.0,1785.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/40","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Shelby Schwartz: Right, just as vital as all these other nuances that make a city to city and a neighborhood what it is, so that's really great to hear. And I definitely enjoy it. I see people enjoying it when I'm at the library. It doesn't matter if it's raining outside, doesn't matter if it's 35 degrees, the park aways has people walking around and enjoying the space and it's really great to see that on a daily basis. I think that definitely wraps up my questions. Was there anything you wanted to add, but I think that's pretty much gone over everything. Thank you so much for being a part of it. Like you know, this is being recorded. I'll definitely keep you in touch with that process [inaudible] get going on, it's going to be transcibed, [inaudible] like that[inaudible].","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=1785.0,1830.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/41","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Casey Chamberlain: Great, this was fun. Thank you.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=1830.0,1830.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/42","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Shelby Schwartz: Yes, it was. Thank you so much again. All right. Enjoy the rest of your day.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=1830.0,1839.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374/transcript/34382/annotation/43","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Casey Chamberlain: Thank you, you too.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/56175/file/130374#t=1839.0,1847.28"}]}]}]}