VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: Northside park overgrowth leads to community fears
Nate Polite: Many consider the end of Memorial Day weekend to be the official kickoff of summer. Some community members don’t think all of their local parks are ready. Live in studio now is NCC News reporter Christian Locker.
Christian Locker: Thanks, Nate. I spent today speaking to community members in and around DeMong Park, and they are showing worry and disappointmenmt towards the state of the park.
Locker: The melted Central New York snow has revealed an unwanted sight at Demong Park: grass. Really tall grass. People living next to the park are tired of it.
Sabrina Savage: I want it gone. I want it gone. I don’t know what else to say. I want it gone. And stay gone.
Locker: That’s Sabrina Savage, and her fears about the grass go beyond its unsightliness.
Savage: I’ve never seen it overgrown like this. And it looks bad. And it can cause a problem. You know, needles, there could be – children go there, people walk their dogs there. You never know what you’re gonna step on and it makes the neighborhood look bad. It does.
Locker: Savage noted that she’s noticed fewer people coming to the park. One of those former parkgoers is Lloyd Robinson. He used to spend more time here, but as the grass has grown, so has his weariness.
Robinson: I’m very disappointed. Just to see this. Years ago, you could come here, you could throw a dog or a Frisbee, but now, the city just like, what you see is what you get, the evidence is right here in the pudding. Photos don’t lie.
Locker: Robinson had a simple message for city officials.
Robinson: Folks like myself, coming to and from work, would like to get out and enjoy themselves at local parks taxpayers are paying for, but how can we ever get that done unless we get your cooperation and your support?
Locker: Some parks, like Burlingham just minutes away, went from overgrown to cut over the past day. Savage, Robinson, and the rest of their community hopes to see their park follow suit.
Locker: We reached out to city officials through three separate lines of communication today, but we were unable to obtain a statement. Back to the desk.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — As the weather starts to warm, people will be spending more time outside in Syracuse. However, some community members are worried about the readiness of their parks.
At DeMong Park, located in the Northside neighborhood of Syracuse, grass overgrowth has taken over. The tallest patches reach about 3.5 feet high.
Sabrina Savage, who lives near the park, said she is tired of seeing the high grass.
“I want it gone,” she said. “I want it gone… I don’t know what else to say. I want it gone.”
The unsightliness isn’t the only reason Savage and her community members want the grass to be cut. The deep brush makes it hard to see what’s underneath. Litter can hide between the blades, but the trash is the least of their concerns.
“It can cause a problem,” Savage said. “You know, needles… Children go there. People walk their dogs there. You never know what you’re gonna step on and it makes the neighborhood look bad. It does.”
Savage also noted that children sometimes play in the park. She found it ironic that there is a sign reading “young lungs at play, tobacco free zone.” Meanwhile, the grass presents unknown dangers.
“You can breathe the air, but don’t look down,” she said.
These worries have led to fewer people spending time in the park. Lloyd Robinson used to spend time enjoying the outdoors at DeMong. Since the grass has taken over, he’s started to look elsewhere.
“I’m disappointed,” he said. “This is a historic park.”
Dr. James P. Burlingham Memorial Park is just a few miles away. It was also subject to significant overgrowth, but was mowed on Tuesday morning. Savage and Robinson are hoping DeMong might be next on the list.
NCC News reached out to the Syracuse City Department of Parks, Recreation and Youth Activities, along with the mayor’s office, but were unable to acquire a statement.