Delayed Park Elections Set for March 14, 15, 16

Seven candidates are contending for six vacancies in this month’s election for the Washington Market Park board of directors, to be held March 14 and 15 from 8 to 10 a.m. and from 3 to 5 p.m., and on March 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the park entrance at Greenwich and Duane streets. After the World Trade Center attack, the election scheduled for last November was postponed.

The new members will take office at a critical time for the park. A $1 million renovation and expansion of the play area is expected to begin as early as next month.

Although it is under the purview of the Department of Parks and Recreation, Washington Market Park is one of the city’s few community-run parks. The board plans its programming, including an annual puppet festival, Ladybug Day, a Halloween parade, and Christmas and Hanukkah celebrations, as well as the summer concert series.

The following local residents will be on the ballot. Information about them was drawn from letters they have written, which will be available at the voting station.

Karen Brodsky lives across the street from the park. She worked as a grant writer and raised funds for the Brooklyn Children’s Museum and taught Spanish at a girls’ school before having her own children, now 3 and 11ž2. The park is now part of the family’s daily routine. She is concerned about the lack of access to funds to complete the much-needed renovation of the playground. She wants the park’s newsletter to reach more people and its programs to continue to grow. She believes that special programs could provide access to private grants or corporate sponsorship. She is particularly interested in fundraising and the gardening program.

Sarah Cannady Chinn, mother of a toddler, moved to Tribeca from Greenwich Village in 1996, and says the park is essential to the lives of Tribeca families. She hires lawyers for a downtown law firm, and runs the summer associate program for more than 125 law students. She says she has "a tremendous amount of energy and would love nothing more than to direct large amounts of it toward making Washington Market Park one of the most special treasures in New York City."

Liz Liebeskind, a current member of the Washington Market Park Board, has two young children who play in the park. Last year, she helped to organize the Spring Popcorn and Puppet Festival and the Children’s Garden Club, created the park’s newsletter and ran the holiday events. She is organizing a creative arts and science program for kids 2 to 6 to begin this spring. One major issue facing the park is the threat of being caught in the city’s budget freeze, which could hinder construction of the new playground. She wants to remain involved in special events and campaign for more funds.

David Scott Drane, an architect, has lived in the city for 13 years, eight in the Village and the last four in the Financial District, and recently moved to 21 West Street. He says his varied work experiences—most recently with NYC 2012, the organization trying to bring the Olympics to New York, and at Goshow Architects—would be useful on the board. "Mostly, I look forward to getting my hands dirty, literally and figuratively."

Eric Steiner plays tennis on the park’s court, tends a park garden plot and visits the park regularly with his four-year-old daughter. "I would like to give back my energy and time to the park to see that it continues to provide enjoyment for others," he writes He would work to ensure that the concerts, the garden plots, the landscaping, the tennis and basketball courts and the peaceful ambience of the park remain. He would work on the park’s rodent problem by having trash cans emptied before nightfall, and would urge the Food Emporium to improve its sanitation effort. He would have a "Slow—Children" sign installed at Duane and Greenwich streets.

Laurence F. Wasser, a three-year resident of Tribeca, has a garden plot in the park and plays tennis there. He says that although he is a physician by training, "I have strong civic interests." He has served on a community board in Staten Island, has been a trustee at the Staten Island Botanical Gardens and is currently a trustee of the John A. Noble Maritime Collection at Snug Harbor on Staten Island.

Bill Watson, a longtime resident of Tribeca, has extensive gardening and landscaping experience and owns a local landscape design and building company. His years of experience, he says, have given hin " a special understanding of how to plan and maintain gardens in an urban environment." He recently coordinated the donation and planting of 10,000 tulip and daffodil bulbs in front of P.S. 234. He is especially interested in getting involved in the plant selection and in the planting and pruning of existing trees and shrubs.