Despite signs banning open flames at certain green spaces across the Bronx, every year on the July 4th, for at least five years, ashes, bottles, and leftover trash are found along Mosholu Parkway the day after the holiday. The grassy strip that’s lined with benches on either side is home to several dozen trees, which the Parks Department is mandated to protect from fires. 

Yet despite several community meetings, and a history of complaints from Community Board 7 urging the Parks Department and NYPD to step up its ‘no barbecue’ enforcement ahead of the agency’s busiest time of the year, this year was no exception along Mosholu Parkway. The Parks Department, despite emphasizing its goal of squashing parties in ‘no barbecue’ zones, did little to stop it. The mess behind was apparent. 

Barbecuing is not forbidden in all areas of the Bronx. Several parks, such as Van Cortlandt Park, have barbecue pits and designated areas to dispose of coals. As such, areas with no barbecue pits such as Mosholu Parkway are restricted from an open-flame cookout, given how hot coals can jeopardize the health of trees. Hot coals had already become a problem for the Parks Department this year when trash containing hot coals was unknowingly dumped into a garbage truck compactor, causing a fire. 

Anthony Rivieccio, a longtime Bedford Park resident who’s raised the issue of illegal barbecues for years, took stock of the illegal barbecues around the area on July 4th as he’s done so before. He found what he considered newer residents picnicking, partying, littering, barbecuing, and playing loud music for hours on end. He documented the barbecuing, sending the information to Ischia Bravo, Community Board 7’s district manager. Police were apparently called but Rivieccio said they never showed up. 

“In the last three or four months, there has been a neighborhood push to be sure that this did not happen,” Rivieccio said. “About a month ago at the Parks Committee meeting in Community Board 7, twenty neighborhood residents showed up and complained about the conditions that some of our new neighbors were doing with the parkway.” 

Barbara Stronczer, chair of Community Board 7’s Parks Committee, is on Rivieccio’s side, largely opposing the barbecuing at Mosholu Parkway. 

“[Mosholu Parkway] is not an official barbecue site. There are sites that the Parks Department lists for barbecuing,” said Stronczer. “You gotta realize it’s very close to people’s windows, too, and nobody wants that smoke blowing into your window when it’s this hot. And a lot of the people come and use the parkway and don’t clean up after themselves.

Referring to a meeting that occurred on June 26, Stronczer explained that residents pushed for a change before the holiday. “A whole crew of people came out from the northside of the parkway. They’re having terrible problems with litter after these parties, loud music to the point where people put speakers in the trees. And late at night they were still blasting the music.”

The aftermath from the parties was apparent even five days after the holiday, when crews from the Parks Department finally picked up the heaps of trash left behind. There was also an abundance of full garbage bags, including a bag of empty lighter fluid boxes and an empty box for a new grill where Bainbridge Avenue meets the parkway resting beside trash cans. 

“I think it’s a shame,” John Lund, a Bronx resident sitting on a bench at Mosholu, told the Norwood News. “This is like a good part of the Bronx here. It’s a beautiful park and they should clean up that night, the next day.”

The garbage problem didn’t just extend beyond Mosholu Parkway. At Williamsbridge Oval Park, leftover fireworks were spotted at the edge of the northern entrance. Inside the park, heaps of trash spilled out of the trash drums. In some cases, the garbage had accumulated well before the July 4th festivities. There were also piles of ash and charcoal inside the park. 

The Bronx Borough Parks Commissioner Iris Rodriguez-Rosa urged residents to pick up after themselves. “We ask the community to please take the garbage with them and to please be able to be respectful to our parks and our community. We try the best that we can to get to all sites as soon as we can.”

Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver explained that the agency is working on the problem, though conceding that the July 4th is a busy day for barbecuing across the city. “Right now we know there are certain areas where barbecue is not permitted. We’re working with our Parks Enforcement Patrol and NYPD to make sure people understand the rules,” Silver told the Norwood News at an unrelated event on July 9. “But the Fourth of July is one of those days. All of our parks were overwhelmed. I can’t even begin to tell you how much refuge we had to pick up after the Fourth of July. It’s just one of those big, celebratory days that people come out, and barbecuing is synonymous with July 4th.” 

The Parks Department told the Norwood News in an email that a Parks Enforcement Patrol unit was posted at the parkway, yet barbecuing and partying still went on for over three hours on the July 4th. 

The problem of illegal barbecues also extended beyond Norwood. 

Roxanne Delgado, founder of Friends of Pelham Parkway, was outraged about the ongoing breaking of the rules that could put wildlife in danger across the Bronx. “It became the norm because of the lack of enforcement,” Delgado said. “In other parks, they have zero tolerance. They see a grill and boom, they’re out there. Because of that constant enforcement, it doesn’t happen there.”

Delgado was upset by the barbecuing because of the plumes of smoke, which could damage trees or people’s lungs. “You could bring everything else besides the grill,” she told the Norwood News. “It’s not fair. The parkway belongs to everyone.” 

Editor’s Note: Anthony Rivieccio writes the Financial Focus column that appears on the Norwood News website. 

admin

Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.