Caught Up in Bureaucracy

The ALCA Undergoes Lengthy Wait in Planning their NYC Memorial Park

The ALCA has announced the formal name, Renaissance Park, for the NYC trade center memorial park their members are sponsoring. What the ALCA has discovered, since their members drafted the park design in April 2002, is that New York is not only a different kind of place to design a park, but also a difficult place to get one approved. The city's Parks Department welcomed the gift graciously, but with guarded enthusiasm. According to statement in the Tribeca Tribune from Joshua Laird, chief of planning for the Parks Department, ?EUR??,,????'??There's a built-in tension between donors who expect that their generosity entitles them to a certain say, and our insistence that certain thresholds and standards that we are committed to upholding are met." standards has involved tweaking the park's design and altering some of its features. Even the park's name has evolved over the months. ALCA members originally pitched the name of Heroes Park. After learning that the name had been taken, they proposed Ribbon Park. Meanwhile, the Community Board had its own suggestions, Phoenix Park or Canal Street Park among others. Finally, the Parks Department settled on Renaissance Park.