The democratic process is in full swing in North Hempstead Council Member Christine Liu’s office.
Liu is surveying the roughly 300 households within 600 feet of Park Circle, a small town park in New Hyde Park that has lacked greenery, trees and amenities for years, to understand what exactly those living nearest to it would like to see there.
“Park Circle doesn’t have much landscaping or any kind of greenery,” Liu said. “Come summer, it is usually just a patch of brown there. There’s no trees for shade. There are no benches there in case people want to take a break from their walk.”
Liu said she’s heard these complaints about the park for years as a resident of the area and wanted to help change it now that she’s an elected official. She said the park is heavily used by residents as an open space to take a walk and play games.
Liu sent letters in the mail with a QR code and link to a short Google form asking them to choose what they’d like to see in the park to all residents within a 600-foot radius of the park, double the mandatory notice circumference for any work done on a property.
The survey asks people if they’d like to see things like trees, benches, landscaping, a gazebo and/or lighting.
Within a week, she received over 60 responses. But, she’s not stopping there. Liu said she plans to send members of her team to every one of the 300 doors from whom she doesn’t receive a response to ensure all have the chance to weigh in.
The snail mail and in-person canvassing over sending out an electronic survey is intentional, Liu said. She said she wanted to ensure only those in the immediate vicinity, who would be most impacted by the improvements, were heard from.
“Park Circle is not your traditional park. It’s not gated. It’s nestled right in the middle of a community,” Liu said. “So, whatever you do there directly impacts the community. I thought that this survey was a great way to get to know our Park Circle residents more and see what improvements they would like to see there. This way, we’re doing this as a team, and it’s not a unilateral decision by myself or the town board.”
After collecting and analyzing the responses she receives, Liu said she will work with the North Hempstead Parks and Recreation Department to include the community’s desired upgrades in next year’s budget and implement them as soon as possible.
She’s already laying the groundwork to implement those improvements. Her surveying efforts come after she recently secured a $125,000 state grant through Assembly Member Gina Stilliti’s office to install an irrigation system in the park. The system, she said, is necessary if the park is to get any greenery upgrades or trees planted.
“Planting trees and landscaping is not possible there if we don’t have any kind of irrigation system. Everything will just die,” Liu said. She said that’s one of the major reasons the park hasn’t received upgrades in the past.
Liu said planning for the irrigation system, which will be installed before the community’s requested improvements are implemented, is underway.
“This is a space that is very important to the community, and we want to make sure what we do to the space is an improvement to the community and well-received by the community,” Liu said. “It’s really important to get everybody’s input before moving forward. But, I know that with an irrigation system, Park Circle will have a lot more greenery and will be enhanced tremendously.”
