By Jonathan Schuppe
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — At the highest natural point in Manhattan, where George Washington once built a stronghold against British troops, a small and very popular park is getting a long-awaited makeover.
All kinds of people use Bennett Park, a 1.8 acre sliver of land in Washington Heights: parents and nannies, rich and poor, English speakers and Spanish speakers, the elderly and adolescent. Everyone has their own ideas of what the park needs, and the Parks Department has come up with a plan it hopes will make everyone happy.
“I’m just glad they’re doing something,” said Rasheed Young, who was pushing his two sons on swings Friday afternoon. “This park is too important to the neighborhood.”
The department’s plans, developed over the last 18 months or so, aims to reintroduce users to the land’s history: at 265 feet above sea level, it is the highest point of land in Manhattan, and is where, in 1776, George Washington located his strategic base of operations in the battle for New York. The Americans were overrun by British and Hessian troops, and as Fort Washington fell into disrepair and disappeared, the Washington Heights neighborhood developed around it.
Named for a late 1800s newspaper magnate who once owned the land, Bennett Park opened in 1929. A playground followed in the 1940s, and a brick comfort station was built in 1964. Since then, the park has become widely used by Washington Heights’ diverse population. And now it shows: the park is now a tangle of patchy grass, bulging asphalt and creeping dust.
In recent years, as more young families have moved into the neighborhood, the park has been the scene of clashes between the stroller set and long-time residents who use the park to walk their dogs.
The first phase of the makeover, to cost $1.2 million, will give the park a more distinct fort theme, divide the lawn to separate it from play areas, and designate the south plaza as a recreation zone, said Jennifer Hoppa, the department’s administrator for northern Manhattan parks. The playground will get a sprinkler and the entrance will be made accessible for the disabled.
More improvements, including a space or a fountain for dogs, will follow, Hoppa said.
The city Public Design Commission is expected hold a public hearing on the first phase of plans in late September or early October.
