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You Told Us: Should the Inwood Shakespeare Fest Get to Reserve Park Space?

 The festival organizers may no longer be able to reserve space in Inwood Hill Park.
Inwood Shakespeare Festival
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You Told Us is a regular feature where we highlight comments from users in the communities DNAinfo covers.

INWOOD — To be or not to be? That is the question when it comes to the future of the Inwood Shakespeare Festival, which has been offering free performances in Inwood Hill Park since 2000.

News that the festival may not be able to continue because it now competes for space with barbecues and parties caused a stir among Uptown readers.

Many voiced their opinions on Neighborhood Square and in community Facebook groups as to whether or not the festival should be able to reserve space for their performances in the public park.

For some, it was a no-brainer.

► “BBQ-ing in the Park, or Shakespeare in the Park? Let’s see,” a commenter wrote on Neighborhood Square. “Well, the actors clean up after themselves, no one has ever had to call the police because the actors were too loud, the actors don't hang around in the park late at night playing music, the actors don't drive their cars onto the lawn, the play is open to everyone. How is this a difficult choice?”

► “The performances are some of the most enjoyable parts of Inwood Park,” wrote another commenter on Neighborhood Square. “The NYC Parks department should do everything it can to see that the Fest continues, including helping remove people from a designated area and music control.”

Others suggested that the theater group come to a compromise with the Parks Department.

► “It's a big public park, just find somewhere else to setup. Especially since that section of the park by the water is prime, everyone wants to either walk, sit, or BBQ there so you can't reserve it,” another Neighborhood Square commenter said. “The Shakespeare in the park is a great thing [but] don't punish the neighborhood just because you can't have your way and reserve public space.”

Some questioned why this isn’t an issue in other parks where there are outdoor performances.

► “Why are they able to set aside space in Central Park?” a Facebook commenter wrote. “They should rope the space off early in the day. The street the farmer’s market is on is public and they close it off. The whole thing doesn’t make sense. If there is an audience then there should be a space.”

Others saw the festival as a sign of the changing neighborhood.

► “How bout moving them to different location of park?” another Facebook commenter wrote. “Can’t complain about a public space getting used for BBQ and what not…SMH. Gentrification up here.”

Still, others pointed out that the festival has a long history in the area.

► “They’ve been doing this for 15 years and people think it’s gentrification,” a Facebook commenter wrote. “It’s people trying to bring art to communities usually left out. I’ll take that over a few people bbq-ing and getting drunk. Seriously it’s only a few days.”