By Richard Tucker Park on West 66th Street, with its lush planters and plantings and inviting seating, is a notable example of the transformation over the past three decades of this section of the Upper West Side. The park sits directly across the street from one of the Broadway Malls, which runs from 60th to 168th Streets. Like other parts of the malls along the stretch of Broadway between 60th & 70th Street, the revitalization of these urban gardens is the result of years of commitment by the Lincoln Square BID and its supporters, which include NYC Parks, local property owners, nonprofits, businesses, and neighborhood residents. Beautification of the malls from the north side of 70th Street to 168th Street is overseen by the Broadway Mall Association, while the Lincoln Square BID is responsible for the malls between 60th and 70th Streets.
Arguably, Richard Tucker Park can be seen to its best advantage on the two days a week when the green market, managed by GrowNYC, occupies the space with farmers doing a brisk business in plants, farm-grown fruit, vegetables, and flowers along with breads of many varieties as well as many options for a mid-day snack, which you can carry to BID-provided movable tables and chairs. The GrowNYC website notes the market at Richard Tucker Park is open on Thursdays and Saturdays, year-round, from 8:00-4:00 pm.
Richard Tucker Park, long ago called Empire North, and Dante Park, formerly called Empire Park South, serve as the informal front porches to Lincoln Center’s grandeur. According to Lincoln Square BID Founding President Monica Blum, they’re also the front porches for the community.
Monica knows everything about Richard Tucker and Dante Parks and the Broadway Malls from 60th – 70th Streets and has been personally involved in the changes that have brought the malls, as well as the two parks, from rubble-filled tracts of glass shards, broken pavement, soot, and untilled soil to showpieces enjoyed by the community and its many visitors. The beautification of these spaces is the signature program of the BID.
Among Monica’s first efforts as BID President in addressing the woeful condition of Lincoln Square’s public spaces was approaching then NYC Parks Commissioner Henry Stern that the Broadway Malls and the two parks needed fixing. She convinced him, and today, NYC Parks continues to be an important partner in the BID’s ongoing maintenance and landscaping improvement activities.
A lot of fundraising has been needed to maintain the malls and parks. Regarding Richard Tucker Park, Monica said she knew the Tucker family and asked them about contributing funds for ongoing maintenance and improvements of the triangular open space. They agreed and have been making annual contributions.
According to the NYC Parks website, the bust of opera star Richard Tucker (1913-1975) by Milton Hebald “sits on an inverted, tapered and polished granite pedestal on which are inscribed the titles of 31 operas that Tucker performed. Tucker was born in Brooklyn in 1913, and he worked as a cantor before making his debut with New York’s Metropolitan Opera in 1945. Tucker enjoyed a thirty-year career with the organization, specializing in Italian operatic works.” The monument was a gift of Tucker’s wife, Sarah, and was unveiled in 1979.”
Monica, a native New Yorker, graduated from Connecticut College and received a master’s from NYU. Introduced to City government in a job for the Koch Administration, she went on to earn a law degree at night from New York Law School. After serving in various capacities for three mayors, she was ready for a change, and in the late 1990s, she welcomed the challenge and undertook the job of developing the Lincoln Square BID. Currently, the BID engages the support of a huge number of neighborhood stakeholders. Impressively, the scope of the BID’s local community includes 9 million square feet of residential space.
The BID continually adds planters and plants throughout its domain and provides four-season displays for the public’s enjoyment. Here roses are considered, there shrubs, annuals, or perennials. Deciding what to put where “is a nice problem,” Monica said. A key ongoing challenge, according to Monica, is keeping public areas clean. She is very proud of the work of the BID’s Clean Team, which keeps the neighborhood spotless, and is pleased to have contracted with the Green Keepers from Goddard Riverside, who are onsite year-round each weekday morning to clean the malls – ensuring the beauty of this special public resource.
CLICK HERE for some Before and After photos of the Parks!
