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2020-07-23.html (5189B)

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 <p>
   Dear Assembly Member Seawright, and Borough President Brewer,
 </p>
 
 <p>
   I attended the Southpoint Park tour on Friday and wanted to follow
   up on the concerns I expressed to you there.
 </p>
 
 <p>
   I understand the importance of repairing the sea wall. But I want
   to share why this patch of invasive plants, resting on
   contaminated soil, is so important to me.
 </p>
 
 <p>
   I've been a resident of Roosevelt Island since 1994, since I
   emigrated from Naples, Italy. Growing up here was special. My
   childhood memories include ladybugs and hummingbirds, watching
   cormorants and seagulls fish, and the southern tip of the Island,
   when it was still green. As a child, all of these were sources of
   joy, delight, and curiosity. Later, they often prompted feelings
   of gratitude, and appreciation for the gift of life.
 </p>
 
 <p>
   Over my lifetime, I have seen most of these sources vanish. I have
   seen one hummingbird in the last decade, maybe a handful of
   ladybugs. I understand that there were compelling reasons,
   sometimes, to develop the Island. But I still mourn the losses I
   have witnessed.
 </p>
 
 <p>
   I visit Southpoint Park several times a week. I've been there in
   all seasons, in all kinds of weather, at dawn, afternoon, and
   dusk. It is perhaps the one place left where I can still
   experience the delights I remember as a child. This summer, it was
   watching red sparrows eat mulberries, or the rainbow after a storm
   caught me reading in the park.  In 2014, I studied for the bar
   exam there. When my grandmother suffered a heart attack last year,
   I went to Southpoint Park to collect my thoughts.
 </p>
 
 <p>
   I know that, in days to come, I will walk to that park and find
   its shores bare. In place of the maze of green branches will be
   overturned dirt, machinery, and views of man-made structures on
   the horizon. Even now, I dread to see that view.
 </p>
 
 <p>
   While I have watched this reverse alchemy of the Island -- of
   turning emerald to stone -- I have also learned more of our
   planet's situation.  It is a fact, today, that the ecological
   foundations of human society are buckling. I am wondering when we
   will start to turn things around, and if governments' approach to
   nature can shift in time.
 </p>
 
 <p>
   RIOC's current vision for the park entails a loss of twenty trees.
   This number hides the fact that some are mature trees, whose
   equivalent cannot be planted. There will also be a net loss in
   terms of square feet left to nature. This outcome, better than the
   original proposal, is only because residents stepped up.
   Otherwise, we would have been facing a greater loss.
 </p>
 
 <p>
   I would love to see RIOC commit to, at the least, maintaining an
   equivalent number of trees in the park. I would love for more
   space to be left wild. More than that, I would love to see RIOC
   match residents' passion and appreciation for the nature we have
   here.
 </p>
 
 <p>
   If you can help to bridge this gap, I will be indebted to you.
 </p>
 
 <p>
   Thank you very much for your time,
 </p>
 
 <p>
   David Wen Riccardi-Zhu</br>
   555 Main Street
 </p>
 
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