Residents Want City To Stop Letting Lincoln Center Use Space At Nearby Park
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Some residents who live near Lincoln Center want to see Fashion Week go out of style.
They are demanding that the city halt what they call the illegal handing over of Damrosch Park to Lincoln Center for commercial purposes 10 months of the year.
That includes Fashion Week, which is now underway.
They want the use of the Damrosch for non-park purposes to cease, the park to be restored, and for any concession revenue from the park to be paid into the city's general fund.
"The whole thing is ridiculous," said Geoffrey Croft of NYC Park Advocates. "And the public needs its open spaces. There's so little open space around here. And it's a heavily used park. It was a beautiful park, and then they came in and chopped down all these trees. It's really sad that the city is just exploiting its public parks so private businesses can make money from them."
"We don't think it's environmentally sound to destroy a park and to make it commercial," said protestor Olive Freud. "There's nothing more precious in the city, in this city, with its tall buildings and density, than a little park."
The city released a statement saying that Fashion Week generates $865 million each year and that the city has invested in improvements to the park.