Action Center
Relevant documents: A summary of the issue – updated July 2008. The contract between the Park District and The Latin School Chicago Lake Front Protection Ordinance
Schedule of usage shows the Latin School is THE exclusive user for kid-friendly time.
Learn about community organizing This handy guide will help you make the change you know is needed.
Here’s what you can do.
(1) DONATE. We are taking the Park District to court. Justice isn’t free and we need YOUR donations to fight! Donate via PayPal or send a check made out to “Protect Our Parks” and mail it to Protect Our Parks, 333 W. North Avenue #209, Chicago IL 60610. The Committee to Keep Lincoln Park Public has applied for nonprofit status on March 25, 2008 as Protect Our Parks. All contributions are deductible to the extent allowed by law.
(2) SIGN OUR PETITION. PASS OUR PETITION If you haven’t done so already, please add your name and comments to our online petition. You can print out our petition and make copies and get people in your building or block to sign. Email us at info@cklpp.org when you have completed sheets to turn in.
And, while you’re in the mood – sign the petition for our colleagues at Save Grant Park.
(3) VOLUNTEER
We’re going to need help on a number of projects. Join us in the park on Saturday mornings collecting signatures for our petition. Please contact Eury for more details.
(4) CALL AND WRITE LETTERS TO OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS NOW
Mayor RIchard M. Daley – sample letter
City Hall
121 North LaSalle Street
Room 507
Chicago, IL, 60602
Phone: 312-744-3300
fax: (312) 744-8045
Find your alderman. Although Alderman Daley represents the area where the field is located and Alderman Reilly represents the area nearby, all aldermen should be alerted to this bad policy. We need to halt construction and conduct a public hearing. Download a contact sheet for all 50 aldermen.
Alderman Vi Daley (43rd) – sample letter
City Hall Office: 121 North LaSalle Street, Room 300, Chicago, IL 60602
email: vdaley@cityofChicago.org
City Hall phone (312) 744-3071
Alderman Brendan Reilly (42nd) You can use the sample letter above for any alderman.
City Hall Office: 121 North LaSalle Street, Room 300, Chicago, Il 60602
email: Brendan.Reilly@cityofchicago.org
City Hall phone: (312) 744-3062
Alderman Tom Tunney (44th)
City Hall Office: 121 North LaSalle, Room 300, Chicago, IL 60602
email: ttunney@cityofchicago.org
City Hall phone (312)744-3073
If you email anybody on this issue can you please copy us at info@cklpp.org. Thanks!
(5) WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR NOW
Skyline
141 South Oak Park Ave., Oak Park Illinois 60302
Email to dhaley@wjinc.com
Chicago Reader:
Letters to the Editor, Chicago Reader
11 East Illinois Street, Chicago, IL 60611
Email to: letters@chicagoreader.com
Crain’s Chicago Business:
Letters to the Editor, Crain’s Chicago Business
360 North Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60601
Email to: letters@chicagobusiness.com
Include complete name, city from which you are writing, and phone number. Letters should be as brief as possible.
Chicago Sun-Times:
Letters to the Editor, Chicago Sun-Times
350 North Orleans, Chicago, 60654
Email to: letters@suntimes.com
or by fax: (312) 321-2120
Letters must include name, address, and daytime phone #.
Chicago Tribune:
Voice of the People, Chicago Tribune
435 North Michigan Ave, Chicago IL 60611
Email to: bdold@tribune.com
Inside
Jeff Bogardt, Inside Publications
4159 N. Western Ave., 2nd Floor, Chicago, IL 60618
Email to inside@britsys.net
How to Mail a Check
Checks should be written to:
Protect Our Parks
333 W. North Avenue, #209
Chicago, IL 60610
Phone# – 312-276-5165
Please give generously.
The Committee to Keep Lincoln Park Public has applied for nonprofit status on March 25, 2008 as Protect Our Parks. All contributions are deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Committee + Community Tells Commissioners “Keep Lincoln Park Free”
The Committee to Keep Lincoln Park Public showed up in force at the March 12 meeting of the Chicago Park District Commissioners. Over 50 supporters crowded into the conference room on the eighth floor of the Park District headquarters on Fairbanks Court. Spokesman Peter Zelchenko delivered copies of our “cease-and-desist” letter to the Commissioners and requested that they halt construction of the Latin School soccer facility immediately. “We’d love to work with you and the Latin School to find a better solution, a more equitable solution to the recreational needs of the community. I’m sure if we all put our heads together we’ll agree that the South Meadow is not the right place. We’ve got to safeguard our precious open spaces. There is an abundance of property nearby that could offer a better site.” Park Commissioner Board President Gery Chico promised to meet with the Committee to hear our plans for resolution. Read the Medill News Service story. Read the Skyline story. Read the full story of the Committee’s work to date from Chicago Loop News. [Large PDF file, 6.8MB]
Alderman Daley, Get It Right
The following item was in Alderman Daley’s recent newsletter many of us received in the mail and is also posted on her website. We feel it requires some amplification…
Don’t take our word for it. Read the contract for yourself. Schedule of usage shows the Latin School is THE exclusive user for kid-friendly time.
A neighbor weighs in…
Dear Alderman Daley,
I am writing to ask you to stop the construction of the Latin School soccer field on public park land in Lincoln Park.
The contract to build this soccer field was made in secret, without the required public process. A similar proposal in 2002 was so unpopular with the community that it was withdrawn. This time, the Chicago Park District and the Latin School bypassed the community to make their deal. The public learned of the deal only when the media reported it many months later. The community was excluded on an important decision involving a prized public asset. This is an outrageous deal, and the secrecy only adds to the outrage.
The contract grants precious park land, intended for public use, to a privileged few, the students of Latin School. Under the contract, Latin School will have virtually exclusive prime time access during much of the day, throughout most of the year. The public, which has a civic right to enjoy this space, will be shut out much of the time.
This deal is also a terrible historical precedent. Allowing it to go forward puts other desirable public lands at risk. Parks and other areas now free for use by all will be restricted or limited in their use, with the easy statement that “this is no different from the Latin School soccer field.†Any other small group, with enough money or clout, will be able to grab their own piece of the public space.
This part of Lincoln Park should remain free for use by all and not become dedicated to the use of a private few. You have a duty to protect this public property for the use of all Chicagoans, not just the Latin School. Please stop the construction immediately.
Sincerely,
Emily Price
Chicago, IL
After…and before
Community – this battle has already been fought and WON! Read the coverage from that fight.
This Was Fought Before
To anyone who has lived in the Lincoln Park community more than five years the Latin School land grab has a familiar ring. That’s because a very similar deal was proposed and opposed in 2002!
A citizen’s group was formed then to fight the land grab. We’re following in their footsteps.
Here’s a sample of the news coverage and activism from 2002.
Latin School Should Not Get Piece of the Park – Read the editorial.
Open Space Faces Extinction – Read the article
Residents Oppose Proposed Athletic Field – Read the article
Your Comments
Hundreds of people have made comments when they signed our online petition. Below is a slide show that you can advance using the direction arrows in the viewer. Download a Word document with some of the best comments. Sign our online petition and add your own comment.
Comments from recent donors
- “I wish I could give more. Good luck.”
- “I have been working on getting the word out today. I have made and distributed copies of the flyers I got at the meeting. I hope this, and the donation are of some help.”
- “I am right around the corner from Latin, and frankly, am fed up with putting up with their ongoing arrogance. The deceitfulness involved with the soccer field, parking density problems, and their attempt to circumvent the codes with building their new addition. I’ve been an owner for 34 years, so I have seen it all.”
Whats Wrong With the Deal?
Q: What are the broad outlines of the deal?
A: The Park District signed a contract on December 1, 2006 with the Latin School of Chicago to build an artificial turf soccer field with stadium seating, a scoreboard and lights. We do not have a full drawing of the contemplated facility. The Latin School is committed to pay for the bulk of the construction – about $2 million, with the Park District responsible for the lighting – perhaps as much as $300,000. We are not sure who is responsible for securing and maintaining the field – most likely it will be the Park District. In return for paying this sum the Latin School is granted exclusive use of the field for 810 hours annually for ten years with an option to renew for another ten years. These 810 hours are what we call “prime time†kid-friendly hours.
Q: Where exactly is this project taking place?
Q: Why do you call the Latin School deal an example of “privatization�
A: According to the website www.privatization.org, privatization “refers to the shifting of the production of a good or the provision of a service from the government to the private sector, often by selling government-owned assets.†The people of Chicago own the park land, or rather, the land is held in trust for all Chicagoans for all time. The Park District may enter into contracts with various vendors to provide services – including sports, harbor services, food and performances. But it is another matter entirely to carve out four acres of the park and make it essentially unavailable to the general public because of a private deal. The only dates where there are no restrictions on the publics use of this facility are from June 1 to June 14, Saturdays and Sundays from June 15 to July 31, August 1 to Ugust 14 and from November 1 to February 28. To restrict the publics access to public land in return for cash consideration from a private entity looks like privatization to us. Schedule of usage shows the Latin School is THE exclusive user for kid-friendly time. Listen to an August 1, 2008 interview with Chicago Reader reporter Ben Joravsky discussing the way the Park District does business.
Q; But doesn’t Lincoln Park need a field like this?
A: If there is a need for new facilities, great. Let the Park District make its case in public and let all parties discuss the pros and cons of building something permanent in Lincoln Park.
Q: If the Latin School pays for the project, some scheduling consideration is “only fairâ€
A: We are opposed to the wealthy being able to peel off parts of the public commons for private use – no matter how much is paid. What do you think that land is REALLY worth? Furthermore, the Park District (meaning, the rest of Chicago’s tax payers) will be paying for part of the construction and the ongoing upkeep. Also, the Latin School has been expanding in this community for decades knowing full well the space limitations. It easily could’ve purchased private property for any of its facility needs.
Q Are you planning to protest other vendors in the park?
A: Where public land is not available to the public – absolutely. In the case of the Soldier Field renovation, many groups, such as Friends of Parks, vigorously opposed the use of public funds there. Vendors who use temporary huts or even operate concessions inside park facilities in no way compares to taking acres of park land “off line†for the use of a private institution.
Q: But the Latin School doesn’t have a playing field.
A: True, but the school has located and expanded in this community knowing full well the space limitations. They just spent millions on a new building and could’ve installed a roof-top facility. For that matter, they could’ve purchased private property in the area to build anything they wanted. Latin has two gymnasiums, a fitness center (with trained instructor), and indoor swimming pool. And they already use Lincoln Park EXTENSIVELY for their sports programs. They have far more facilities for practice and drills during inclement weather than any school imaginable.
Q: You keep talking about this a “secret deal†– what do you mean?
A: First, this entire project is very similar to a proposed facility for the same place in 2002. The community strongly protested the project and it was shelved. Four years later the Park District apparently approached the Latin School with a revised plan. Two representatives of the Park District spoke to the Lincoln Park Advisory Council on Sept. 13, 2006. From the minutes: “The evening began with a presentation by Gia Biagi and Jim Cronis. They spoke of demand for multi-purpose fields – especially for soccer. The fields don’t have enough time to regenerate. Five fields using artificial turf in high-demand areas would be multipurpose. In Lincoln park it would installed at South Field.†There is no mention of the Latin School or restricted hours for the general public. The people at that meeting have no recollection of the Latin School being mentioned. Nevertheless, 11 weeks later the contract with the school was signed.
The story was revealed to the general public in a Crain’s Chicago story on May 28, 2007 which stated,
“Alderman Vi Daley (43rd) says she heard gossip, but ‘no one ever came to me. I never saw the plan.’ Lincoln Park Advisory Council President Jil Niland says her group was told only that the district wanted to AstroTurf a field, not that Latin wanted what ‘does seem like awfully exclusive use.’ Steve Zelner, executive director of the Lincoln Park Conservancy, says his group was briefed but never told details. The final contract ‘is a little different from what I’d imagined,’ he says.†So we think the Park District deliberately mis-lead citizen’s groups charged with protecting and serving the park and, at best, froze out the Alderman, even though her chief-of-staff serves on the board of the Lincoln Park Advisory Council. The meeting of the Park District Commissioners where the contract was signed was dutifully advertised in local paper’s classified ad section. Also, we’ve heard from Latin School parents who had no idea this deal was being done in their name and are as mortified as we are.
Q: Aren’t you just a small group of rich people who are trying to stop a smart partnership from going forward?
A: Well, there are nine people at the core of the committee, but nearly 1,000 people have signed our petitions, and reporters for Crain’s Chicago Business, the Tribune, the Chicago Reader, Pioneer Press, Inside have all covered this issue with quite a bit of sympathy for our cause. If you read the comments on our online petition, you’ll see that this deal has struck a nerve and people are quite angry. Furthermore, we are an extremely economically diverse group of community leaders, with not one millionaire in the bunch!
Q: What did Alderman Daley know about this deal?
A: She has stated repeatedly that she had no knowledge of this deal before the fact. In her email newsletter dated February 26, 2008 she states: “The park groups and I believe that this is a legitimate recreational use and an improvement for this area of Lincoln Park. I have requested that in the future, the Park District notify me and the park groups in writing of any proposed projects. I hope that notifying us in writing will help avoid this confusion in the future.†However, at a community meeting at the Latin School on February 13, 2008 school employees Katie O’Dea (Director of Communications) and Peter Brown (Director of Facilities and Operations) claimed that both Alderman Daley and Natarus knew about the deal well in advance of the contract being signed in October 2006. So either Alderman Daly is lying bold face to the community or the Latin School employees are lying. We would like to know the truth. We may have to sue to find out..
Q: Various officials say they did call for public meetings and held public meetings.
A: In one statement, Alderman Daley stated she “introduced a resolution in the City Council to bring all parties together to discuss the soccer field proposal.” But this was done a year after the contract was secretly signed, and only after the public browbeat her. Not only that, the resolution was never voted on, and even if it had been, it has absolutely no teeth! Likewise, Latin, the Park District, and the alderman all make news bites asserting that meetings with stakeholders were held and compromises reached—but, again, these were held many months after the public raised Cain, and they were dog-and-pony shows that resulted in no meaningful change to the deal.
Q: Is it true that advertising will be allowed on this facility?
A: Yes! Incredibly, the secret deal gives the Latin School the right to sell all sorts of sponsorships, including display of corporate logos. It’s possible that the school could make a profit over the life of this deal! Here’s the clause from the contract:
Q: If this is such a bad idea, why aren’t other groups fighting with you?
A: A very good question. The Friends of the Parks had this statement posted on its website in November 2007:
“Public Policy at Issue with Latin School Soccer Field Plan—
On Friday, November 2nd the contractor hired by the Latin School to construct an artificial turf soccer field in Lincoln Park began work to build the field despite strong opposition from local community groups, Friends of the Parks and nearby residents. The action to actually start the construction is an end-run around recent action taken by Aldermen Vi Daley, Brendan Reilly and Tom Tunney’s to introduce a resolution to have public review of the Latin School soccer field at the next City Council’s Parks and Recreation Committee.
With no public hearings or notice to the neighborhood or to the broader community, the Chicago Park District on October 25, 2006 approved a contract for the Latin School to construct an artificial turf soccer field at the south end of Lincoln Park. No plan or presentation was made to Lincoln Park community organizations or to Friends of the Parks. Crain’s Chicago Business later reported on the contract agreement with the Latin School. Crain’s reporter, Greg Hinz, analyzed the contract and wrote an article with the headline “Prestigious Prep School Lands Sweet Deal for New Lincoln Park Fieldâ€. Additional newspaper articles brought the issue to light and community groups voiced their opposition to the use of public land for a private school. In September, after months of community activism, Alderman Vi Daley and Alderman Brendan Reilly held a public meeting at the Latin School where hundreds of citizens voiced their opposition to the Latin School proposal. This was followed by a City Council resolution on the matter.
After the construction started, Alderman Vi Daley called together representatives from community groups including the Lincoln Park Advisory Council, the Lincoln Park Conservancy, Gold Coast Neighbors and Friends of the Parks to meet with the Park District and Latin School officials to review the construction and usage plans. While Friends of the Parks made it clear that it does not support the policy of leasing public parkland to a private institution for their priority use, the Park District reiterated that the contract had been approved and the soccer field project is moving ahead.
Alderman Daley and the park groups insisted on changes to the signed agreement which include a reduction of Latin’s use time by 10%, a complete landscaping plan, a significant number of new trees, retaining the configuration of the running path and the addition of a drinking fountain to the south of the soccer field.
Looking forward, Friends of the Parks’ encourages the Park District to develop a policy and plan that calls for the Park District to construct public soccer fields that are open for permitted use by the general public.“
Our members have been in contact with Friends of the Parks, Openlands Chicago and the Chicago Sierra Club and officials for those organizations have expressed outrage over the deal.
Q: OK, I see this is bad policy, but construction has already begun. Why keep fighting?
A: The question really is: Can we REALLY fight city hall? We feel we must. We see too many back room deals in this city and we’re taking a stand that when it comes to our precious park land, we simply will not approve of any give-aways, no matter how they are dressed up. Recently in New York City, a similar project was stopped by citizen action and litigation. Here’s part of the story, from the Feb. 1, 2008 New York Times: “A Manhattan judge voided an agreement between the Bloomberg administration and 20 private schools on Thursday, ruling that the city had improperly given the schools priority in using athletic fields on Randalls Island in exchange for $45 million. The deal, struck last year among the schools, the city’s Parks Department and the Randalls Island Sports Foundation, which operates the parkland on the island, was opposed by a coalition of public school parents and students, youth league teams, residents of East Harlem and the South Bronx, and parks advocates. Opponents maintained that the deal was tantamount to privatizing public park land and had been approved by the city without having gone through the proper competitive bidding and public review processes. In the ruling on Thursday in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, the judge, Shirley Kornreich, agreeing that the project had been improperly approved, annulled the agreement…The Randalls Island Sports Foundation reported on its Web site on Thursday that 15 percent of the project had been completed as of December. But with the deal with the private schools now in question, it was unclear whether the Parks Department would continue that work.â€
Mayor Bloomberg is no push-over. So, yes, you CAN fight city hall and win!
Community Meeting a Smash!
Almost 200 people packed into the Lincoln Park Library on Thursday night to hear our report to the community on the Lincoln Park land grab.
Watch the coverage from Fox Chicago News.
Read the Chicago Tribune article
Read the contract between the Chicago Park District and the Latin School that started this whole affair.
Our speakers included:
Jan Koch – neighborhood resident, dog owner and advocate for open land.
“I’m here to preserve the spot for our pets and to to preserve Daniel Burnham’s 100 year old dream. What are we going to have left for the next 100 years? If we keep on chipping away, we won’t have space for left for our dogs, for our older people, for our children and anything to show them the legacy of a great Chicago city…Keep the 100 year dream alive. Keep it public. Keep it public for all of us!â€
Jack Harris – local resident and park enthusiast. “We walk dogs, we play softball there, we use the park all the time…If you take this park and restrict the use, you won’t have the ability to share it. The space is used for people to watch the Air and Water Show, and groups like PAWS – I’m a big dog enthusiast – won’t be able to use that space…I’m definitely against this…They did a back door deal here.â€
Norman Siegel – former Director of the New York Civil Liberties Union and successful litigant to halt the construction of a soccer field complex on Randalls Island for the use of a consortium of New York City private schools. Read the article “Some local people told me what was happening. I’m a proud graduate of the public school and the plan sounded bad and contrary to what everyone saying that we couldn’t legally fight it – that only encouraged me to fight it more and we went before the judge and it was voided…There was a campaign in the court of public opinion and as well as in the court of law. Our public campaign focused on privatization of public park land. There were times when I sang Woody Guthrie’s song, “This Land is Your Land†and despite my bad voice, it went over well. The whole concept of playing to play, that public park land is precious, that public park land is the people’s land, that we should not give it to 20 elite private schools that are overwhelming Caucasian when the public schools are 85% students of color. Continue to stress that the plan stinks. We should be fighting for our precious park land. On the legal front, in New York City whenever there is a major change in the use of the land we have a Uniform Land Review Process which has to go through the Community Board, the Borough President, City Planning Commission and the City Council. The city and parks department in this deal giving access to the fields they never went through this process so we talked about the rule of law and we maintained that everyone has to follow the rule of law, including the city of New York. Second, we found out they were going to change some of the fields to from natural grass to artificial turf and that kicked in environmental concerns about hazardous toxins being emitted from the artificial turf and we found that they had not done an environmental impact study that is required. They didn’t follow the rule of law. The agreement between the city and the 20 private schools should be voided and the judge bought that argument. I got pro bono assistance from a major law firm. Find someone who will take the fight on and the pro bono backup that I got. Sometimes the Davids of the world beat the Goliaths. It’s a good fight. It’s a fight that has to be fought. It’s an issue not just in New York and in Chicago, but all over the country. You’ve got to draw a line in the sand and fight back. And sometimes you get lucky enough with a good argument and a good judge and you win. But my experience for almost 40 years now is that the fight is equally important. The fight is important to put people in power on notice that they can’t abuse our rights and that public property is for the public and can’t be given away even for large amounts of money. And that’s a fight you have to fight because if there’s no fight and no resistance then this stuff will increase. If you fight back at least they know there’s a fight. I learned long time ago that you can be bright but stamina outlasts the bastards.â€
Jean Snyder – Kenwood Park Advisory Council. “We’re a small community park but we have issues eerily similar to yours. This fall bulldozers arrived in our park and started tearing up the grass and lo and behold they were creating a regulation size baseball field for teenagers to play hardball in our small community park. We have an advisory council but they never notified us, they never told any neighbors, they never did anything except have this sweetheart deal with the league…It has been a very, very strange experience. The Park District continues to thumb their nose at us…Our Alderman told us she didn’t know anything about this ahead of time. But she’s jumped into bed with the private league. The only action the Park District has taken toward the neighborhood is to call the President of the advisory council when we started asking questions and say the alderman and the private league don’t like you and the advisory council is de-authorized. We’ve only be in existence for ten years but they can’t find the paperwork. So we feel your pain we’re with you spiritually. God bless you for moving on the way you are.â€
Peter Zelchenko – Latin School alumnus. “I went to Latin School and I was a member of the soccer team in 1977. I don’t remember doing very well that but what we did learn at Latin School was how to respect our neighbors. We had a lot of moral lessons there. I think it’s very important even you’re part of an institution – that if something is wrong – to speak up about it and not be shy or afraid of the repercussions. We’ve heard over and over again that what has happened here is fundamentally wrong. There were lots of alternatives. No one was brought into the discussion. I’m hearing from others in the Latin School community – from parents and faculty – who are just as upset about this as I am. It’s so important not to show fear. We’re doing fundraising because it looks like we have go to a law suit.â€
Jonathan Fine – President of Preservation Chicago “We started in 2001 as a grass roots campaign and I’m really pleased to see a packed room. It means your community is activate, engaged and angry. You should be angry. You’re not alone. What is going on here is common place. The way to have a democracy is to start participating in the democracy and driving the agenda. Most of what we do is advocate for historic buildings but last year we added for the first time a public park, a public space – Promontory Point, to our list of seven most endangered places. This was an attempt by the Park District to renovate the point at 55th and Lake Shore Drive. Their idea of renovation was to take out all of the limestone and replace it with poured concrete and this was a historic landscape and the concrete was going to cost twice as much as simply replacing the limestone. A group formed called the Coalition to Save Prom. Point and they worked tirelessly. They brought in their elected officials and were able to turn the tide against the horrible plan of the Park District. So the fact is you can win if you’re organized and motivated. I encourage you to stay the course. Write the mayor and your alderman.â€
Michele Smith – Democratic Committeeman, 43rd Ward “The only kind of surprises I generally enjoy are the ones that occasionally happen on my birthday. The kind of reaction that this meeting has generated, the number of people here – filled with community members, parents, park users, sports enthusiast are just the kind of influence the park district deserve to have. And it’s just the kind of input that our community regularly needs to have as we go forward. While public schools like Lincoln Park and Walter Payton lack the facility to host their own games, it does seem a bit fishy that a deal that favors a private school gets priority from our public officials. I applaud all of you who choose to get involved because the most important thing is that government occurs in the sunshine. So I hope you’ll continue to be involved.â€
Herb Caplan – Chair, CKLPP Legal Committee. “Like you, when I heard about the soccer field I felt impotent. What is going on? Why are these things happening. We’re citizens. We’re tax payers. We’re users the park/ I felt like I counted for nothing. I expect that many of you might feel the same. But this is the wrong approach. The fact that we had this meeting and you’re here – the fact that over 1,000 people have signed our petition shows us that as a group we have the power to achieve the ends we want to achieve. Our project is to stop the construction of the soccer field immediately and to force the Park District and the Latin School to submit this back to the community to examine, to discuss, to evaluate and then to control what happens in our park that we are accustomed to using. As everyone has said the park doesn’t belong to the Latin School. The park doesn’t belong to the Mayor. The parks belong to the people. We’re not going to allow the city administration or the Latin School to change what has historically been our use of the park. You’re not powerless. Together as a group we are a power and we’re going to exercise that power and we’re going to get the result we want.â€