Gary Giordano, the District Manager of Queens Community Board 5, agreed to meet with me and the three other ioby interns a couple weeks ago at the Ridgewood Reservoir.

Around 2 o’clock, Giordano pulled into the Highland Park driveway off of Vermont Avenue in his old Chevy, a modest yet fitting car for the Queens local.  He looked like a young Dustin Hoffman: casual in his appearance and calm in his demeanor, and he spoke slowly and carefully with a thick New York City accent.

We all met at the steps leading up to the Reservoir, but quickly decided to avoid the Reservoir all together and talk over at the picnic tables across the street.  This was odd, considering the subject of our interview, but also undeniably logical… The Ridgewood Reservoir is not a very nice place to sit and talk.

As the birds cheeped and chattered, and a couple dog-walkers passed, Gary began talking about his involvement in the Reservoir: “[Community Board 5 Queens] put in a budget request, maybe five years ago, to redevelop the Reservoir as a nature preserve. We didn’t figure it was going to go anywhere for a while but then the Mayor [included] the site in PlaNYC as a “destination park” and money became available, money we never dreamed of.” This money (6.8 million to be exact) went towards Phase I, currently underway, which focuses on pathway rehabilitation around the Reservoir.

However, Gary says, “[Community Board 5] has had some differences with the Parks Department.” With regard to the height of the fencing, Community Board 5 wanted six foot fencing all the way around the Reservoir to deter vandalism, “but for a good portion of the area, they’re going to put four foot fencing,” says Gary.  Security is a big issue at the Reservoir, and Gary believes that the Reservoir no only needs high fencing, but also its own patrol; otherwise the investments in the Reservoir are going to be “tarnished.”  Gary admits it is “easier said than done.”

There have been rumors flying about possible new ballfields in the Reservoir, but Gary and his crew are not okay with that: “We’re totally opposed to building ballfields in the Reservoir. We want it to be a nature preserve. Our dream is that people would come here to enjoy the beauty of the reservoir, the birds, and nature itself.” Gary has recommended to the Parks Department that additional funds be used to upgrade the somewhat neglected ballfields in Highland Park, rather than create more right next door.

Everyone seems to be holding their breath as the Parks Department draws up their ideas a for a Phase II plan. However, funding for Phase II is a mystery at this point.   Community Board 5 Queens is standing by to advise to the Parks Department on whatever they propose but ultimately, as Gary says, “They do what they please.”

As for Gary Giordano’s own views on the Reservoir, he subscribes to a variant of the minimalist Mies van der Rohe concept: “Less is better.”

Jansyn