City okays some access to reservoir path

Posted

Correction appended.

The city’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is opening the path around the Jerome Park Reservoir on a trial basis this fall.

DEP Commissioner Emily Lloyd announced there will be a day of educational tours at an undetermined date later this year. There also will be two hours for members of the public to use the path on a different date.

“I know that many of you are skeptical about our security concerns,” she said at the latest meeting of the Croton Filtration Monitoring Committee (CFMC), a group of community board members and others who have scrutinized the Jerome Park Reservoir and related construction for years. “As we wind down the Croton-related construction — thank goodness — I think it is time that we can undertake the pilot program that is recommended here,” she added in reference to a 2011 DEP document that outlined a “pilot” project for public access to the reservoir.

Ms. Lloyd’s June 22 announcement elated activists like Van Cortlandt Village resident Gary Axelbank, who has criticized the DEP for fencing off the reservoir’s perimeter following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

“Going into that meeting Monday night, there was no indication that there was any movement” on the issue, said Mr. Axelbank, who hosts the public affairs TV show “BronxTalk.” “I joked to some people afterwards, I feel like we’ve stepped into some alternative universe. We just couldn’t believe it.”

Mr. Axelbank said he will be on a task force to work out details of the trial program. Ms. Lloyd said one day could include walking tours to about four groups of 25 people so they can view the 94-acre body of water and learn about its history. She added that the two-hour period for people to jog and do other activities around the reservoir will likely fall on the same weekend. Additionally, she said DEP could develop educational materials for local students to study in the fall as preparation for site visits in the spring.

DEP, access, Jerome Park Reservoir, Emily Lloyd, educational tours, Gary Axelbank, CFMC, Andrew Cohen, Shant Shahrigian
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