Free Yoga Class Coming To Crocheron Park This Saturday

BAYSIDE, QUEENS — In an effort to increase community and city buy-in for Bayside's Crocheron Park, a local preservation group is bringing more events to the outdoor space this summer, including a yoga class on Saturday.

"There isn't enough funding for parks in general," Friends of Crocheron & John Golden Park (FCJGP) founder and President and Chair of History Committee, Jessica Burke, told Patch.

But even with a parks funding boost from the city's record-high $99 billion budget passed in June, Burke pointed out that community buy-in is necessary in order to advance funding projects, which is why FCJGP is expanding its reach with different kinds of events this summer.

Saturday's beginner yoga class, which will be taught by a volunteer named Ambeka, is the second of several yoga events happening in the park in the upcoming class.

Although registration is required, the event is free, and will take place from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on the lawn between the tennis courts and the playground. It will be followed by the group's monthly cleanup event from 10:00 a.m. to noon, which also requires registration.

"[We're] just trying to figure out how to connect with the community and get more intention to the park," she said, adding that if more people "enjoy the park that will also do things like help the Park's Department and Community Board realize how important Crocheron Park is."

While FCJGP is slated to receive a few thousand dollars from the 2022 budget to support its park planting and cleanup events, that money isn't enough to cover the major refurbishment projects that the group has in mind — like repaving the walkways in the park's northernmost area, known as John Golden Park, to make them all accessible.

For those kinds of requests, FCJGP is working to have the area's City Council Member (either Paul Vallone or his successor), or the Community Board, put in a capital project request to the Park's Department, which would secure a much larger sum of money — but that hasn't come to fruition yet.

As of this April, Community Board 11, which oversees the part of Bayside where Crocheron Park is located, proposed a list of 17 items that deserve capital funding through the 2023 budget, according to documents sent to Patch. The upgrades to John Golden Park are number 12 on the list.

"Obviously we think it should be higher on the list but we're ecstatic that it is on the list," said Burke, adding that the Community Board's consideration of the park is part of a larger, burgeoning interest in Bayside's outdoor spaces.

"Recently we had a volunteer reach out about organizing a Silver Sneakers class," she said, noting that fitness programs for older adults would be well suited for the neighborhood, which has a large population of seniors.

"Our mission is not only to focus on the preservation of the parkland but also to create and continue events in the spirit of John Golden," Burke added, pointing out that Golden — a Bayside resident and theatrical producer — used to organize neighborhood singing events.

"We want to organize events that are community oriented like that," she said.