As Roy Brock strolled through the neighborhood on a recent sunny morning, everybody seemed to know him.
Brock, president of the tenant patrol program at the University Avenue Consolidation housing project, a patchwork of 30 city-owned buildings inside a two-mile area, was treated by residents as if he were a favorite uncle or the mayor of Morris Heights.
"Hey, baby, how you doing?" one woman shouted from across the street, waving.
Some ran over to hug him; others pumped his hand or slapped his back. Nearly all asked: What's going on for the kids this summer?
Residents are concerned because it looks as if funding cuts to the city housing authority will take away the playstreet for the more than 3,000 children who live in the 1,231 University Avenue apartments.
For the last three years, Brock has arranged for Andrews Avenue between West 175th and West 176th Streets to be closed to traffic during July and August. Modeled on the programs run by the Police Athletic League, Brock's play-street has provided space for children to shoot hoops, jump rope, play stickball and volleyball and learn arts and crafts in a safe, supervised setting.
Morris Heights is located within Community District 5, which has less than one-fifth of an acre of park land for every 1,000 residents. This is the lowest ratio of any district in the borough; the citywide average is about 1.5 acres for every 1,000 residents.
New York, the city that gave birth to the parks movement nearly 150 years ago, now ranks 19th among major American cities in dollars spent per citizen to maintain its parks. The system's operating budget, per acre, is one-sixth that of Chicago, half that of Los Angeles.
"It's the children who suffer," said Justine Reape, who heads Community Board 5's committee on parks and recreation. "Playing together is the best way to combat prejudice and break down fear."
Adolfo Carrion, district manager of Community Board 5, agrees that one of the area's most critical needs is recreational space. "Without it, the kids end up hanging out on the steps, on roofs and in alleyways. They beat up on each other or they take money from drug dealers to be lookouts."
Francine Solomon, a resident of the University Avenue project who volunteers with Brock on the tenant patrol board, said that the few tiny playgrounds that do exist in the area have deteriorated over the last few years. She said she did not expect improvements any time soon.
In the past three years, the city's Parks and Recreation Department has cut its full-time staff by a quarter. There are no plans to add to the 172 full-time positions in the borough, and Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's proposed budget calls for a meager increase of $4,000 to the current citywide funding level of $4.8 million.
With summer approaching, Brock has been pursuing alternative sponsors for his playstreet, such as merchants, churches and neighborhood associations. He has also applied to the PAL, which operates playstreet programs in 28 neighborhoods throughout the city.
"I'm not going to give up on the kids," Brock said. "When my own children were growing up, I drove a tractor-trailer and I wasn't around much. Now that I've got the chance to do something, if I see a kid who needs something, I'll be there for them."