New Hyde Park Native Petitions For More Trees In Park Circle

NEW HYDE PARK, NY — This New Hyde Park native wants to plant more trees in Park Circle, a central neighborhood locale of open grassy space — but few trees.

Marissa Goldstein, 24, grew up on Rhodes Drive just a few houses down from Park Circle, where she remembers meeting up with friends for soccer games, picnics, outdoor time and hangouts nearly every day throughout her childhood.

“All the streets lead to Park Circle,” she told Patch in a phone interview, fondly recalling a large bush in the park that she and friends would climb into when they were younger. “Literally, our whole lives revolved around Park Circle. It was just a magical place.”

Goldstein has since returned home to New Hyde Park while completing her second master’s degree at Teacher’s College, Columbia University. She said she still loves Park Circle as an adult, but now, while walking her dog every day around the loops, she sees children playing just as she did in the space and she believes the park could be improved for both the planet and the local community.

“It hasn’t lost its magic but it does now, from the eyes of an adult — it looks barren,” Goldstein said. “It feels like it needs something more. Our community has beautiful trees on every single street and (then) you see Park Circle, and it’s so bare. There’s so much beauty that can be had with trees. There’s so much life.”

After reaching out in March to Councilman Angelo Ferrera, whose secretary told her she needed to obtain as many signatures as possible to bring the proposal back on the table for the Town of North Hempstead’s consideration, Goldstein decided to start an online petition to add more trees to the space.

“It sounds so simple, but there are people who oppose adding trees to Park Circle,” Goldstein said, adding that more trees would not impede on the existing open space, but provide shade and more ways for community members to enjoy the park.

“With climate change and with the United States joining the Trillion Trees campaign, this is a small thing that our community can do to contribute to our world and make our neighborhood beautiful and create a greener community,” she said.

To support this campaign, Goldstein said it’s as simple as signing the petition.

“It’s a world of play and fun and magic and health,” she said on what Park Circle could be with more trees, “and just a little something more we could have.”