Clean Up Efforts Near Stewart Field Complex Continue

Employees from both the Public Works and Recreation and Parks Departments combined forces this month to continue prior efforts to clear out overgrowth on the north end of the Stewart Field complex.

This area was partially cut back last fall but the Village’s more recent efforts were much more extensive in eliminating the heavy components of the overgrowth. “Our crews attacked the area with some heavy equipment in order to dig up roots and other material,” Mayor Brian Daughney said.

A finer grading of this newly cleared area is being performed and grass seed put down to create coverage that is more in line with the character and use of the surrounding parkland. The area is located next to the first base line of the newly created 75-foot baseball and softball field and continues all along the north side of Stewart Field.

To the north of the visible fence is an area of Nassau County-owned land formerly part of the original Vanderbilt Motor Parkway. The Village has proposed to the County that they enter into a long-term arrangement so that the Village can use that area for additional parking for Stewart Field while also promoting the historic site. Several years ago the County had expressed interest in promoting the history of the Vanderbilt Motor Parkway throughout the County. On the Village side, the Board of Trustees desires to address the severe parking shortage that exists at Stewart Field in the existing lot.

Village Historian William Bellmer and fellow resident Cyril Smith have been instrumental over the years in getting markers placed throughout the Village to highlight historical sites, including the Long Island Motor Parkway toll lodge, now the Chamber of Commerce building on Seventh Street.

In 1908, William K. Vanderbilt, an early motor car enthusiast and auto racer, built the Long Island Motor Parkway. It was the first concrete highway in America, and its first toll road. It ran from Flushing, Queens to Ronkonkoma in Suffolk and passed through Garden City. Mr. Vanderbilt used portions of it for the famous Vanderbilt Cup Races in 1908-10.

The Garden City segment lies between Clinton Road and Raymond Court. The main office for the motor parkway still exists and is located off Clinton Road on Vanderbilt Court and is now a private residence located just north of Stewart School. Visible from Clinton Road, just north of Vanderbilt Court, there is a berm now tree covered. It was manmade as the approach grade for the Clinton Road Bridge, which carried the Parkway over Clinton Road.

“We would like to install a double gate entry onto Stewart Field and install markers and other visual materials to highlight the historic elements of the Long Island Motor Parkway in some manner that will bring another historic feature to the Village while also helping to serve a practical application for overflow parking on weekends,” Public Works Superintendent Joseph DiFrancisco said.