Roosevelt youth league coach wants Henry Street Park cleaned up

Timothy Pearsall remembers playing football at Henry Street Park in Roosevelt many years back, even though the field wasn't in the greatest shape.

More than 30 years later, Pearsall, now coach of the Roosevelt Rough Riders Youth Football & Cheer Program, said the field still is not ideal. The team practices on it, but he wants a better playing environment for the community’s youth.

Pearsall, 42, noted that surrounding communities, including Hempstead, have upgraded fields.

"When you leave your town, you’re being treated better than when you’re in your town," Pearsall said. "It’s a bad message for the kids, and it’s unacceptable."

The park’s field is covered in dirt patches and has some trash along the fence, separating it from nearby houses and a New York American Water pumping station. Two rusty baseball/softball cages are at opposite ends of the park. An old broken water fountain sits behind one of those cages and a few feet from broken wooden benches.

Roosevelt Rising Stars, a nonprofit aiming to educate the youth in Roosevelt, sponsors the Rough Riders program. Todd Parrish, executive director of Roosevelt Rising Stars, said the field conditions also have contributed to lower enrollment rates. There are 50 children registered for the fall league, but Parrish said they usually have 75 to 100 participants. The programs are open to children aged 5-12.

Registration for the season closes at the end of August, but the team starts practicing in two weeks. Their season begins in September.

"The parents that can pay more go to other places," Parrish said. "We feel that we need to improve the safety and the look of our resources."

The COVID-19 pandemic created a greater sense of urgency, Parrish added. Strict coronavirus restrictions kept the youth teams off the Roosevelt High School field, where all home games were played. Henry Street Park is only used for practices because the field conditions are not acceptable for play to the Nassau Suffolk Youth Football League.

The last game played at the high school was in November 2019, Parrish said. The team was granted a spring season this year, instead of its regular fall season for 2020, but all of the games were played at the opponents’ fields.

For years, Pearsall and Parrish said they have contacted local officials about upgrading the park. It’s unclear whether Hempstead Town or New York American Water is responsible for the upgrades.

Merrick-based New York American Water owns the land but said it leases it to the town. Lee Mueller, external affairs manager for the water company, said it is open to having conversations with town officials regarding the park.

"We understand that there’s interest in the community to look at ways to improve the area, and we’re definitely willing to have those conversations," Mueller said. "We’re really at the onset of that."

Hempstead Councilwoman Dorothy Goosby, a Democrat whose district includes Roosevelt, said she was unaware of any lease agreement between the town and New York American Water.

In a memo provided by the Town of Hempstead, dated Jan. 3, 2005, former Parks Commissioner Nicholas C. Famiglietti said the town formerly leased the property from Long Island Water Co., but could not reach another agreement.

"Efforts to renew the lease and or purchase this property have not been successful," the memo states. "We will clean and maintain the fields as best as possible, but no major expenditure of monies can be utilized at this location as we do not have any legal title to the land."

Goosby said the town added benches and portable bathrooms, but couldn’t do major upgrades to the park because there is no lease.

"If the owners [New York American Water] give us permission and put it in writing, I’m sure we wouldn’t have a problem," Goosby said. "I’d like for the kids to have it."

Nassau Legis. Kevan Abrahams (D-Freeport) said he could provide a solution if funding is the problem. Through the county-sponsored Community Revitalization Program, he said he can secure a grant between $100,000 and $250,000 for upgrades. However, a stipulation of the program would make the park accessible to the whole county, not just Town of Hempstead residents, Abrahams said.