Department of Parks & Recreation

The Grand Army Plaza Coalition (GAPCo) and The Design Trust for Public Space have launched a website for their "Ideas Competition" called Reinventing Grand Army Plaza, which is intended to generate new visions for the plaza's design. The jury will award three cash prizes to the winners, and along with other top entries will be exhibited in an outdoor exhibition at Grand Army Plaza later this year.

The New York Times reports that the comptroller's office is concerned about possible fraud at the Parks Department's 79th Street Boat Basin. Buried in the piece is the small revelation that the Parks Department offers off-street car parking at far below market rates to boaters moored there.

Yesterday we wondered if the city might be convinced to reconcile its vision of a sustainable city with its anti-urban parking policies. We'll mark this one in the "no" column.

Blinding headlights make cycling difficult on a mile-long uptown stretch of the Hudson River Greenway.

While the NYPD, Parks Department, MTA, unnamed authorities and, of course, bike thieves, busily clip locks and cart off New Yorkers' bicycles in great number, the Department of Transportation is making sure that not only do bike commuters have a classy spot to park outdoors, but their tushies won't get wet when it rains. Next month, cyclists will be happy to see the first of many new public bike-parking shelters popping up near transit hubs throughout the city. Word has it there was a bit of flexibility built in to the Cemusa bus shelter contract and DOT decided to get a bit creative and try this out. New York Magazine reports:

In other parks news, as reported on Streetsblog in June, the car-free High Bridge is poised to undergo a long-awaited restoration. Built as part of the Croton Aqueduct, the bridge connects Washington Heights in Manhattan with the Bronx neighborhood of High Bridge, near Yankee Stadium. In April, during his PlaNYC unveiling, Mayor Bloomberg announced that the city would be allocating $60 million to restore and reopen the High Bridge, which has been closed to the public since 1970; another $5 million will come from a Congressional earmark.

Thanks to Streetsblog tipsters who've written in about the evening rush closure of Prospect Park's East Drive. This sign went up Friday at the corner of Parkside and Ocean Avenues.

For better and worse, the Parks Dept. seems to be popping up quite a bit lately. In July, Parks was spotted clipping locks and seizing bicycles in Forest Hills, Queens. And last week the agency revoked employee parking permits for Central Park's East Drive. This week, a tipster sends along this Aug. 6 e-mail sent by Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe, pictured right, to Parks Dept. employees.