In a city park known for its million-dollar views, residents are taking matters into their own hands—literally. Locals have been audaciously removing plants and gravel from the neglected green space to spruce up their own yards.
The situation at Powell’s Cove Park in Queens has escalated, with homeowners even cutting down city trees to enhance their views, as previously reported by The Post. With the arrival of warmer weather, residents say the problem has only gotten worse.
One particularly bold theft involved an elderly woman who was caught “stealing the path” by removing gravel from the park in broad daylight. This happened right in front of a local environmental group whose volunteers had recently spent $13,000 in taxpayer money to refurbish the area.
“We were assessing the park for an upcoming cleanup when we heard a noise. Turning around, we saw someone scooping up the rocks and putting them into her shopping cart!” recounted Kathryn Cervino, president of the Coastal Preservation Network.
The woman had nearly filled a quarter of her 5-gallon bucket before the group intercepted her, Cervino noted.
Cervino confronted the woman, who feigned ignorance about the legality of her actions. Caught in the act, the woman returned the gravel she had taken before leaving the scene in a huff.
The piles of quarter-inch stone that the would-be thief tried to make off with had only lined the roughly mile-long walking path at the College Point park since last summer as part of a restoration project spearheaded by the CPN.
The group used $13,000 in taxpayer money from a Greener NYC grant allocated from City Councilmember Vickie Paladino’s office for the project — which marked the first time the path had been refreshed since Powell’s Cove Park was created two decades ago.
Sadly, the theft is not a standalone incident at the green space — where some locals are already notorious for chopping down dozens of city-owned trees to improve their million-dollar waterfront views.
“I’ve seen people throw nets over bushes and take all of the berries,” Cervino said. “I’ve seen people digging up plants, like literally going with one of those individual shopping carts and a trowel and bags to put the stolen plants in.
“I’ve seen a lot. Many people in town have seen a lot, too.”
Other neighbors of the park raised similar concerns on social media, with some claiming to have witnessed thieves hauling their plunder back to their homes.
The park is also a haven for vandals and litterers, with graffiti covering benches and decorative rocks that line the peaceful sliver of bay.
The secluded nature of the neighborhood and the park — which doesn’t see typical patrols by city Parks Department officers — provides the delinquents the perfect cover to continue their antics.
A Parks Department rep told The Post the agency has not received reports of such illicit activity.
“If New Yorkers witness any illegal activity in our parks, we ask them to please alert Parks Enforcement Patrol or the NYPD,” the representative said.
Cervino said the damage “leads some people to feel like they can take what they want or do what they want, because nobody’s looking.
“It’s really disappointing. We’re spending City Council funding that we get from our organization to make improvements like this, and then people are just doing what they please.”
