So it began on July 8, 2008 that four teens named the Prospect Park Youth Advocates would begin a campaign for a car-free Prospect Park. Myself, along with three other teens, Michael Cheng, Kelena Mathews, and Farah Karimova, work for Transportation Alternatives, who with our help plan to have a car-free Prospect Park. I took part in orientation in Prospect Park, which lasted from July 8th to 12th. Guided by our mentor and boss Jessie Singer, Manager of the Youth Advocate Campaign, we discussed the events that would take place during the summer, such as presenting our campaign plan to the Transportation Alternative staff, collecting postcards with signatures to mail to Mayor Bloomberg, dressing up in costumes to promote the cause, and much more. Jessie even gave us the run down about Transportation Alternatives, the organization that started all this commotion. But before we could get out and battle cars, we first had to learn what it meant to be an Advocate. We began orientation with a brief introduction of ourselves, explaining what school we attend and our interest in the program.
Then, just when I thought I was finished with school, Jessie pulled out a quiz about us, the tactics of political campaigns, and Prospect Park. Although my score was not horrible, I did not win the prize, a Transportation Alternatives water bottle, which went to Kelena. Our first activity was to draw and label the park from memory. Although our memory map wasn't 100% accurate, we basically know our park and its surroundings. We then were joined by Lindsey Lusher, director of the NYC Streets Renaissance Campaign, who treated us with ices. We then went into Prospect Park and took pictures on an area located at the exit of the east Loop Drive.
On the second day of our orientation, July 9, 2008, we started the 14-page From Advocacy to Zero-Waste: An A to Z Guide to Political Campaigns and Urban Environmental Justice. With words like Advocacy and Frederick Law Olmstead, we battled our way through, defining every word only to end up on page 8. But we did a great deal of work, because for each word and definition, we came up with ideas for how to campaign for a car-free Prospect Park. With a great deal of work done, we ended the day with a little education on blogging.
On our third day, July 10, 2008, we had our meeting in the park, in the grass by the exit of the east Loop Drive. There we again attacked the Advocacy to Zero-Waste Guide and conquered it. I personally feel this is a great accomplishment and look forward to putting it on my resume. In completing this guide, we added a tremendous amount of campaign ideas to our list. We watched three Streetfilms about earlier campaigns for a car-free Prospect Park, to gain a bit of knowledge on the work we will be doing. The first one featured people dressed up as cars and protesters as they acted out cars being jerks and protesters trying to kick them out of the park. The second video showed just how long it took park officials to close the park car gates and how many cars entered after closing time (7:00pm). The last video showed the dangers to pedestrians and bikes on Grand Army Plaza Circle.
We were writing little summary bios of ourselves, so people reading our blog would know just some general information about us, when we witnessed a little boy and his ball. The boy was playing a game of catch with his father. The ball fell into the street of a car-filled Loop Drive and on first reaction the boy goes for the ball. If it hadn't been for the father yelling, that boy would have been hit. From then I knew it was time to get rid of the cars.
On July 12, 2008, we set up by the lake, not to far from the exit to the Loop Drive. Here we begun to narrow down the campaign ideas brainstorm list we made from the A to Z Guide. We went through the list to see what was doable and not. I guess a street sit-in was not a good choice and boycotting the park until the cars are gone was a bit radical. But we got it done and we were even able to put these events on calendars. Then we practiced for one of toughest part of the job, harassing the public. We played a role-playing game, where we drew from a hat the role of timekeeper/note taker, a person who was pro-cars in the park, a person who was against cars in the park, and of course a T.A. Youth Advocate. This game helped me learn how to deal with certain people and certain situations. You can't win everyone, and sometimes you have to say "Good day, and thank you for your time". It was fun and I can't wait to try these techniques in the field.
We then talked a little bit about our big day, presenting our campaign plan to the T.A. staff. One Tuesday, July 15, 2008 we will formulate the plan and have it ready for the big day on July 17, 2008. Overall, I like it so far. I mean, how often do you get to help Transportation Alternatives eliminate cars from Prospect Park? I am on the edge of my seat with excitement, waiting to get out in the field. So please be on the look out, or I'll look out for you. And come support Transportation Alternatives campaign for a car-free Prospect Park. Wish us luck!!!!
