Site of Drowning Popular Sledding Destination for Decades

By JORDAN MOSS

When Luis Concepcion and pal William Pulgarin clomped their way through the snowy paths of Van Cortlandt Park to sled on a popular hill, they were following in the well-tread boot steps of neighborhood tradition. 

Concepcion, a 13-year-old PS 95 student, tragically drowned on Feb. 15 when he walked out onto the ice of a pond built just a couple of years ago as a water hazard by American Golf, a private concessionaire, on the 15th hole. Local kids, particularly those from the Knox-Gates section of Norwood and the Amalgamated Houses, have long entered the Van Cortlandt Golf Course, (not to be confused with the Mosholu Golf Course which borders Jerome Avenue) through holes in the fence in and around Classic Playground on Van Cortlandt Park South. Their destination is a wide slope 100 yards or so beyond the fence.

"We've been sledding at that golf course since I've been alive," said Ed Yaker, president of Amalgamated Houses, who is 58 and grew up in the area. "There's always been a fence. There's always been a hole in the fence. Kids have always managed [to get through].

"Likewise, Blake Quiros, 17, who knew Luis from Gates Place where they both lived, said the hill on the 15th hole is a "very popular place to go sledding." 

Virtually all of the holes were patched up by Friday when the Norwood News visited. But attempt at a repair still left a hole large enough for a reporter to get through, perhaps testimony to the difficult task ahead of keeping neighborhood children and families from doing what they have done for decades - sneak through a fence in their backyard public park for some sledding fun. 

But instead of banning what has been a decades-old community tradition, some park advocates believe the Parks Department should come up with a way to supervise sledding activity there. 

"It should be monitored. . . [They] should make it so it's not something where it's 
trespassing. [People] should have access to the golf course for doing winter sports," said Paul Sawyer, executive director of the Friends of Van Cortlandt Park, an advocacy group. He added that people continue to snowshoe and cross country ski on the golf course by entering near the first hole. 

Megan Sheekey, a Parks Department spokeswoman, said there are supervised winter programs for children at other Bronx parks, and there are no plans to open the golf course for similar activities.

Sawyer also suggested the Parks Department implement an emergency plan for the park, including the installation of emergency phones and establishing a grid whereby park users can easily identify their location to rescuers. William had to run all the way back up the hill through the fence and find someone with a cell phone in an attempt to save his friend.

Meanwhile, neighbors and friends are mourning and remembering a happy child everyone seemed to like. Some family members and friends blame the Parks Department for failing to erect warning signs at the pond. (There are now signs around the pond along with orange plastic protective fencing.)

Sheekey said that American Golf is responsible for maintaining the fencing and erecting signage. The Norwood News was not able to reach the company by press time.

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