##VIDEO ID:9x7KobHwy3M## good morning Patterson morning so the sun is shining on our city today in fact it's because we get to celebrate our senior citizens yes come on but we also get to celebrate our children amen and this has been a long time coming if anyone can recall the playground here at Pennington Park was unsafe and unsuitable for our youth but today we're declaring Victory we're declaring victory for our children who deserve better as a matter of fact we've made many upgrades to Pennington Park one of our Flagship Parks first we started with the baseball field we renovated that then the soccer field and we have the Kennedy soccer team the championship Kennedy soccer team here today we renovated that as well and then to my left is a brand new Fitness Zone for our adults we built that in partnership with St Joseph's hospital so that people can focus on their health and well-being and behind me is the final piece of the upgrades that occurred here at Pennington Park this new and improved playground a playground that will accommodate children with special needs B the first playground that we built to accommodate children with special needs because prior to me becoming mayor we did not have a playground that was inclusive and accommodated children on the Spectrum was at Roberto Clemente Park and then the second playground was at L Costello Park the third is at Garrett Mountain the fourth is at Buckley on Chamberlain and Redwood and today the fifth is here at Pennington Park yes so I want to and there's more to come that is correct the next I'm sorry he spoiled he ruined he he stole my thunder the next inclusive playground in the city of Patterson is about a month away right Jim and Dylan it will be at Eastside Park that area is going to get a new playground and director Rodriguez whom you will hear from later is going to be ordering equipment for 21st Avenue park by the Boys and Girls Club in total my Administration has invested $100 million in improving our Parks playgrounds and pools and we're going to keep going yes so ladies and gentlemen I want to hear from a young man who served as a steward as far as our vision for improving our parks and playgrounds and play spaces for our youth our director of the Department of Public Works who also happens to be a Brian dable Giants head football coach impersonator Billy Rodriguez thank you mayor I know I'm sorry mayor thank you for continuing to allowing uh me to to have part in uh renovating these parks um Recreation is a big part of why I took the job in uh public works and you can see we let our work speaks for oursel we got the K children back here playing in the park already um I want to give kudos to uh Dau you'll hear from her in in a minute she designed this park I gave her all controls over this park and it came out awesome thank you thank you director that was very kind now you mentioned dael design the park this is one of the parks that she did design her playgrounds the others if you'll notice there's a certain color scheme I choose orange and blue for almost everything I do in the city of Patterson does anybody know why we choose that color coordination that color scheme how many went to East Side High School well I certainly would not want to leave out Kennedy High School but the real reason why we selected orange and blue is for the best baseball team that's ever taken a field the New York Mets what do you think oh my God crickets there I want to hear from a young lady she's an advocate for children with autism in fact she is one of the parents that approached me and said we have to do more for our youth who are on the Spectrum ladies and Gentlemen let's put our hands together for Gina Del hos sorry good morning good morning Patterson thank you so much for inviting me to this great event I'm so happy to see that this is our fifth Park we have been advocating uh for autism and Dev velopmental disabilities in the city of Pon and P County for the past 12 years uh with our organization Jo SOI and actually we are so happy to see that our authorities our mayor our council members they are taking care of our families as well as other families nowadays I don't have to tell our people our family local families to go around to go out of partisan to have fun to enjoy a good time to socialize and to help kids to develop their skills many skills we know that playgrounds for all children are very beneficial we know that we come and bring them to the park they are not only going to play and enjoy to be around other people but also they're going to develop their physical skills moral skills emotional skills mental health skills cognitive skills so it's imperative that we keep talking about um bringing more places like these in town like inclusive playgrounds and I'm very happy very honored very grateful that nowadays everything is changing for patteron so thank you so much I just hope that we as a community can keep continue um saving uh these places cleaning these places keep them keep them looking good um so we we can enjoy them for a very long time right are you agree with me yeah we do right thank you thank you so much for your support thank you mayor K patteron yes K I like that Gina Perez so at this time we want to hear from the aforementioned director of communications who's also on the friends of Patterson parks and I want her to be joined by the president of the friends of Patterson Parks Fred artist put your hands together for dael [Applause] tilos thank you mayor um it was about a couple years ago when the community and the friends of Patterson Parks reached out to our office and share their concerns about this play Space uh the ground was not safe there was holes underneath the swings and they really wanted somewhere where the community can come together and play and be in a safe area and also be inclus uh be an inclusive play Space um so when we were designing this we thought about the surfacing so that everybody can play we thought about the shade so that way if the kids are up in the playground area they'd be protected from the Sun and then I know director uh Rodriguez is also considering benches around the area so that the parents can sit and watch the kids play along with the fitness zoning that's in the area so thank you mayor for allowing us for this opportunity um helping us to create this play space and continuing your work in the recreation for Patterson thank you thank you director I'm going to bring on our council president in a moment but I do also want to acknowledge the fact that in addition to improving our Parks we also want to improve our infrastructure relative to to resurfacing our roads we've ordered the signs and the signs are going to go up on River Street all the final approvals are in motion actually it's over all that's left is to repair the sewer and then start res surfing the street yes Lord and there have been so many challenges whether bureaucratic or legal but we're going to move forward we resurfacing River Street and on top of that another 25 streets this year and then next spring another 10 so maybe in total 40 streets resurfaced in the city of Patterson so at this time the gentleman who is driving who's advancing the agenda on the legislative side our council president Alex Mendes thank you thank you may thank you good morning morning what an amazing morning today this is the best way to bring a city back to bring a community back and yes I know about obstacle when it comes to River Street Mayor it's been at the last meeting we finish around 13 but yes everything everything is done everything has been approved at the city council for River Street to start a construction on River Street but I'm very excited to see this beautiful project because uh this the city council is sharing the vision with Administration to get the job done to bring park state-ofthe-art playground park like this to accommodate children with a special need now the fitness center it's my it's my favorite to our senior I have free training for an hour if you you know if you're ready but this is beautiful this is beautiful let's continue working together to move the city on the right direction on the right track our children they are the future we got to make sure that every decision that we make impact our children at a positive way and that's what we're doing with this I'm excited also to see my playground at East Side park getting ready very soon so let's continue moving the city of pis on the right direction thank you so very much may very good very good by the way a couple programming notes next Tuesday September 3rd at 11:00 a.m. we'll be joined by G Greer and Patterson cares to cut the ribbon on the new and improved Barber Park also this weekend starting on Saturday we be we'll be celebrating the city at the Great Falls for our annual Great Falls festival join us for a three-day celebration of the city of Patterson also we were expecting a old school hip-hop concert at hinchliff Stadium no but due to the inclement weather we're expecting on Saturday that has been postponed to October 12th but I've been in you said it's not going to rain what do you know okay you going to do a rain dance or unra dance yeah I make it happen so stay tuned for that programing not I also want to acknowledge from World construction Jim Davis thank you for joining us for the installation we also have Dylan picker from Ben schaer at this time I want to hear from a resident who said she grew up not too far from here and played here at this park let's give it up for a fellow senior citizen Annette Jackson spokesperson good morning I just mentioned to the mayor that I grew up in Grand Street projects and we played here at Pennington Park I was around when they built L Costello and I know this part perfectly and it's beautiful now and I thank you for all your efforts thank you thank you beautiful you know I wish City Council Members would take her lead and speak as long as she did that's very very impressive we got a special treat today we've been joined by my better half and my first lady is very passionate about parks and very passionate about providing positive outlet outlets for our youth whether it's through Reading with literacy or through safe places to play so ladies and gentlemen the first lady my beautiful wife my bride by my side my better half for hanaa we got a fan club I love you ladies that this is great and I love this park as a mom of three young children I know how important parks are and I know how important it is for their classmates their peers one thing I've noticed especially after covid is that Urban children are on their screens a whole lot more than their wealthier counterparts and while we had this issue in the past where we didn't have enough technology now they have too much technology and so these parks are essential in wealthier communities you have these beautiful parks that kids are willing to put down those screens hold on one second honey kids are willing to put down those screens and run to the park well we needed that here too and slowly one by one these parks are getting renovated and our children are doing what they need to do play why is play important why is it important to put down that screen it's important because it helps with their cognitive development their physical development it gets them healthier we know our children need to move around they need to socialize with other children outside of the screens they need to be able to uh uh uh practice you know running up and down uh there's there's so much that you learn through play play matters play matters when you're adult play matters when you're a child and so giving them these spaces these beautiful Parks is another way for us to ensure that they are growing into well-rounded individuals so I'm excited about this park and many others and we can't wait to uh pull our friends away from their screens and get them here so thank you you see that my wife does everything better than I do except I did one thing better than she did I married better than she did yes all right enough of the speeches last but not certainly not least we've been graced by the presence of a champion a Super Bowl champion a two-time Super Bowl champion so all the Dallas Cowboy fans and Philadelphia Eagle fans find the exit cuz ladies and gentlemen we've been joined by a giant a giant amongst men who is a fierce advocate for safe places to play for our youth ladies and gentlemen put your hands together for a Super Bowl MVP Otis OJ Anderson I tell you what if I get the candle higher I think I know who's going to introduce me yes yes no doubt about it um you know like the mayor said just having a vision just believing that you can make a difference and then going out and doing that making a difference that's why I support him that's why I believe in him and what he's doing for the city of Pon this man here is is by far uh a Believer a believer in senior citizen a believer's kids and again he's making a difference he's not just talking about it he's doing something about it and that's why you like to support him so thank you for coming out it's it's your day for the senior citizens it's your day and it's kids day to day to get out here and have fun of this Park thank you for having me here thank you come on we can do better than that rousing and robust Round of Applause for Otis Anderson Deputy mayoras thank you for joining us we've also just been joined I want to acknowledge yesterday we cut the ribbon on a new Early Childhood Center for Children from 3 months to 13 years old and it is at hitchlift stadium and it is known as kids at play so Christian and your team thank you for joining us so enough with the pping circumstance let's get this uh Mr Pat please let's move this Podium and let's cut the ribbon on the new and improved playground at Pennington Park new [Applause] playr now we get the kids to play let's do it I love you play I never seen [Music] [Music] why do you like this playground this playground is a great playground and it's building a better future for kids um and what do you like about it specifically anything cuz cuz of the instruments the slides everything about it you like the Acoustics yes that's amazing like the New York Mets although they blew a game last night yeah I don't know if they're amazing anymore they were amazing against the Yankees feels so great fall yeah it feels very very fulfilling like yes this is a place to play I can sit it's clean it's comfortable it's relaxing I don't need a chair just get on there roll you you can roll around yeah do a pushup you know exercise oh Mama Mia [Music]