Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano joined Yonkers Parks, Recreation & Conservation Commissioner Steve Sansone, staff, residents, and community members on Monday, October 21 at 1 PM at the corner of Nepperhan Avenue and New Main Street to re-name Daylighting III park in honor of Hispanic influence across the City of Yonkers.
“More than 20 Latin American countries are represented in our great city of Yonkers, so this park formerly known as Daylighting III is now dedicated to all of you,” Mayor Spano said at the ceremony. “It is the first park dedicated to Hispanic Heritage and the first park with a bilingual sign. Culture Park represents the Hispanic influence here in Yonkers from business to art to music and more importantly to the beautiful culture. We already have three schools that are recognizing the influential Hispanics in our community and this park will be a daily reminder of the Latino migration to our wonderful city in collaboration with all of your communities.”
“I’m just excited, I really am happy that I live in a city that can celebrate everyone,” NYS Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousin shared. “I want to thank you Mayor [Spano], the city council, and everyone who had a role in this, because this doesn’t come together without comunidad, without the whole community, I am just pleased to join with my colleagues in the state legislature to help make good things like this happen for all of us because we all benefit when we understand each other better when we celebrate each other. When we recognize the historic roles that we’ve played and continue to teach our children and give them great beautiful spaces to learn.”
El Parque de la Cultura, translates to Culture Park, and will pay tribute to the more than 20 Latin American countries represented in Yonkers. It will be the first bilingual sign installed at Yonkers Parks.
“It is such a beautiful day, in celebration of a great event,” Yonkers City Council President Lakisha Collins-Bellamy shared. “It is such a beautiful day to be here and celebrate with you all. And I want to thank our mayor and the entire city council for having the foresight to celebrate diversity because Yonkers is a hugely diverse city and of course we celebrate many festivities here at the park and that’s why this is the perfect location. I want to thank the organization and the many individuals Ms. Lorraine Lopez who asked the mayor to put this together, so congratulations on your efforts.”
Mayor Spano came back to the mic to introduce Lorraine Lopez who he describes as someone who he “puts on a mission and she never disappoints.”
“Today I had the great honor of pulling the cloth off of the new naming of the park from Daylight Park to “El Parque De La Cultura.” Today I couldn’t have been more proud of the team I put together on behalf of Mayor Spano. Today I’m so proud to call Mike Spano my Mayor. Today I’m so grateful to have been born in this Great City of Yonkers. Today is the culmination of a promise to make this a city that is representative of the people who live in it,” Former Yonkers Councilwoman and People Before Politics Radio Co-Host Lorraine Lopez shared after the renaming. “For the first time since its founding in 1646, Yonkers now has a public park with an official name in the Spanish language. Known as “El Parque De La Cultura,” this newly designated city space will serve as a symbol of how our city has grown and expanded to be more inclusive of its diverse population. Thank you to Mayor Mike Spano, Commissioner Steve Sansone, and the Parks Board for your support. I would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the amazing people who comprised the committee and made this day possible: Carmen Goldberg, Millie Gutierrez, Gilberto Gutierrez, Armando Rivas, and Alberto Velasquez.”
“As a Latina woman and a Latina Councilwoman, it is a great day to celebrate the renaming of this park,” Councilwoman Corazon Pineda-Isaac (District 2) shared. “This park provides a space for all to celebrate their stories through art. music, dance, and community events. And the renaming of the Daylighting is also part of a larger vision to create sustainable spaces where nature and city life can co-exist. This park is a reminder of this possibility to care for the environment as we care for each other and will be a gathering place for families as it has always been but now with an added measure where it has a name that is bilingual in nature.:
Opened in 2018, Daylighting III is one of three Yonkers Parks designed to create open, green space for the City’s downtown while protecting the ecology of the Saw Mill River.
