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Maple Park/Air Horn Discussion…
The surface at Maple Park is NOT Astro-Turf, which has been linked to a number of safety issues. It is FieldTurf, which is a very different design. After extensive testing in NY & NJ, the FieldTurf design has been found to pose no meaningful safety risk to the environment or participants using the field. Although you may incorrectly think of Astro-Turf as a harmless generic term for “synthetic turf”, those who are knowledgeable about the facts in the debate over synthetic turf for the past decade, understand the important differences between the two. No doubt that is why the previous poster pointed out the distinction. The safety, drainage and maintenance BENEFITS, as well as improved appearance of the park, over the previous (largely dirt) surface infested with goose droppings, mosquitos, exposed sprinkler heads and unkept weeds around the field is considered by the majority of people, who use the park regularly, to be a tremendous improvement. It has also allowed the Village to limit use of grass fields after heavy rains, which has resulted in improved overall condition of our grass fields in the past 2 years.
As far at the air horns go, air horns and lights have been used at Vets, Citizens and Maple Park for more than 12 years. When, where or whether they are used did not change with the new surface at Maple several years ago. Although no lights are used, air horns have been used at RHS, Brookside, BF, Somerville and other fields for just as long. So, while you may not “live for the game”, you are a member of a larger community that, by law, must provide active recreational space for ALL residents, based on the Village population. The truth is that the overwhelming majority of the approximately 25,000 households in Ridgewood have, at some point, had at least one child participating in youth and/or RHS athletics. Sports involve rules, which means occasional whistles and horns. This is nothing new.
BTW, except on rare occasions, sports events are generally not scheduled on ANY Ridgewood fields on Sunday mornings. So, your claim of listening to air horns at 8AM on Sunday morning is untrue. The ONLY day of the week that sports events are regularly scheduled in the morning is Saturday.
