I have been out of HB now for 35 years. I have visited maybe twice since then. After 1972, I heard from my family and friends that many people from outside of Howard Beach were coming into Charles on weekends and making a real mess of it. After that, the park was re-done and it looked like a real "city" park. Later I was told that there were a lot of drugs in the park. That sounds terrible to me because of the way I remember Howard Beach. People made it what it is today. That's no one's fault but the people who frequent the place. Casino Park used to be nice when it was only Howard and Hamilton Beacher's using the park. Most of these outsiders take no pride in the area because it's not their neighborhood. How can a park be kept up when there are always people who don't care, coming in and destroying everything? I feel, why bother to keep rebuilding something that only turns into a dump again and again because people don't care? It's just throwing good money after bad.

Sounds like a lost cause.

I saw the park many years ago. I have pictures of my sister and I on the swings, 1949. It was great then! It was fine when it was all sand near the swings and the see-saws. It was fun and it was safe then. In the 60's I was able to walk alone at night, on my way home from a friend's house on 98th street all the way down 165th Ave., over the bridge near the Bay View Rest and then on across Crossbay Blvd, to the new side of HB, straight down 165th Ave. to the 80 streets with no problem. Could anyone do that today? I wouldn't think so.

It's still pretty safe to walk at night in H.B. Much safer here than in a lot of the rest of the city, and the rest of the city has gotten dramatically safer than it was in the 80's. A lot of neighborhood people use the park, but there are good amount who come from outside. I don't mind, as long as they leave the park tbe way they found it. I've walked the oval after dusk many times and never felt unsafe. There are the occasional youths drinking beer, smoking, and hanging out but kids have been doing that in the park for years. It would be nice, though, if the NPS would do a little more upkeep, like add more lights, fix the broken benches and water fountains. Then, again, it's people who've broken them in the first place.

I was in HB in the beginning of August. I made a point to go to Charles (Casino) Park. The Park itself is in decent shape. The playground, & surrounding area was kept up. The sprinkler was on for the kids to enjoy. The tennis court lighting was pointed off into the weeds facing the water. It seems someone should face them back in the correct direction. The baseball fields are in poor shape. It seemed no one has used them in a long time. There was trash by the waters edge. Overall, it would not take alot of money to fix whats wrong. The residence of HB should start a collection or get on your local politicians asses to address the problems. I see the homeowners of HB take great pride in their homes...why not their park???

Then the residence of HB should take the park back! If they organize certain times to walk & utilize the park, the scum who are ruining it would leave. Do this on a constant basis & they would not return to destroy the park.

Thanks, I know it would work. The scum only want to hang out with scum & not be noticed. Gather 15 + adults (& lots of kids, the younger the better)& show up everyday,rain, snow, blazing sun. The scum would be gone.