The controversial Great GoogaMooga music festival left a horrible GoogaMark on Brooklyn’s backyard for the second year in a row, say Prospect Park watchdogs who claim that last weekend’s two-day party severely damaged the greenspace’s Nethermead .
The field is now home to muddied ruts, bare swatches of dirt, tire-track depressions brought in from tractor-trailers to load and unload equipment, and large, yellowed rectangular impressions on the grass caused by the heavy hardware that sat atop it for nearly two weeks during the time that the huge meadow was closed to the public.
“What I saw was old damage, new damage and an accumulation of both,” said Prospect-Lefferts Gardens resident Seth Kaplan, who had feared that the second coming of the music and foodie fest would leave the park in ruins. “I have lived next to the park for almost 15 years and this is the worst shape I have ever seen the Nethermead.”
The destruction came despite the fact that the “rain-or-shine” event was shortened by one day due to inclement weather, say activists who said just two days was enough to get the damage done.
“It’s only going to get worse because of the rain,” said Geoffrey Croft, president of the New York City Park Advocates, who claimed that the wreckage offsets the $75,000 rental fee that goes to the Prospect Park Alliance, which manages the park. “It’s just not worth it.”
Organizers recently finished packing up after the festival that boasted food stands from 85 New York restaurants and musical performances from an array of big-time bands even though, as of Thursday, some trucks were still left on the park’s drive.
The Alliance, which brought in GoogaMooga to generate funds for the park’s upkeep and programs, said that it is in the process of photographing and documenting the damages caused by the extravaganza, which was sponsored by the promoter Superfly Presents.
“Now that Superfly has almost completed their event load-out, we have begun our initial landscape assessment,” said a spokesman for the Alliance. “Working closely with Superfly over the next week, we will develop a plan to address the damage.”
Superfly organizers said that they will pay to fix whatever damage was done.
“It’s a top priority of Superfly’s to restore the park from any damage caused by the festival,” said a Superfly representative.
Reach reporter Natalie Musumeci at nmusumeci@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-4505. Follow her at twitter.com/souleddout.
