Written by Carol P. Bartold

Nov. 19, 2014: A proposal under discussion by the Bronxville Board of Education to reconfigure Hayes Field, currently a natural grass field, as an artificial turf field upon completion of the joint village-school district flood mitigation project has given rise not only to a debate, but also to organized opposition.

Opponents of the plan have scheduled a public presentation for Monday, November 24, at 7:30 pm in the Bronxville Public Library's Yeager Room. Dr. Joel Forman, associate professor of pediatrics and community and preventive medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, and Patti Wood, executive director and founder of Grassroots Environmental Education, will speak about possible health risks associated with synthetic turf.

Village resident Gretchen Pingel, parent of Bronxville School students, expressed concerns to the board of education in October about the potential for artificial turf materials to cause cancer after long-term exposure. Although no current scientific research links artificial turf with cancer, the crumb rubber, which functions as synthetic "dirt" between the blades of turf grass, is made from shredded car and truck tires. Benzene, carbon black, and lead are among the substances used in tire manufacture.

"I understand the frustration of the athletic department when the field gets muddy and can't be used after it rains," said Pingel. "I understand the board of education is trying to satisfy the school community, but people don't want their small children playing on synthetic turf. The parents would rather preserve this natural green space."

Pingel also indicated that, with the district's proposal to increase the size of Hayes Field to accommodate regulation lacrosse, field hockey, and football, elementary school parents feel the school would sacrifice their children's free play area.

Beyond the possible loss of a grass field, opponents of the artificial turf field have called attention to the district's plan to remove mature trees along Midland Avenue in order to gain the eight feet needed to accommodate regulation fields for lacrosse, field hockey, and football.

Landscape designer Maureen Hackett noted that one oak tree, two Norway spruces, and one white pine tree, all 70-foot trees, along with one 50-foot maple and two 25-foot dogwood trees, are slated for removal.

Hackett also asked the board of education at its October meeting to consider whether an artificial turf field would affect the hydraulics of the flood mitigation plan so that the water captured in the underground system and released into the Bronx River would ultimately come back to flood the village. "In other words," Hackett posed, "the whole thing delays flooding but not for long."

A flyer distributed by opponents of the field called for community members to send letters of concern about the Hayes Field proposal to Dr. David Quattrone, superintendent of the Bronxville schools, by November 17, the end of the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act comment period.

The board of education will discuss the Hayes Field reconfiguration project at its November 20 meeting at 7:30 pm in the school's multipurpose room.

Pictured here: Practice field adjacent to Bronxville football field. 

Photo by N. Bower