Locals Less Than Pleased By Closing Down Of Damrosch Park For Fashion Week

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - It's that time of year again when park benches, trees and flowers are removed just north of Lincoln Center to make room for an exhibition space for Fashion Week.

The sound of children playing and Juilliard students making music has been replaced by the sound of construction in Damrosch Park, 1010 WINS' Gary Baumgarten reported.

Locals Less Than Pleased By Closing Down Of Damrosch Park For Fashion Week

The closing down and construction of the park has left Sidney Goldfischer less than pleased.

'All of a sudden you come down here and there are no benches,' he said, who frequents the park to read.

'They took down 57 trees,' one woman who lives in the area told 1010 WINS. 'They close it down to the public for 10 months a year and you cannot walk here without their threatening to call the police.'

As Baumgarten reported, there's a lawsuit challenging the use of the park for a private, money-making event.

'For up to 10 months a year, Lincoln Center is able to take over a public park starting in August and it goes all the way through the spring, which is outrageous,' NYC Parks advocate Geoffrey Croft said.

After Fashion Week, the space is then again transformed for the Big Apple Circus followed by other events.

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