New Park

You could not ask for a better day to open a new park. The sun is shining and the temperatures are true to the season. Although it only opened at 2 p.m., the new Race Street Pier in the shadow of the Ben Franklin Bridge is drawing raves. "The fact that it's free is really important and so is the access to the street," said Joni Berry, a resident of nearby Pier 5 who was walking her dog Dolly. "The river is great and the water is so peaceful," she said. Charles Martin, a security guard from North Philadelphia, said, "It's a place to think and relax, and you can't do that in the city.

THE DEBATE over keeping the Fairmount Park system intact versus merging parks with the Recreation Department was often bitter and contentious. Those wanting to keep the outmoded structure of governance - a park commission that was disconnected and accountable to no one but its members - argued that if the city took over, it would start selling off parkland to the highest bidder. Those pushing for change - and that included this page - argued that decades of neglect and funding shortfalls were directly tied to lack of leadership, and that parks were suffering as a result.

Travelers who park in the seven garages at Philadelphia International Airport are coping with new technology designed to help them locate available parking spots, thus reducing the time it takes to hunt. Coping because, many frequent fliers say, the reality is that the system does not work for them. Automated directional signs, intended to guide drivers to open spaces, seem inaccurate, indicating there are a certain number of spots in a row when there are not. The Philadelphia Parking Authority, which manages all airport parking, acknowledges there can be confusion, especially as drivers enter each garage level.

The Union's first Major League Soccer game at PPL Park in Chester is sold out. Single-game tickets for the June 27 game against Seattle Sounders FC were sold in five hours Monday. The new stadium will seat 18,500. The Union cut off season-ticket sales at 12,000. The Union (2-6-1) will play at Kansas City on Thursday, then will take a break during the World Cup before resuming action on June 27. They played two home games at Lincoln Financial Field while awaiting the stadium's completion.

All things considered, Chan Ho Park would rather be in Clearwater. That was the obvious sentiment former Phillies reliever Chan Ho Park expressed yesterday in nearby Tampa, where he took part in his first workout with the New York Yankees. Park, 36, was said to be seeking a raise from the $2.5 million he earned when he went 3-3 with a 4.43 ERA in 45 games with the Phillies last season. He worked 3 1/3 scoreless innings against the Yankees in the World Series. The Phillies decided to add Danys Baez and Jose Contreras to the bullpen instead.

The legislation was supposed to resolve a long-standing problem: the absence of an off-road recreation park for hundreds of thousands of all-terrain vehicle riders across New Jersey. Lawmakers and conservationists hoped the measure - signed last month by then-Gov. Jon S. Corzine - would discourage the prohibited use of private land and protected areas such as the Pinelands. It requires operators to obtain licenses and register their vehicles, and pay for registration fees, insurance, and penalties for illegal riding on ATVs, dirt bikes, and snowmobiles.

The first thing Shane Victorino did when the Phillies walked into the New York Mets' new $900 million digs for the first time yesterday was take a peek at the outfield. If he cared to, he could have easily envisioned himself running a long, long way, either chasing down fly balls in the deep power alleys, or circling the bases after one of his hits took a crazy carom off the sharply angled right-field fence. "This park definitely has a lot of different angles out there," Victorino said before the game.

Derek Jeter stepped to the plate with the score tied in the eighth inning, turned on a fastball and sent it into the rightfield seats. Mariano Rivera then finished off a New York Yankees win. Some things didn't change with the move across 161st Street. New York had five homers in a game for the first time since 2007, winning for the first time at the new Yankee Stadium as Johnny Damon, Mark Teixeira, Melky Cabrera and Robinson Cano also hit solo home runs yesterday in a 6-5 victory over Cleveland.

APPLICANTS for the new park commission need to know the position has been stripped, by malice aforethought, of the independent governance structure and authority that the Park Commission has had for 142 years. The new commissioners are merely advisory and have no authority anymore. No one is obligated to pay any attention to them. They are only required to meet quarterly and may not even be impaneled by a next mayor. Instead of intelligently adding recreation commissioners to the beneficial structure and protective authority of the Fairmount Park Commission, the whole beautiful baby was tossed out with the bathwater, benefiting no one and endangering the park like nothing since the expressway was bulldozed through.

Burlington County's newest park will open Monday at 7 a.m. Located along the Rancocas Creek off Creek Road between McElwee and Cox roads, the 35-acre Boundary Creek Natural Resource Area in Moorestown will be open daily until dusk. "Boundary Creek offers a great opportunity for nature lovers and bird watchers. Over 50 species of birds, including ospreys, blue herons and egrets, and eight butterfly species have been observed here, as well as deer, beaver and fox," said Freeholder Bill Haines.