Barry Zaid: What we want and need and support is more breathing space, space to walk, to socialize, to relax, to see the sky, to recreate.

We, the residents of the Flamingo Park neighborhood, have long fought to get the intrusions of the Property management department and the condemned Abel Holtz stadium out of the Flamingo Park.  Now that we have achieved these goals and we have opened up some green space, we hear there is a movement to expand the tennis facilities and take over the newly created "Great Lawn".

This is unacceptable.

The park as it is is filled with space dedicated to all sorts of specialized athletic pursuits. The tennis courts take up a large area of the park as it is. What we want and need and support is more breathing space, space to walk, to socialize, to relax, to see the sky, to recreate.

What Flamingo Park stopped being stopped being, over the years, is a PARK.

Let the tennis players decide among themselves what kind of courts they want. Let them do anything they want within the space they already occupy, and if they feel they must have more space, let them find it in other less utilized parks or other parts of the city, or even in the City of Miami.

We residents have worked hard to achieve more green space. We want a PARK, not more pavement.

Respectfully,   Barry Zaid