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A day in the park

By Justin Rocket Silverman | amNewYork Staff Writer

August 11, 2006

It's a glorious summer Sunday in Brooklyn's Prospect Park --- the retreat-of-choice for countless people seeking a shady spot to read, a path to jog along or a field to run bases. From softball to Shakespeare and everything in between, the park offers a variety of diversions. Here's a sampling of a few from a day in the park with amNew York:

Players in the New England Shakespeare Festival are spending time scoping locations in and around the carousel and zoo for a production of Twelfth Night next summer. This company will use a "first folio technique" in which the scenes are unrehearsed, the lines are not memorized and the actors do not know what roles they will play until show time.

"We interact with the audience a lot more and the kids seem to love it. This is really a fun, fresh approach to Shakespeare," said actress Briel Sylvestre.

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At the zoo, California sea lions are surrounded by 75,000 gallons of water and enjoy regular feedings. These creatures tend to live about 10 years longer in captivity than they do in the wild, their trainers noted. This biggest danger to the animals is visitors tossing coins and trash -- which the sea lions have been known to eat, sometimes with fatal results into the tank.

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The seven ball fields in Long Meadow ringed by groves of trees that provide shade for spectators are among the most scenic in the city. Ian Zender, 28, has been using the fields and exploring the abandoned subway tunnels that run unseen under the park since he was a Little Leaguer growing up in Brooklyn.

"This is definitely the nicest place I've played in Brooklyn," Zender said. "Just look around you, it's a beautiful place for a ballpark."

For almost 100 years, the Kensington Stables have served as Prospect Park's equestrian home base. The 40 horses and ponies are available for trail rides and lessons. "When I came here from Austria the first time, I didn't believe it was possible to ride a horse in the city," says Madeleine Szente-Varga, a riding instructor at the stables, which are located outside the park's southwest entrance. "Prospect Park is a great location for taking walks, trots, or even a little cantering if you are good enough."

The trickiest part of riding a horse in Prospect Park? "Sometimes we have not so nice encounters with joggers and bike riders and dog walkers. The horses have the right of way, but most of the bridle path signs have disappeared."