Timberline Park in Brentwood NY has been the site of free snow sledding to children young and old for many years. In 2009 Phil Nolan deemed the park be made into a "free mobile sledding park"(http://www.examiner.com/article/town-of-islip-establishes-free-mobile-sledding-park) to allow children and families a safe alternative to sledding at unsafe locations such as alongside the highway. The landscape of the park has changed very little, and in some areas there are large rocks, but this never prevented anyone from sledding safely at this park. To the best of my knowledge, the town officially using this location as a "sledding park" has come to an end, yet people continue to sled here each winter regardless.

For the past few years I've taken my son sledding every winter at Timberline Park in Brentwood, NY and this winter 2014 is the first time that I've been told police are now chasing kids and families away, locking the gates and banning sledding from the park altogether. The reason is somewhat unclear, however, I'm told it has to do with safety precautions and a large rock within the park. The rock was never an issue when the town made this a "free mobile sledding park" (http://www.examiner.com/article/town-of-islip-establishes-free-mobile-sledding-park)so I see no reason why the town would not allow children to sled there today as the landscape has not been changed. There are safe sledding areas within the park where there are no rocks at all. One rock should not be the deciding factor to close the whole park off from snow sledding.

We the people demand that the park be re-opened for recreational snow sledding activities (during snow accumulations), and that a caution tape be placed around the rock which seems to be what all the fuss is about. People that sled at the park understand that snow sledding is at their own risk and therefore should be allowed to use the park for winter related activities, just as they would for riding a bike or skateboarding. All physical activities have some inherent risk involved, however, this should not prevent children from playing outside and taking advantage of the activities that a local park has to offer.