12 OctOber 3 - 9, 2024 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents the war’s trickle-down tensions. Two weeks ago, the board discussed a growing dispute in North Dallas: For months, pro-Palestinian protesters have uti- lized the recently opened Northaven Trail Bridge over U.S. Highway 75 for “banner drop” protests, where organizations hang banners, flags and signs from the bridge so they can be seen from the highway. Multiple pro-Palestine groups utilize the bridge for protests, where common refrains like “from the river to the sea,” and “intifada” are chanted and chalked along the bridge’s walkways. (Both phrases are heavily disputed be- tween the Palestinian and Jewish communi- ties as to whether or not their meanings are antisemitic. The Anti-Defamation League defines both phrases as such, but the Foun- dation for Individual Rights and Expression has stated that the phrase “from the river to the sea” should be classified as protected free speech.) While the board voiced the desire to re- spect the protester’s First Amendment rights, they also are considering that only a mile from the bridge is the Aaron Family Jewish Community Center of Dallas. The surround- ing neighborhoods are home to a significant portion of the city’s Jewish population, some of which have told the Parks board that the protests have become “terrifying.” “I see [the protests] as a direct attack on our citizens, and a violation of our American rights. I also see law and order being disre- garded,” resident Sury Sacher told the board during the meeting’s public comment pe- riod. Sacher described recently encounter- ing the protesters while on a bike ride with her child. “As we approached the bridge, there were masses of people screaming death chants and genocidal chants, and blocking us from passing.” She added that the protests have left van- dalism in their wake that she later returned to clean herself. Photos of the bridge ob- tained by the Observer show chalk mark- ings, stickers and “Free Palestine” written on the bridge in sharpie. Sacher declined to speak with the Observer about the protests, citing concerns for her family’s safety. “Once they get done protesting we walk the bridge to make sure no damage was done, so we haven’t seen anything like [graf- fiti and permanent vandalism],” a Dallas Po- lice official told the board. Other speakers, along with Parks board member Fonya Mondell, described protest- ers hurling rocks and other projectiles into U.S. 75. Mondell, who declined the Observ- er’s request for an interview, told the board her car had been struck by a rock while driv- ing under the bridge during a protest. A Dallas Police official told the board that each protest is manned with uniformed and undercover officers, none of whom have wit- nessed protesters throwing projectiles. A Dal- las Police spokesperson told the Observer that he was not aware of any legitimate instances of projectiles being thrown off the bridge. The officer added that the protesters of- ten stand in a horizontal line along the trail’s route, so as to not block trail runners or bik- ers. Blocking the trail would be an enforce- able infraction, the official stated, but standing along its path is not a violation of any city ordinance. The board urged the Dallas Police De- partment to take stricter enforcement of or- dinances that outlaw the hanging banners and signs from bridges. Two protest leaders declined the Observer’s request for comment, stating that they, like Sa- cher, were concerned about their safety. City Councilperson Cara Mendelsohn, whose district sits North of the bridge and who is Jewish herself, has urged the Park board to “consider permanent design changes” to the bridge that she believes would “reduce the desire” of groups to convene there, reduce the need for law enforcement on the bridge, improve highway safety and end “the terrorization of the community.” “As you deliberate on this frequent pro- tester and safety situation on bridges, and possible solutions, I encourage you to seek funding from the City Council to modify the Northaven bridge as soon as possible,” Men- delsohn, who chairs the Public Safety Com- mittee, wrote in her charge to the board. “The level of antisemitism felt by Dallas Jews has grown significantly, and you can be part of eliminating one source of fear and concern for the Dallas Jewish community.” The board discussed retrofitting the bridge with opaque plexiglass, which would keep protesters out of the highway’s view and pre- vent banner drops or signs being hung from the bridge. Mendelsohn told the Observer that she has received reports of items being thrown from the bridge during protests, something she doesn’t believe happens regularly but could be remedied by installing the panels. Mendelsohn also voiced concerns that the pedestrian bridges over Hillcrest and DNT will “allow for similar banner drops” once opened. She asked the board to con- sider preemptively modifying each bridges’ design, a suggestion that was met with vary- ing levels of interest. “There’s no way for us to feasibly put plexiglass up on every bridge this could oc- cur on,” Daniel Wood, Parks board member for District 7, said during the meeting. “I think that it would be unsightly. We did these bridges for aesthetics and I think that it’s an impossible thing, in my opinion, to try to retrofit something.” At the conclusion of the board’s first, but perhaps not last, discussion on the matter, the body instructed city staff to move forward with looking into a process that would require a city-issued permit for trail-based activities. ▼ PARKS HIGHEST BIDDER AFTER $23 MILLION DONATION, SOUTHERN GATEWAY DECK PARK TO BE NAMED AFTER HERITAGE AUCTIONS CO-FOUNDER. BY EMMA RUBY T he I-35 Southern Gateway Deck Park is celebrating what Park and Recre- ation officials describe as “one of the largest gifts” ever given to the city’s parks, thanks to Jim Halperin, co-founder of Heri- tage Auctions. The $23 million donation was an- nounced during Thursday’s parks meeting by April Allen, president and COO of the Southern Gateway Public Green Founda- tion, who described receiving the funds as a “moment she has prayed for.” The deal be- tween Allen’s foundation and the James and Gayle Halperin Foundation was configured over the last year, resulting in the naming of the deck park after the Halperins. “Over the past year, we’ve gotten to know [Jim and Gayle Halperin], they’ve gotten to know us and know more about the work that we’re doing. And I love that they have this kind of entrepreneurial success story which tells the story of what’s possible in Texas and in Dallas,” Allen told the Ob- server. “I think that Oak Cliff has such a can- do, will-do spirit. I feel like the ethos of all of that meshes really well.” It appears inflation’s latest victim is the price tag on deck park naming rights. When Kelcy Warren purchased the naming rights of the now-beloved Klyde Warren Park in 2012, he paid $10 million. Like Klyde Warren Park, the now-named Halperin Park will clock in at five and a half acres above Interstate 35 between Ewing and Marsalis avenues, next to the Dallas Zoo. The deck park is being built in two phases, and Al- len said the Halperin’s donation will complete funding for the park’s first, $100 million phase, while ensuring construction is able to stay on track for an early 2026 opening. Halperin Park has been touted as an opportunity to heal a neighborhood divide in southern Dallas that was cleaved by the building of I-35 in the early ‘60s, splitting Oak Cliff. A statement from the Halperin Foundation said the donation to the park was “by far” the largest in the founda- tion’s history. “[This donation] is pro- foundly meaningful to our family — and, more importantly, to a part of Dallas that has been overlooked and under-resourced for far too long,” the statement says. “This donation will serve many purposes: It will use green space to reconnect communities long ago separated by a highway. It will help create a destination park for all of Dallas. And, I hope, it will in- spire future generations of Halperins to give back to the city that has given them so much.” Although Halperin Park has been widely celebrated by city officials, some nearby neighborhoods — like the adjacent 10th Street Historic District, one of the country’s last remaining freedman’s towns — have ex- pressed worries that the deck park bringing overdevelopment and gentrification. With the announcement of a new milestone for the park, Allen seemed to anticipate some neigh- borhood pushback, telling the park depart- ment that she “would not be asking for the name Halperin Park if she did not believe it.” Allen added that other design elements of the park, such as a “walk of fame” honoring significant Oak Cliff residents throughout history, will be built to ensure the park re- flects the neighborhood it claims to bridge. The naming was met with some opposi- tion, chiefly led by Park Board member Harri- son Blair, whose district spans the eastern side of the park, including 10th Street. Motioning to delay the naming vote by a week, Blair was frustrated by the idea that anyone could “put their name on the park and erase our identity.” He added that with final terms of the deal between foundations being made only last week, the board had not had time to re- view the contract being offered to the Hal- perins and had not had time to review the suggested park name with constituents. “If naming rights don’t matter, why did we take the statue out of Lee Park and re- name it?” Blair asked the board. “I can’t vote on something that I can’t stand 10 toes down on. … There is something in that deal that is not good.” Blair’s motion to delay the vote ulti- mately failed, with other parks officials ex- pressing concern over “micromanaging a foundation.” Allen added that the name “Southern Gateway” was always intended to be a placeholder name for the park. They were always just waiting for the right name to come along. “The park isn’t just about bricks and mortar and playgrounds and the pavilion,” Allen said. “It’s about restoring our commu- nity that was divided when the freeway was built, and I know that that really spoke to [the Halperins].” Emma Ruby Protesters over Central Expressway. Unfair Park from p10 dallascityhall.com The rendering for the Halperin-funded I-35 deck park.
