Tag Archives: Seward Park

News

Seward Park Stewards Call for Funding to Save Its Oldest Species

by Amanda Sorell

Seattle is known as the Emerald City, and Seward Park is one of its crown jewels. Living in this lush landscape, on a peninsula on the western edge of Lake Washington in South Seattle, are trees that have grown alongside generations of humans, their thick bark still charred from fires that burned hundreds of years ago. But over the past decade, the forest’s sword ferns and western hemlocks, some of the oldest species in the park, have been mysteriously dwindling.

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News

Task Force Weighs Redesign Options for Lake Washington Boulevard

by Lizz Giordano

With $400,000 recently set aside by the City to fund upgrades for people walking, rolling, and biking along Lake Washington Boulevard, a redesign might be coming to a South End road beloved by cyclists, pedestrians, and drivers alike. 

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Community

VietQ Hosts Seattle’s Largest Ever QTBIPOC Market at Seward Park

by Amanda Ong

On Saturday, June 4, VietQ, a grassroots org that supports Vietnamese LGBTQ+ people, will hold its third annual Queer and Trans BIPOC (QTBIPOC) market in Seward Park from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. VietQ’s market will likely be the largest market of exclusively queer, trans, and BIPOC vendors to ever have been in Seattle. Their market last year was the largest QTBIPOC-centered market to have come to Seattle at the time, and they have since grown from 45 vendors to almost 70 vendors participating this year.

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News

Environmental Activists Hold Earth Day Protest as Biden Visits Seward Park

by Ronnie Estoque

The Emerald blows loudly as the royal trumpet, signaling that there is indeed life abundant. It’s the sound of information, the sound of challenge, the sound of change and — maybe most importantly — the sound of hope. Join me in supporting the Emerald as a recurring donor during their 8th anniversary campaign, Ripples & Sparks at Home, April 20–28. Become a Rainmaker now by choosing the “recurring donor” option on the donation page!

—Marcus Harden, Educator, Author, & Rainmaker

On Friday, local community members showed up in droves to watch President Joe Biden’s arrival at Seward Park. Environmental activists representing the “Ship It Zero” campaign were in attendance for the event and held various signs encouraging Biden to commit to zero-emission shipping by 2030. The event also included advocates in support of vaccines for children under the age of 5.

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Community

Muriel’s Brings Long-Awaited Kosher Eats to Seward Park

by Emily Alhadeff

What does it take to get a decent bagel and schmear in this town?

For a long time, that was the question on the minds of Seattle’s bagel enthusiasts. After a booming bagel scene in the ’90s went bust, the Northwest stood barren, far removed from the yeasty coffers of the tri-state area. 

No longer. Seattle’s bagel scene is on the rise. Don’t take my word for it — even chef and author J. Kenji López-Alt says so. Over the past few years, Rubinstein, Westman’s, Loxsmith, Mt. Bagel, and Zylberschtein’s have joined more established venues, like Bagel Oasis and Eltana, to much acclaim — and also some kvetching. With so much riding on this humble roll — flavor, family, history, identity — it’s not surprising people have strong feelings about it. 

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News

Seward Park Neighbors Come Together to Save an ‘Exceptional’ Tree

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by Agueda Pacheco Flores

You can see the tall western red cedar tree before turning onto South Mayflower Street in Seattle’s Seward Park neighborhood. Known as “May,” the tree is one of the tallest on the street. But one cannot appreciate May in full until you stand beside its thick trunk that splits into three, its branches soaring high above.

To the right of May is a house that’s under construction. Beside the tree is construction material: planks of lumber with stacks of heavy rebar on top. 

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News

City Closes Seward Park Swimming Beach, Keeps Seven Others Open

by Ben Adlin

South Seattle families looking for a safe place to splash around this summer might want to skip Seward Park. Lifeguards abruptly disappeared from the park’s swimming beach on Wednesday, and Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR) says staffing shortages mean they’re unlikely to return anytime soon.

Before the change, lifeguards had supervised the beach seven days a week — from noon to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekends. The service began late last month and was set to extend through early September.

Now, however, the park will be without lifeguards completely.

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Community

Graham Hill Elementary Raising Funds to Provide Direct Cash Aid to Families

by Ben Adlin

With the pandemic’s economic impact hitting vulnerable households hardest, Seward Park’s Graham Hill Elementary is turning to the surrounding community for relief, asking for donations to provide direct cash payments to students’ families.

The online fundraiser launched last month is the latest effort by parents and staff at South End public schools to provide flexible financial relief to families unable to afford everyday expenses, often because of COVID-19-related job losses or reduced work. Similar efforts at Rainier View and Concord International elementary schools have each raised tens of thousands of dollars in community aid since organizers began them this spring.

Graham Hill’s current goal is to raise $20,000 in donations by the end of 2020. The money will be available to families in increments of $250 to $1,000, which can be used for whatever expenses the families deem necessary.

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Community, Features

With Passover around the corner, Seward Park’s Orthodox Jews feel the impacts of COVID-19

by Carolyn Bick

Every year, Karen Treiger and her husband gather together with their family from across the world to celebrate Passover. They all unite from as far away as Israel, and spend a little more than a week together, she said, eight days that begin with two huge Passover seders, the name for the holiday’s feasts. It’s usually a joyful, warm affair, filled with quality family time, and opportunities to catch up with one another in person.

But the global outbreak of COVID-19 has changed all that. This year, Passover, which begins April 8, will be a smaller, quieter affair. Familiar faces will be absent. They’ll still hide the afikomen, but it won’t be as much fun, without kids to look for it alongside adults. The couple will not get to see some of their own children and other family members. It’s just not safe. Still, Treiger counts herself lucky, because she has family in the area.

“It won’t just feel like me and my husband sitting at the tables by ourselves, which, I think, for some people, it will be. And that is going to be really hard,” she said.

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