Brian Burnell, NECN: Greenwich, CT
It's a wiffle ball field that's become a political football in Greenwich, Connecticut. A group of teenagers decided to turn a vacant lot into their own version of Fenway Park. They scrounged plywood, bought paint, erected outfield walls, including their own version of the green monster, and shouted "play ball".
Tim Bellantoni, Greenwich CT: “Our field is our field. I mean, anyone is welcome to play but just the best in my eyes.”
That's the problem. A lot of people wanted to play. Things started to get out of hand.
This is very bucolic, very Norman Rockwell. But not always and not if you live in one of the houses who's backyards border onto this whiffle ball field. Picture this. Last Sunday these kids tell me that had between 40 and 50 people here playing wiffle ball. That's a little different than a couple of kids knocking it around.
Those neighbors have complained to the town so there is something of a split in Greenwich with some people siding with the homeowners and their right to enjoy their property and others siding with the kids and saying "let 'em play". In the middle is selectwoman Lin Lavery who says no one is saying these are bad kids.
Lin Lavery, Greenwich CT Selectwoman: I've gone over and met some of the kids and they're great kids. They took leadership. They went off and did something creative. They've gone into the woods and created something and they're to be applauded for it. They've done something creative.
At a meeting between the kids who built the field, town recreation officials and the police a framework of a compromise was forged.
Justin Currytto, Greenwich CT: They're going to try to find alternative fields we can play at if the town decides to take down the field and they're organizing a tournament sometime in mid august for everyone around the town to play.
The town owns the lot so considering liability issues and adjacent property owner complaints not to mention zoning it is unlikely the field will stay. It comes down really to the fact that it just isn't 1957 any more.
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