VIDEO: Playgrounds–What Does Inequality Look Like?
We filmed playgrounds at Union Square and East Harlem and analyzed the results.
We filmed playgrounds at Union Square and East Harlem and analyzed the results.
Every borough has playgrounds with deficiencies, our site visits show. Thirty-one out of the 127 evaluations we conducted—24 percent—led to failing marks of four out of eight or less. The average rating of 5.61 demonstrates considerable room for improvement in the playgrounds we evaluated.
A study, published in the current issue of the Journal of Community Health, examines how playgrounds are used and how people in neighborhoods across New York’s five boroughs perceive the playgrounds’ maintenance and safety.
Not long ago, this schoolyard was covered in asphalt. The Bloomberg Administration and a surprising partner, Councilman Charles Barron, teamed up for a brand new playground.
Outlining the inspection system used by the city Department of Parks and Recreation to find out whether playgrounds are in good shape.
A majority of playgrounds in New York City bear names of nearby streets, schools and districts. Some honor social activists, politicians, local and world-known historic figures, inventors and even poets. But there are also a number of playgrounds with names that sound more intriguing. Maybe they’re funny or silly, or maybe they’re just not so ordinary.
Job opening: New York City Parks Commissioner. Responsibilities include maintaining the city’s 30,000 acres of land and championing its 1,700 parks. Interested candidates should know that among the position’s biggest challenges will be addressing the growing disparities in parks and playgrounds within the five boroughs. Warning: it’s sure to be a contentious issue requiring some familiarity with concepts of economic inequality.
A month after the city Parks and Recreation Department promised to unveil renovation plans for Mt. Hope Garden park, Bronx Councilman Fernando Cabrera is still waiting.
A new playground emerges from Sandy-felled trees in Prospect Park.
Not all city playgrounds are safe. Here are some examples of potentially dangerous things we found during the playgrounds’ examination.
The community playgrounds fill in the need for new play areas at city public schools and keep stormwater out of an old sewage system that cannot handle the extra rainwater.
Today, it’s hard to imagine that Sunset Park was once plagued by drugs and violence, and patrolled by gangs.
Even with the support of a state senator and a new mayor elected on a platform of improving the lives of all New Yorkers, residents of Mott Haven are skeptical that improvements to the park will ever be made.
New York City is home to some of the best playgrounds in the country.
The Parks Department has removed the Oodle swing in South Slope playground in Brooklyn Saturday after at least ten children have suffered broken bones while playing on the equipment in September.