THE BLUEPRINT: Comptroller Scott Stringer wants to build playgrounds in the middle of residential streets. Offi ce of the New York City Comptroller
Put it in park
Comptroller pushes for more
playgrounds on Bklyn streets
COURIER L PS IFE, MAY 10–16, 2019 3
BY AIDAN GRAHAM
He’s not playing around.
The city should build playgrounds
in the middle of residential
streets, according to
its top auditor.
Comptroller Scott Stringer
blasted the state of New York
City’s play spaces, singling out
Kings County as particularly
reprehensible, and called for
construction of playgrounds
in the center of several residential
roads, creating two
dead-ends on either side.
“Today, we are calling on
New York City to build 200 new
playgrounds in the next fi ve
years,” he said. “This would
employ a new initiative to creating
playgrounds by taking
advantage of under-utilized
residential streets.”
As a model for his plan,
Stringer pointed to a Crown
Heights playground, constructed
in the center of St.
Marks Avenue between Kingston
and Albany avenues.
The plan came with a recently
released report from
the comptroller’s offi ce which
criticized the density and condition
of playgrounds around
the city.
“On the whole, Brooklyn
is the most underserved
borough,” says the report.
“Clearly, playground construction
is lagging behind the
times and failing to account
for changing demographics in
our city neighborhoods.”
The report, which examined
all 2,067 municipal playgrounds
in the city, found
that Brooklyn had the least
amount of playgrounds perchild
of any borough.
Public-space activists
joined Stringer at an April 27
press conference following the
release of the report, applauding
the auditor for rethinking
conventional wisdom.
“New Yorkers often complain
about the lack of space
in this city,” said Thomas De-
Vito of Transportation Alternatives.
“There is actually a
lot of space, it’s just that we use
what’s available to us thoughtlessly.
Seventeen square miles
of New York City is dedicated
to storing cars on our streets
— that’s 13 Central Parks that
PARKED: The Comptroller used a mid-street playground in Crown Heights as an example of his plan.
Offi ce of the New York City Comptroller
we are giving away and getting
nothing communal in return.”
In addition to his playground
plan, Stringer called
for a substantial increase in
funding for playground maintenance,
lamenting the porous
state of existing parks.
“Not only do we not have
enough playgrounds, but the
report we’re releasing today
fi nds that too often, the ones
we do have are falling in disrepair,”
he said. “So we’re not
maintaining our playgrounds,
and it shows. In Brooklyn, 24
percent of playgrounds were
deemed ‘unacceptable’ by inspectors.”
Investigators consider playgrounds
to be unacceptable if
they feature a safety hazard
or fail to meet the city’s cleanliness
standard, according to
Stringer.
“Damaged or loose play
equipment, broken benches,
fl imsy fences, and sharp surfaces.
These are the nightmares
for every parent,” he
said. “A child could have a
permanent disability that
could change his-or-her-life
forever.”
Stringer said the report
showed a lack of proper investment
in public spaces, and
called on the city to fundamentally
re-examine its administration
of public playgrounds.
“Our fi ndings reveal stark
disparities in access to these
critical public spaces in New
York City,” he said. “That’s
why our city needs to overhaul
the planning, construction,
and maintenance of our
playground system.”