Bed-Stuy Riddled With Hazardous, Unacceptable Playgrounds: Study

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT, BROOKLYN — Bed-Stuy is one of the worst neighborhoods in New York City for hazardous playgrounds with unacceptable conditions, a new Comptroller's Office study found.

Approximately half of Bed-Stuys's 27 playgrounds have hazardous conditions and more than 25 percent were deemed unacceptable by recent Parks Department inspections, according to the report, "State Of Play: A New Model For NYC Playgrounds."

"Our findings reveal stark disparities in access to these critical public spaces in New York City," Stringer, a Democrat, said in a statement.

"That's why our City needs to overhaul the planning, construction, and maintenance of our playground system."

Bed-Stuy's Community District was one of 5 in Brooklyn and 11 in New York City that had more than 12 playgrounds with hazardous features — play equipment, benches, fences, and pavement and more — that presented a risk of injury and demanded immediate attention, according to the data.

Inspectors found that 521 playgrounds had at least one hazardous feature that required immediate attention in 2018, according to the report.

And, with more than 25 percent, Bed-Stuy has some of the highest rates in the city for playgrounds deemed "unacceptable" because they either had a serious safety hazard, failed a cleanliness test, or both, city data shows.

The Parks Department found 159 playgrounds New York City playgrounds unacceptable in 2018, data shows. Brooklyn fared the worse with 24 percent of playgrounds (triple the Staten Island rate) deemed unacceptable.

"While NYC Parks has made tremendous strides to improve the safety and cleanliness of its facilities in the last several decades, there are still far too many playgrounds in disrepair," the report reads.

"Moving forward, the City should increase their budget for maintenance and operations, particularly in those neighborhoods where playgrounds have far too many 'hazardous conditions.'”

The report, which examined accessibility to 2,067 playgrounds across New York City, found Brooklyn kids are the most underserved, with only eight NYC Parks playgrounds for every 10,000 children under the age of ten.

In Crown Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens and Flatbush, there are only about five playgrounds for every 10,000 children, data shows.

The Parks Department did not immediately respond to Patch's request for comment.