LES, E Village Riddled With 'Hazardous' Playgrounds, Report Says

LOWER EAST SIDE, NY — The Lower East Side, East Village and Chinatown have among the city's most playgrounds deemed "unacceptable" by the Department of Parks and Recreation, a new report from the city comptroller's office reveals.

City Comptroller Scott Stringer's office released a report showing a breakdown of playgrounds — or lack thereof —citywide.

Community District 3 didn't make the list of neighborhoods with the least number of parks per child, but the district — which covers the Lower East Side, East Village, Chinatown and Two Bridges — has among the highest percentage of playgrounds in disrepair, the report shows.

Courtesy of City Comptroller Scott Stringer's Office

More than a quarter of the playgrounds were deemed "unacceptable" by the Parks Department inspection program, the report says.

The report says the district was also among three community districts borough-wide and 11 citywide that had more than 12 playgrounds with "hazardous features that demanded immediate attention," such as issues with play equipment, benches, fences and paved surfaces.

"We can make a major impact on the lives and health of New York City children by substantially expanding the number of playgrounds in neighborhoods that are in dire need of these spaces, while also ensuring they are well-maintained and safe for every child," Stringer, who could run for mayor in 2021, said in a statement.

Courtesy of City Comptroller Scott Stringer's Office

Parks Department spokeswoman Crystal Howard called it a "mischaracterization" to call the playgrounds hazardous.

The "cited issues — which ranged from plant thorns to cracks in pavement to hanging tree limbs, on average were addressed and closed-out in half the allotted time outlined by our policies," Howard said.

All cited conditions in the report within CB 3's district in particular were resolved since last October, per Parks.

Further, the department's inspection program could categorize conditions at playgrounds including condoms, hate speech or profane graffiti, rodent holes, or splintered benches as hazards, but if the department considered the playground at-large hazardous, the site would be closed, according to Parks.

Stringer's revealed a disparity in some neighborhoods, where the ratio of playgrounds to children is low.

Citywide, 15 community districts had fewer than seven playgrounds for every 10,000 kids — with the fewest in Brooklyn's Borough Park, Kensington and Ocean Parkway.

Stringer recommended retrofitting single block or dead-end streets with playgrounds in the center of angled parking and urged the city to build 100 new playgrounds in the next five years under this model, pictured below.

Courtesy of City Comptroller Scott Stringer's Office

Though Manhattan has the highest ratio of playgrounds to . children compared to other boroughs, about 15 percent of them across the borough were deemed "unacceptable," the report says.

Conditions in Brooklyn were the worst, where 24 percent of playgrounds were "unacceptable."

"We are aware that we live in a highly-populated city," said Naomi Peña, a Lower East Sider and president of the Council Education Council for the school district in the neighborhood.

Raising four kids on the Lower East Side, she said, "It's tough to find a park that is decent."

"I'm not looking for anything fancy," she said. She looks for playgrounds that don't have metal slides that could burn her kids in the sunshine or monkey bars without missing bars, she said.

Peña's go-to playground is Sol Lain Playground — which just underwent nearly $6 million in upgrades, according to the Parks Department. Before the park was renovated, it wasn't in the best condition, Peña said. But she welcomed the renovations, despite the "disappointing" wait time for the changes.

The neighborhood's future open space is currently in flux as the city is in the midst of a lengthy public review of a resiliency project that would ultimately protect the east side from storm surge and sea level rise — but require shuttering the East River Park during 3.5 years of construction, which has been a point of contention among neighbors. The city has said it is seeking additional recreational opportunities during the park's closure — like tearing down a crumbling bathhouse to be replaced with a playing field and making headway on various other long-awaited open space projects.

"We understand that the [East Side Coastal Resiliency] project will have an impact on recreational opportunities in CB3 and continue to work with local elected officials and stakeholders to develop an interim recreation strategy," Parks spokeswoman Howard added.

"To serve the children of CB3, as a part of the Mayor’s robust playground reconstruction program, the Community Parks Initiative, we are investing $30M to improve playgrounds in CB3," Howard said in response to Stringer's playground report.

Howard touted millions of dollars worth of Parks-specific projects in the neighborhood — including Sol Lain Playground, the one Peña frequents.

Henry M. Jackson Playground got $2.3 million in upgrades, according to Parks. Luther Gulick Park is also undergoing a a $9.5 million construction project and $3.9 million bathrooms.

Joseph C. Sauer Park is in the procurement process and construction is expected to break-ground on a $4 million project this fall. A playground on Madison and Catherine streets is expected to begin $3.5 million in renovations this summer, Parks said.