Hot-Foot In The Summertime

Children’s playgrounds should be sanctuaries from neighborhood streets. For dozens of kids every summer though, they’ve become dangerous stopovers before visiting a hospital emergency room. Kids are getting burned. The black tiled mats which prevent slip and fall injuries have reached temperatures of 166.9 degrees. Swing seats have been clocked at 138 degrees. Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe admitted that the mats get very hot but said they’re in use nationwide. Changing the mats to a more heat reflective color wouldn’t help much. According to Benepe, all New York City parks meet today's safety standards. They have signs posted to advise people to wear shoes. All of that sounds reasonable. One of the first things all kids learn is, “That’s hot! Don’t touch!” Remind them before they go out to play.

The Jungles We Call Our Parks

A recent study found homeless people, junkies, pushers, illegal dumpers, prostitutes, chop shops and gangs residing or plying their trade in parks throughout every borough of New York City. According to testimony, numerous park workers have been “warned” not to go inside certain parks because they’re too dangerous. Have we been officially warned? Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe is seemingly unaware of the extent of the problems. He claims that his office doesn’t favor certain parks over others. Let’s see if that’s true by following the money. The city spends $10,694 per acre in Manhattan compared to just $2,104 in Staten Island. Keep in mind that parks in New York City’s upscale neighborhoods often receive large subsidies from conservancies or government-affiliated entities. They don’t need government funds as much as other parks do. So is this favoritism? Benepe says city parks are better cared for than ever before. There is loud debate on that. Even former Parks Commissioner Henry Stern admitted that some parks have been abandoned because of inadequate funding. Since 2002 under Mayor Bloomberg, the city has added 468 acres of new parkland to its existing 29,084 acres in 1,875 parks. It’s time that dollars were more equally divided for the care of all parks throughout our city. Furthermore, no parks should be abandoned to squatters or criminal types. Give them an inch and they’ll take an acre … or 29,804 acres. Our brave troops are not writing off land in Iraq. Our city government shouldn’t do it here either.