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**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**
October 21, 2008
Contact: Sarah Krauss
212.669.4193; 917.541.0936
Release #: 037-2008
PA Gotbaum: PlaNYC Program Falls Short in Providing Real Recreational Space for Kids
Program Promises More Parks, But In Some Cases Delivers Asphalt Lots
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MANHATTAN – Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum released a new survey today which found that a significant number of schoolyards involved in the Mayor’s program to make more recreational space available are closed to the public when they are supposed to be open. The survey also found that many of the schoolyards that were open to the public lacked playground equipment, including swings, climbing equipment, or grass or benches for passive recreation.
The purpose of the Public Advocate’s survey was to assess the public accessibility of schoolyards participating in the Schoolyards to Playgrounds initiative and measure the overall quality of those playgrounds.
Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, who served as the City’s Parks Commissioner from 1990-1994 said, “I commend the Mayor’s desire to provide more recreation space for kids in our city, especially in underserved neighborhoods. However, too often his plan is not leading to better access to playground space. Some of these spaces are little more than parking lots, and worse than that, kids can’t benefit from them if they aren’t actually open.”
Council Member Gale Brewer said, “The open the schoolyards proposal that is part of the Mayor's PlaNYC plan is creative and innovative, but the spaces must also be inviting. The program needs more input from community partners and community boards, and more opportunities for physical activity and for supervised fun. Of course the school yards have to be open and the custodians have to be appropriately compensated for the program to really work. I thank Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum for her oversight of this issue.”
One of the goals of Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC 2030 is for every New Yorker to live within ten minutes of a park. The Schoolyards to Playgrounds program is intended help the city achieve that goal by making selected schoolyards open to the public from eight AM to dusk on non-school days and after school until dusk on school days.
In July 2007, Schoolyards to Playgrounds was launched with 69 schoolyards that, according to the PlaNYC report, needed no capital improvements. Over the summer of 2008, the Office of the Public Advocate, with help from the Office of Council Member Gale Brewer, conducted a survey of these 69 schoolyards.
All of the schoolyards were surveyed on weekdays to determine if they were open to the public and, if so, to assess their overall quality. Twenty schoolyards, four in each borough, were randomly selected to be revisited to determine if they were open to the public on weekends. Surveyors found that
A significant number of schoolyards are closed to the public at times when they should be open.
Of the 69 schoolyards visited on weekdays between 8 am and dusk, 16 schoolyards were closed.[1]
Eight of the 20 schoolyards revisited on weekends between 8 am and dusk were closed.[2]
A significant number of schoolyards lack playground equipment.
6 of the 53 schoolyards that were open on weekdays had no equipment other than basketball backboards. In addition, one schoolyard did not even have a basketball backboard. These 7 schoolyards had nothing for children to climb, no swings, and no grass for passive recreation.
35 of the 53 open schoolyards had no climbing equipment for children.
48 of the 53 open schoolyards had no swings.
Based on the findings, the Public Advocate recommends that the city take the following actions:
Work with schools participating in the Schoolyards to Playgrounds program to ensure schoolyards are accessible for community use.
Re-categorize some schoolyards initially designated as needing no improvements.
Partner with community groups to provide alternative programming for schoolyards that lack playground equipment.
In 2007, the Office of the Public Advocate released Twelve for 2030, a compilation of articles by experts and advocacy groups intended to facilitate dialogue about PlaNYC 2030. In its article, New Yorkers for Parks, an independent watchdog over the city’s parks, beaches, and playgrounds, cited Schoolyards to Playgrounds as a low-cost strategy to provide much needed play space but had two recommendations regarding the program: 1) Allocations for the program must include funds for both construction and ongoing maintenance. 2) Care must be taken to ensure that the maintenance and security requirements of the program do not create an undue burden on school custodial staff.
Council Member Gale Brewer has been a long-time proponent of the concept of opening schoolyards for community use and, in 2006, released a report showing that if opened to the public, schoolyards owned and operated by the Department of Education (DOE) could provide roughly 1,170 acres of additional recreation space for New Yorkers. She went on to propose a city council resolution calling on the DOE to create a program for this purpose.
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[1] This figure includes two schoolyards that appeared to be closed due to construction in either the schoolyards or the adjoining school building.
[2] This figure includes four schoolyards that appeared to be closed due to construction in either the schoolyards or the adjoining school building.
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