New York City Playground Survey Results

Spring 2002

 

 

Borough

Playground Name

Address

Hazard Score

# of Potential Hazards Identified

Scale: 0-8[i]

Types of Potential Hazards Identified

Bronx

Mullaly Park One

165th Street (Between Jerome and River Ave.)

 

3

(1) Toxic Playground Risk[ii]

(2) Unsafe Equipment Height[iii]

(3) Clothing Entanglement

Bronx

Mullaly Park Two

164th Street (Between Jerome and River Ave.)

2

(1) Toxic Playground Risk[iv]

(2) Head Entrapment

Bronx

Mullaly Park Three

 

McClellan and Cromwell

0

None

Bronx

Mullaly Park Four

 

McClellan and Cromwell

0

None

Brooklyn

Bensonhurst Park

Cropsey and Bay Parkway

6

(1) Unsafe Surface

(2) Inadequate Fall Zones[v]

(3) Toxic Playground Risk[vi]

(4) Unsafe Equipment Height[vii]

(5) Head Entrapment

(6) Dangerous Equipment[viii]

Brooklyn

Dreier Offerman

Bay 46th Street and Crospey Ave.

3

(1) Unsafe Surface

(2) Unsafe Equipment Height[ix]

(3) Dangerous Equipment[x]

Brooklyn

Kelly Park

Avenue S (East 13th and 14th)

2

(1) Toxic Playground Risk[xi]

(2) Unsafe Equipment Height[xii]

Brooklyn

Marcus Playground

Ocean Parkway (Between Ave. P & O)

4

(1) Toxic Playground Risk[xiii]

(2) Unsafe Equipment Height[xiv]

(3) Unsafe Swings[xv]

(4) Dangerous Equipment[xvi]

Brooklyn

McKinley Park

Ft Hamilton Parkway, Bay Ridge

4

(1) Toxic Playground Risk[xvii]        (2) Unsafe Equipment Height[xviii]

(3) Unsafe Swings[xix]

(4) Dangerous Equipment[xx]

Brooklyn

Nemiah Park

 

300 Riverdale Ave.

1

(1) Unsafe Surface

Brooklyn

Pierpont Playground

Pierpont/Columbia Heights

3

(1) Toxic Playground Risk[xxi]        (2) Unsafe Equipment Height[xxii]

(3) Unsafe Swings[xxiii]

Brooklyn

Playground 79

Shore Rd and 79th

5

(1) Inadequate Fall Zones[xxiv]

(2) Toxic Playground Risk[xxv]

(3) Unsafe Equipment Height[xxvi]     

(4) Unsafe Swings[xxvii]

(5) Clothing Entanglement

Brooklyn

Power Playground

Utica and Avenue N

5

(1) Toxic Playground Risk[xxviii]                                                                   

(2) Unsafe Equipment Height [xxix]

(3) Unsafe Swings[xxx]

(4) Clothing Entanglement                                                       (5) Dangerous Equipment[xxxi]

Brooklyn

Rachel Habor Cohen Playground

Ave L and East 17th St

3

(1) Toxic Playground Risk[xxxii]

(2) Unsafe Equipment Height [xxxiii]

(3) Dangerous Equipment[xxxiv]

 

 

Borough

Playground Name

Address

Hazard Score

# of Potential Hazards Identified

Scale: 0-8

Types of Potential Hazards Identified

Brooklyn

Seth Low Playground

Bay Parkway and 74th Street

3

(1) Toxic Playground Risk[xxxv]                                                                     (2) Unsafe Equipment Height[xxxvi]     

(3) Unsafe Swings[xxxvii]

Brooklyn

Sunners Playground

East 49th and Kings Highway

5

(1) Toxic Playground Risk[xxxviii]

(2) Unsafe Equipment Height [xxxix]

(3) Unsafe Swings[xl]

(4) Head Entrapment                                                           

(5) Dangerous Equipment[xli]

Manhattan

Augustus Street Gardens

19th Street and 2nd Ave.

3

(1) Toxic Playground Risk[xlii]

(2) Unsafe Equipment Height[xliii]

(3) Dangerous Equipment[xliv]

Manhattan

Battery Park

South Street (George Dewey Promenade)

3

(1) Inadequate Fall Zones[xlv]                                                   

(2) Unsafe Equipment Height[xlvi]       

(3) Head Entrapment

Manhattan

Billy Johnson Playground

East 67th Street (Central Park)

5

(1) Unsafe Surface

(2) Inadequate Fall Zones[xlvii]

(3) Toxic Playground Risk[xlviii]

(4) Unsafe Swings [xlix]

(5) Dangerous Equipment [l]

Manhattan

Bleecker Playground

Bleecker and 11th St.

3

(1) Unsafe Surface

(2) Inadequate Fall Zones[li]

(3) Unsafe Equipment Height[lii]

Manhattan

Columbus Park

Mulberry and Worth

2

(1) Unsafe Equipment Height[liii]

(2) Dangerous Equipment[liv]

Manhattan

Hudson River Park

River Terrace and Murray Street

1

(1) Unsafe Equipment Height[lv]

Manhattan

Jacob H. Schiff

135th and Amsterdam

4

(1) Inadequate Fall Zones[lvi]

(2) Unsafe Equipment Height[lvii]

(3) Unsafe Swings[lviii]

(4) Dangerous Equipment[lix]

Manhattan

St. Catherine’s Playground

68th Street and 2nd Ave.

2

(1) Unsafe Equipment Height[lx]

(2) Head Entrapment         

Manhattan

St. Nicholas Park

140th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue

2

(1) Unsafe Equipment Height[lxi]

(2) Unsafe Swings[lxii]

Manhattan

Tompkins Square Park (1)

St. Marks Place (East 9th Street and Avenue A)

5

(1) Inadequate Fall Zones[lxiii]

(2) Toxic Playground Risk[lxiv]

(3) Unsafe Equipment Height[lxv]

(4) Head Entrapment

(5) Clothing Entanglement

Manhattan

Tompkins Square Park (2)

Ave. B (between E. 7th and E. 8th Streets)

3

(1) Inadequate Fall Zones[lxvi]

(2) Toxic Playground Risk[lxvii]

(3) Head Entrapment

Manhattan

Unknown

Pearl and Fulton

 

1

(1) Unsafe Equipment Height[lxviii]

Manhattan

Washington Square Park

5th Avenue

1

(1) Unsafe Equipment Height[lxix]

Queens

Captain Mario Fajardo Park

Kissena Blvd. & Booth Ave., Flushing

3

(1) Inadequate Fall Zones[lxx]

(2) Unsafe Equipment Height[lxxi]

(3) Clothing Entanglement

 

 

 

Borough

Playground Name

Address

Hazard Score

# of Potential Hazards Identified

Scale: 0-8

Types of Potential Hazards Identified

Queens

Cunningham Park

210th Street

5

(1) Toxic Playground Risk[lxxii]

(2) Unsafe Equipment Height[lxxiii]

(3) Head Entrapment

(4) Clothing Entanglement

(5) Dangerous Equipment[lxxiv]

Queens

Marie Curie 158

Bayside

5

(1) Unsafe Surface

(2) Toxic Playground Risk[lxxv]

(3) Head Entrapment

(4) Clothing Entanglement

(5) Dangerous Equipment[lxxvi]

Queens

Playground 146

146th and 53rd

3

(1) Inadequate Fall Zones[lxxvii]

(2) Unsafe Equipment Height[lxxviii]

(3) Clothing Entanglement

Queens

PS 162

53rd Ave., Bayside

4

(1) Unsafe Surface

(2) Toxic Playground Risk[lxxix]

(3) Unsafe Equipment Height[lxxx]

(4) Head Entrapment

Queens

 

Saul Weprin

202nd Street and 53rd Avenue

5

(1) Inadequate Fall Zones[lxxxi]

(2) Toxic Playground Risk[lxxxii]

(3) Unsafe Equipment Height[lxxxiii]

(4) Head Entrapment

(5) Dangerous Equipment[lxxxiv]

Queens

Seven Gables Playground

Oceana Street

2

(1) Unsafe Equipment Height[lxxxv]

(2) Clothing Entanglement

Queens

Silent Springs Playground

Colden Street and Geranium Avenue, Flushing

4

(1) Inadequate Fall Zone[lxxxvi]

(2) Unsafe Equipment Height[lxxxvii]

(3) Unsafe Swings[lxxxviii]

(4) Clothing Entanglement

Queens

Tail Oak

64th Avenue and 219th Street

4

(1) Toxic Playground Risk[lxxxix]

(2) Unsafe Equipment Height[xc]

(3) Unsafe Swings[xci]

(4) Dangerous Equipment[xcii]

Queens

Turtle Playground

Horace Harding Expressway (61st Rd and 138th Street)

2

(1) Head Entrapment

(2) Clothing Entanglement

Queens

Virginia Principe Playground

63rd Street and 54th Ave., Maspeth

1

(1) Unsafe Equipment Height[xciii]

Staten Island

Dugan Playground

Mill Road

5

(1) Inadequate Fall Zones[xciv]

(2) Toxic Playground Risk[xcv]

(3) Unsafe Equipment Height[xcvi]

(4) Head Entrapment

(5) Dangerous Equipment[xcvii]

Staten Island

Markham Playground

Houston Street and Houston Lane

4

(1) Inadequate Fall Zones[xcviii]

(2) Unsafe Equipment Height[xcix]

(3) Head Entrapment

(4) Dangerous Equipment[c]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Borough

Playground Name

Address

Hazard Score

# of Potential Hazards Identified

Scale: 0-8

Types of Potential Hazards Identified

Staten Island

Miller Field

New Dorp Lane

6

(1) Unsafe Surface

(2) Inadequate Fall Zones[ci]

(3) Toxic Playground Risk[cii]

(4) Unsafe Equipment Height[ciii]

(5) Head Entrapment

(6) Clothing Entanglement

Staten Island

Young Israel

Willowbrook

6

(1) Unsafe Surface

(2) Inadequate Fall Zones[civ]

(3) Toxic Playground Risk[cv]

(4) Unsafe Equipment Height[cvi]

(5) Unsafe Swings[cvii]

(6) Head Entrapment

 

 

 


[i] Surveyors looked for eight different potential hazards:  (1) Unsafe Surface – unsafe surfacing is any sort of hard surface like concrete, asphalt, grass or soil.  Also, loose fill surface such as sand, wood chips or shredded tires is unsafe if it is less than 9 inches in depth; (2) Inadequate Fall Zones – inadequate fall zones are unsafe surfacing or equipment or other obstacles that children might fall on that (a) extend six feet from the perimeter of the equipment or (b) nine feet between two pieces of adjacent equipment that exceed 30 inches in height or (c) six feet from the perimeter of the support structure of swings on each side as well as twice the height of the pivot point in the front and back of the swings; (3) Toxic Playground Risk – (a) peeling, cracking or chipping paint on any equipment surface (could be lead paint) or (b) playground equipment made of wood other than red wood or cedar wood (could be pressure treated); (4) Unsafe Equipment Height – (a) climbers or (b) slides that exceed 6 feet in height or (c) swings with the height of the pivot point/swing beam higher than 8 feet; (5) Unsafe Swings – (a) swing seats made of hard, rigid material or (b) swing structures attached to other play equipment or (c) more than two swing seats per bay or section or (d) infant/tot swings suspended in the same section as regular seats or (e) swing seats closer than 24 inches or (f) swing seats closer than 30 inches to any adjacent support structure; (6) Head Entrapment – any opening with an interior dimension between 3.5 and 9 inches; (7) Clothing Entanglement – open “S’ hooks, gaps, protrusions or equipment components that may act as catch points; (8) Dangerous Equipment -  (a) chain or cable walks or (b) multiple occupancy swings/gliders or (c) animal swings or (d) swinging exercise rings/trapeze bars or (e) rope swings or (f) individual climbing ropes.

 

Playgrounds received one point for each type of hazard they contained with a scale of 0-8.  Some playgrounds contained more than one type of the same hazard.  That is not reflected in their “hazard score.”  However, the specific hazards the playgrounds contained are listed in the endnotes below.

 

Mullaly Park One

[ii] Peeling paint

[iii] Climbers

Mullaly Park Two

[iv] Peeling Paint

Bensonhurst Park

[v] Adjacent Pieces of Equipment less than 9 feet apart

[vi] Peeling Paint, Wood that is not red or cedar

[vii] Slides and Swings

[viii] Chain or Cable Walks

Dreier Offerman

[ix] Climbers, Slides and Swings

[x] Chain or Cable Walks

 

Kelly Park

[xi] Peeling Paint

[xii] Slides

Marcus Playground

[xiii] Peeling Paint

[xiv] Climbers, Slides and Swings

[xv] More than two swings per section or bay

[xvi] Swinging Exercise Rings/Trapeze Bars

McKinley Park

[xvii] Peeling Paint

[xviii] Swings

[xix]  Seat constructed of hard, rigid material

[xx] Chain or Cable Walks and Swinging Exercise Rings/Trapeze Bars

Pierpont Playground

[xxi] Peeling Paint

[xxii] Climbing equipment and Slides

[xxiii] Tot swings in same bay structure as regular swings

Playground 79

[xxiv] Fall zone does not extend at least 6 feet in all directions.

[xxv] Peeling Paint

[xxvi]  Climbing equipment and Swings.

[xxvii] Swings attached to other equipment and more than two swings in one swing structure

Power Playground

[xxviii] Peeling Paint

[xxix] Climbing equipment, slides, and swings.

[xxx] Horizontal distance between swings not at least 24 inches

[xxxi] Chain or Cable walk and Animal swings

Rachel Habor Cohen Playground

[xxxii] Peeling Paint

[xxxiii] Climbing equipment, slides, and swings.

[xxxiv] Chain or cable walks and Swinging exercise rings/trapeze bars

Seth Low Playground

[xxxv] Peeling Paint

[xxxvi] Climbing equipment and Swings

[xxxvii] Seat constructed of hard, rigid material

Sunners Playground

[xxxviii] Peeling Paint

[xxxix] Swings

[xl] More than two seats in any one section of the swing structure

[xli] Chain or cable walks

Augustus Street Gardens

[xlii] Peeling Paint

[xliii] Climbing equipment and slides

[xliv] Chain or Cable walks and swinging exercise rings/Trapeze bars.

Battery Park

[xlv] Does not extend a minimum of six feet in all directions, independent pieces of equipment are not at least 9 feet apart, swings do not have a minimum of twice the height of the pivot point of fall zone space.

[xlvi] Climbing equipment and swings.

Billy Johnson Playground

[xlvii] Fall zone does not extend a minimum of at least 6 feet in all directions and the distance between independent pieces of equipment is not at least 9 feet.

[xlviii] Peeling Paint

[xlix] Seats are constructed of heavy rigid material and there are more than two seats per section of swing structure.

[l] Chain or cable walks and multiple occupancy Swings/Gliders

Bleecker Playground

[li] Independent pieces of equipment are not at least nine feet apart.

[lii] Climbing equipment, Slides, and swings

 

 

Columbus Park

[liii] Climbing equipment, Slides, and swings

[liv] Swinging Exercise Rings/Trapeze Bars

Hudson River Park

[lv] Climbing equipment and Slides

Jacob H. Schiff

[lvi] Fall zone less than six feet in all directions.

[lvii] Slides

[lviii] Horizontal distance between swings less than 24 inches.

[lix] Chain or Cable Walks

St. Catherine’s Playground

[lx] Slides and Swings

St. Nicholas Park

[lxi] Swings

[lxii] More than two swings per section of the swing structure.

Tompkins Square Park (1)

[lxiii] Minimum of nine feet between independent equipment not met and minimum distance of twice the height of the pivot point on swing structure not met.

[lxiv] Peeling Paint

[lxv] Climbing Equipment and Swings

Tompkins Square Park (2)

[lxvi] Minimum distance of at least nine feet between independent structures not met.

[lxvii] Peeling Paint

Unknown

[lxviii] Climbing Equipment

Washington Square Park

[lxix] Climbing Equipment, Slides, and Swings.

Captain Mario Fajardo Park                               

[lxx] Minimum of six feet from all directions of swings as well as twice the height of the pivot point from both sides of the swing not met.

[lxxi] Climbing Equipment, Slides, Swings.

Cunningham Park

[lxxii] Peeling Paint

[lxxiii] Climbing Equipment and Swings.

[lxxiv] Chain or Cable Walks and Swinging Exercise Rings/Trapeze Bars                   

Marie Curie 158

[lxxv] Peeling Paint

[lxxvi] Chain or Cable Walks

Playground 146

[lxxvii] Minimum of six feet from all equipment as well as twice the height of the pivot from the front and back of the swing not met.

[lxxviii] Climbing Equipment and Swings

PS 162

[lxxix] Peeling Paint

[lxxx] Climbing Equipment

Saul Weprin

[lxxxi] Minimum of nine feet between independent structures not met

[lxxxii] Peeling Paint

[lxxxiii] Climbing Equipment

[lxxxiv] Swinging Exercise Rings/Trapeze Bars

Seven Gables Playground

[lxxxv] Swings

Silent Springs Playground

[lxxxvi] Minimum of six feet from all directions of swings as well as twice the height of the pivot point from both sides of the swing no met.

[lxxxvii] Swings

[lxxxviii] Seats are constructed of heavy rigid material and there are more than two seats per section of swing structure.

 

 

Tail Oak

[lxxxix] Peeling Paint

[xc] Climbing Equipment and Swings

[xci] Horizontal distance between swings not at least 24 inches

[xcii] Swinging Exercise Rings/Trapeze Bars

Virginia Principe Playground

[xciii] Climbing and Slides

Dugan Playground

[xciv] Minimum of six feet from all equipment as well as twice the height of the pivot from the front and back of the swing not met.

[xcv] Peeling Paint

[xcvi] Climbing Equipment and Swings.

[xcvii] Chain or Cable Walk

Markham Playground

[xcviii] Minimum of six feet from all equipment as well as twice the height of the pivot from the front and back of the swing not met.

[xcix] Climbing Equipment, Slides and Swings

[c] Chain or Cable Walk

Miller Field

[ci] Minimum of six feet from all equipment as well as twice the height of the pivot from the front and back of the swing not met.

[cii] Peeling Paint

[ciii] Climbing Equipment and Swings

Young Israel

[civ] Minimum of six feet in all direction not met

[cv] Peeling Paint

[cvi] Climbing Equipment and Swings

[cvii] Horizontal distance between swings less than 24 inches.