Newly renovated recreation
space opens on Fox Street
2173 White Plains Road 718-931-4335
Just South of Pelham Pkwy.
SOLGAR
VIBRANT HEALTH
HIMALAYA
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, J 18 ULY 19-25, 2019 BTR
OPEN
7 DAYS
SALE
WE CARRY A WIDE VARIETY OF
Organic Foods, Herbs, Homeopathic Products & More
SALE ENDS 7/31/19 25%OFF
WE CARRY A FULL
SELECTION OF
CBD
PRODUCTS
Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. played basketball with youth at the
newly renovated Foxhurst playground on opening day.
Photo by Jewel Webber
BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
A newly revitalized playground
next to a school building
has transformed a barren
blacktop into a vibrant
play space for the entire community.
Youth, school offi cials and
community leaders came together
on Tuesday, June 25
to celebrate the completion of
a state-of-the art green playground
that serves a group of
schools at 977 Fox Street and
will also be open to the entire
community.
Students at the school
campus – which includes Accion
Academy, the School of
Performing Arts and South
Bronx Classical Charter
School – participated in the
process of designing the new
playground as part of the
work of non-profi t, Trust for
Public Land, which worked
with the city to develop the
new public space.
The $1.35 million playground
includes a new running
track, basketball hoops,
turf fi eld for softball and
other activities, green-roof
gazebo, amphitheater and
play equipment, and benches
and trees.
Providing funding for the
project were Borough President
Ruben Diaz Jr., Councilman
Rafael Salamanca Jr.,
MetLife Foundation, NYC
Department of Environmental
Protection and Trust for
Public Land.
Salamanca said he provided
$425,000 in funding
for the playground, which he
added that he used in his own
youth when he grew up in the
community.
“I played at that park adjacent
to the school as a kid,”
said Salamanca, recalling it
once had few amenities and
was an asphalt play area before
renovations.
Now as a councilman, he
said that he is looking for
ways to bring dollars back
to a number of parks in his
district that have seen disinvestment
for years.
“We just took an asphalt
lot and brought it back to life
for a multi-use purpose, for
kids not just in that school
building, but also in the community,”
said Salamanca.
The renovations let youth
play soccer, softball, kickball
and punch ball, said Salamanca,
who added he has
worked to have the majority
of the recreational space
in his district renovated in
some way, and that he fi nds
this extremely satisfying and
rewarding.
Diaz said in a statement,
released in response to an inquiry
about the new facility,
that he has always advocated
for creating facilities where
children can run around and
be kids rather than staying
at home and playing video
games.
He said he advocates for
shared recreational spaces
that are in good condition
and inviting to the public so
that Bronxites of all ages can
take advantage of them.
“What starts off as ‘kids
being kids;’ running around
and having fun in our park
spaces, becomes the building
blocks to developing a
healthier lifestyle as our kids
become adults,” said the borough
president.
Diaz added that improving
public spaces is paramount for
his #Not62 health initiative,
designed to raise the health
outcomes of Bronxites.
Mary Alice Lee of the
Trust for Public Land said
she believes that the play
area will be an asset to the
Foxhurst community and
that the organization had
mapped the area and determined
it was in need of more
parkland and recreational
space.
“The creation of this new
playground – led with the tremendous
assistance of the
students – will not only serve
the needs of the school, but is
a beautiful new park for the
entire community to enjoy,”
said Carter Strickland, The
Trust for Public Land New
York State Director.