Newly renovated recreation space opens on Fox Street
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 stateof
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.
www.BXTimes.com BRONX WEEKLY July 21, 2019 8
Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. played basketball with youth at the newly
renovated Foxhurst playground on opening day. Photo by Jewel Webber
DSNY features ‘better bin’
competition on Castle Hill Ave
BY ALEX MITCHELL
The NYC Department of Sanitation
is looking to dump its current
street side litterbins that
are currently found throughout
the Bronx, as well as the rest of
the city.
DSNY has launched the ‘better
bin’ competition that pits two
new, different prototype cans at
three citywide locations; one of
which is on Castle Hill Avenue
between Ellis and Newbold avenues.
Now in its fi nal ‘knockout
round’ these pilot cans come in
sets of two: one for landfi ll use
and the other for recycling.
Design A, known as ‘Group
Project’ has a bi-colored, cage
like design with a divider at the
bin’s top. Meanwhile Design B,
which is called ‘Smart Design’
features a more open cylinder
with a mesh-like metal grating
that’s more translucent than
its competitor. The recycling
version of Design B includes a
cover with a narrower circular
opening to dispense litter
through.
The judging panel empowered
to decide the fate of the two
options represents
“a diverse group of
stakeholders from
the DSNY design
community, as well
as technical experts
in manufacturing
and industrial design,”
according to
the request for proposal
draft for this
litter bin idol competition.
Although the
public can’t text in
their vote to Ryan
Seacrest, the DSNY
is seeking feedback
on the competition.
Residents are invited
to take an online
survey to see if
any parts of the can
plan should be discarded.
These DSNY prototypes will
be in Castle Hill for the remainder
of the summer. The voting on
the bins will begin in September.
Design A of the proposed new litter basket. Photo by Silvio Pacifi co
Design B of the proposed new litter basket. Photo by
Silvio Pacifi co
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