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PLAYGROUND PETITION
Parent hopes to keep new schoolyard at Little Neck’s P.S. 221 open during summer and weekends
Officials and students break ground on the new playground at P.S. 221 in Little Neck.
Photo by Jenna Bagcal/QNS
BY JENNA BAGCAL
A parent of a student at a
Little Neck public school is
leading the charge in keeping
the school’s playground open
to the public.
The schoolyard at P.S. 221
officially opened less than five
months after the groundbreaking
ceremony.
Despite the joyous occasion,
Adriana Aviles started a petition
against the Department
of Education, which she said
broke a promise to keep the
playground open during the
summer and weekends.
Aviles started the petition
after presenting her concerns
at the Oct. 7 Community Board
11 meeting. The petition has
garnered 204 signatures since
Aviles started it on Oct. 12.
According to Aviles, the
DOE promised that the public
could access the playground
during “off hours” under
former Mayor Bloomberg’s
PlaNYC Schoolyards to Playgrounds
initiative. The $111
million investment would apply
to 290 school playgrounds
citywide as part of Bloomberg’s
goal of “having every New
Yorker live within a 10-minute
walk of a park or playground.”
But according to a spokesperson
for the Trust for Public
Land, which works to upgrade
school playgrounds, the DOE
lacks funding to pay staff
members that would supervise
the space when school is not in
session.
“When the park opens this
Monday, it will be open to the
public after school from 2:35
to dusk on weekdays. School
custodians are needed to open
and close the yards during ‘offhours.’
These staff members
are paid by the Department
of Education, so The Trust for
Public Land is currently working
with city officials to secure
additional funding to keep the
park open during non-school
hours,” said the spokesperson.
“This new playground
will be a wonderful asset to
the students and families of
PS 221, and we’re having conversations
with members of
the school community to understand
their concerns. This
playground is not part of the
Schoolyards to Playgrounds
program,” added DOE spokesperson
Isabelle Boundy.
Aviles said that the head of
the custodians at P.S. 221 received
a phone call confirming
that there was no money allotted
to keep the schoolyard open
during after school hours. She
approached the school’s principal,
who said that the playground
would only be open
until 5:30 p.m. when the after
school program lets out.
“She said nothing else about
weekends or holidays, so that’s
what we’re fighting for now,”
Aviles said. “I worked for the
city for over 20 years, so I know
the city makes promises which
they don’t keep.”
The playground is set to officially
open on Monday, Oct.
21, and Aviles said she plans to
deliver the petition to Queens
Borough President Melinda
Katz. For now, she continues
to collect signatures with the
help of her local Girl Scout
Troop 4025. Members of the
troop, including her daughter
Anastasia Aviles, are P.S.
221 graduates.
Troop members collected
more than 100 signatures and
shared that they were upset
they would not be able to enjoy
their alma mater’s schoolyard,
which includes new trees, a
turf field, a running track, play
equipment and game tables.
Aviles said that other local
schools like P.S. 98 have playgrounds
that are part of the
Schoolyards to Playgrounds
program and said that P.S. 221
should be included.
She added that the public
playgrounds available to the
community near P.S. 221 are
just “cement spaces.”
“There’s nothing really
worth it for the neighborhood
and the community to say,
‘This is a beautiful park where
we could sit and enjoy and read
in the gazebo and enjoy some
family time or some friendship
time,'” Aviles said.
Vol. 28 No. 43 52 total pages
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