Prospect Park YMCA &
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SUMMER FUN,
FITNESS, AND
SAVINGS!
FOR A LIMITED TIME -
ENJOY CITY WIDE ACCESS!
COURIER L 6 IFE, JUNE 7–13, 2019 PS
AFTER: The MS 354 playground as it now appears following a $2 million
renovation. Trust for Public Land
OPEN HOUSE
SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 11AM-3PM
SUMMER MEMBERSHIP VALID 5/18-8/31
BY COLIN MIXSON
This playground is ballin’!
Crown Heights kids celebrated
the grand opening
of a new playground
at MS 354 and the KIPP
AMP charter school
last week with some
help from the Brooklyn
Nets, which dispatched
it’s highoctane
hype team
to psyche up locals
about the new
green space.
“It was pretty
amazing,” said
Carter Strickland,
who heads up the
Trust for Public
Land, a nonprofi t
group that managed
the playground’s
construction.
The new play space
was built over a dilapidated
blacktop located
behind the Park Place
school between Albany
Avenue and Troy Avenue,
which was used as much for
employee parking as for child’s
play, according to Strickland.
“There had been two, kind
of sad half-courts, which was
mostly used for teacher
parking,” he said.
It now features two
sets of play equipment,
a tennis court, basketball
courts, a garden
area and outdoor
classroom, chess
tables, and a nice
little gazebo with a
roof made of green
stuff.
The Trust
for Public Land
worked with the
governor’s offi ce,
the city Department
of Environmental
Protection,
and the Brooklyn
Nets to cobble together
$2 million for
the playground renovation, before
consulting with local kids
to fi nd out what they wanted
built there.
Throughout the planning
phase, kids learned the ins
and outs of designing parks,
how to factor in existing infrastructure,
such as underground
pipes for water fountains,
and the cold hard facts
of working within a budget,
along with sometimes having
to let go of some coveted amenities,
Strickland said.
“In the end, we have the
budget reality check,” he explained.
“It’s a tough lesson,
but there’s some things that
don’t get past the starting gate.
They want a pool — we’re not
getting a pool.”
The playground is reserved
for students during school
hours, but anyone is welcome
to play there on weekends, after
school, and during school
breaks, and the space is expected
to serve the more than
32,000 people living within a
10-minute walk.
“What we’re very proud of
is there’s 32,000 people who
live within 10 minutes,” said
Strickland. “It’s a neighborhood
park.”
Nothing but Nets!
Crown Heights kids celebrate new playground
HIGH SPIRITS: A stilt walker
preforms in celebration of
MS 354’s new playground.
Photo by Trey Pentecost