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QUEENS WEEKLY, OCTOBER 27, 2019
Parent starts petition for Little Neck playground
to remain open during summer and weekends
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
‘off-hours.’ 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.