NYPIRG Says NY Playgrounds Unsafe, Park Board Denies

AM I SAFE? A young girl sits on a swing in a playground in Columbus Park, New York. Swings were listed among the common playground hazards by New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. (Shi Lixin/The Epoch Times)

NEW YORK—The latest report from New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) shows hazards at nearly all of the 29 playgrounds they surveyed. The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (NYCDPR) denies the claims.

RISKY: A boy hangs upside down on a monkey bar in Columbus Park. (Shi Lixin/The Epoch Times)

The neighborhood playgrounds surveyed in Manhattan were found to have hazards including inadequate protective surfaces and fall zones, equipment of unsafe heights, risky swings, head entrapment and clothing entanglement hazards, litter and toxic substances—according to the report. Those examined outside of Manhattan showed fewer of these hazards.

C.C. Song, a NYPIRG project coordinator at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, stated in a press release that, “Far too many New York playgrounds contain hazards that can injure and even kill.”

According to an estimate by the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), nearly 200,000 children playing on public playgrounds nationwide are injured seriously enough to need emergency room treatment annually, among those, an average of 17 die in playground-related incidents.

The unsafe elements of the playgrounds noted in the report were “strongly” disagreed with in a statement by the NYCDPR.

“New York City's playgrounds are among the safest in the world. … In all of our parks and playgrounds, children's safety is our highest priority. Our playground equipment is of top quality, and complies with the rigorous guidelines established by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and the CPSC,” read the statement.

According to the statement, all the playground equipment is made by manufacturers who are members of the International Play Equipment Manufacturers Association (IPEMA), a third party certification inspection organization.

Furthermore, the statement said that Parks Inspection Program (PIP) has been making continuous improvements to the parks and playgrounds with 264 skilled workers annually, spending more than $300 million in capital funds each year over the last four years. Over 30,000 maintenance repairs were made in the past year.

“I think in terms of playground safety, we feel that playgrounds are becoming safer and safer,” said Song in an interview. “We do recognize the park board’s effort. The park board has always been positive and responsible, but we do think there are some unsafe elements that need to be addressed.”

NYPIRG proposed various ways to improve, such as demanding state and local governments adopt the “Model Law on Public Play Equipment and Areas” of Consumer Federation of America (CFA), the country’s largest consumer organization, requesting parents, park personnel, and school administrators to evaluate the sites based on CFA’s parent checklist, and asking schools and municipalities to seal chromated copper arsenate-treated wood play equipment to prevent exposure to toxic residue.

With additional reporting from Shi Lixin.