New Green Playground Opens In Harlem Schoolyard

HARLEM, NY — What was once a cracked-asphalt schoolyard in Harlem is now a state-of-the-art playground that will improve the health of New York City's waterways in addition to bringing joy to local children, city officials announced Monday.

A new playground shared by the Harriet Tubman Learning Center and Democracy Prep Endurance Middle School on West 126th Street between seventh and eighth avenues was in use for the first time Monday. The playground features brand-new basketball hoops, a running track and playground structures for the students and will be open to the public on weekends and school vacations, city officials said. Students from both schools even had a hand in designing the new playground.

But the most impressive aspect of the new facility may be its unseen impact. The playground was constructed with green infrastructure components such as specialized plantings and shade trees and porous pavement that will help absorb about 700,000 gallons of stormwater runoff every year, city officials said. The result will be a healthier Hudson River, according to city Department of Environmental Protection officials

"This new state-of-the-art schoolyard provides a fun and safe place for CS 154 students and the Harlem community, while also improving the ecological health of the Hudson River and cleaning the air," DEP Commissioner Vincent Sapienza said in a statement. "The more green infrastructure we build to capture stormwater before it ever enters our sewer system, the healthier New York City’s surrounding waterbodies will become."

The new playground is the third of three new school playground built through a partnership between The Trust for Public Land and the New York Road Runners, according to a press release. The $1.3 million renovation project began in October 2016 and was funded by donations from the New York Road Runners and allocated funds from Borough President Gale Brewer, Assembly Member Inez E. Dickens and the DEP.

"Thanks to our partnership with the New York Road Runners, which not only funds playground and running-track creation but also teaches kids the joys of running and exercise, this new playground will give 37,245 Harlem children and families a 10-minute walk to a park that will provide a lifetime of fitness and health benefits," Carter Strickland, New York State Director at The Trust for Public Land, said in a statement.

Check out photos of the new playground:

Photos by NYC Department of Environmental Protection