Greenwich Village Searches For More Funding For Mercer Playground

GREENWICH VILLAGE, MANHATTAN — Parks officials and New York University will need to look for more money to fund a renovation of Mercer Playground after designs with a limited $385,000 budget underwhelmed the community.

Community Board 2 decided unanimously last week that they will ask the city's Parks Department and NYU, who are funding the playground upgrade, to see if they could find more funding so that the renovation can include the entire property, not just the middle play area.

The vote comes after a disappointing reaction to the proposed design for the playground, which were unveiled to residents and the board's Parks and Waterfront Committee earlier this month.

"The overriding disappointment was the limited scope of the renovation, specifically the lack of inclusion of the sections on both ends of the central space," the board said in its resolution. "There was concern that piecemeal renovation would undermine the opportunity for improving the playground overall."

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The preliminary designs for Mercer Playground — which sits a block from Washington Square Park — included turning the concrete play area into a colorful mosaic with new benches, new entrances and a resurfaced floor and walls.

But, the upgrade wouldn't touch a "passive area" on the southern end of the play area and the "sprinkler area" on the northern end. Parks and NYU officials said this was because there wasn't enough in the $385,000 budget to do so, minutes show.

Residents and committee members said they were especially concerned these two sections wouldn't get an upgrade given that they have driven "quality-of-life complaints" about the park.

The community also wasn't fully satisfied with the renovation of the play area, including the placement of the bike path, benches or the colors for the newly-painted walls.

Their resolution asks the Parks Department and NYU to update the designs to reflect their concerns, give them details about how the budget is being spent and requests thatofficials develop a plan that includes the entire property while looking for more money. Some residents suggested that donations could help fill the budget gap.

The Mercer Playground renovation comes about a year after Community Board 2 first asked the Parks Department to look into renovating the park and dozens of residents told officials what they'd like to see in the project.

Parks officials plan to present updated versions to the committee this spring, the department said.

Read more and see renderings of the design plans here.