FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New York Road Runners, The Trust for Public Land, New York City, and
Olympic Medalist Jenny Simpson Unveil New State-of-the-Art Green Playground
in Harlem
Green infrastructure will capture almost 700,000 gallons of stormwater a
year and help improve the health of the Hudson River
New York, October 30, 2017 — The Trust for Public Land, New York Road
Runners, and New York City today unveiled a state-of-the-art green
playground at CS 154 Harriet Tubman Learning Center, in the Harlem
neighborhood of Manhattan. The schoolyard, which is also shared by the
Democracy Prep Endurance Middle School, was designed with help from the
school’s students and built in partnership with the Department of Education
(DOE), Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the School
Construction Authority (SCA). The playground includes new green
infrastructure components that will allow the space to capture almost
700,000 gallons of stormwater runoff each year, which will help to improve
the health of the nearby Hudson River. The playground also operates as a
public open space during weekends, holidays and school vacations.
The project broke ground last October, at what was at the time a cracked
asphalt schoolyard, and is the third and final site to open in 2017 through
NYRR and the Trust for Public Land’s first year of partnership. Earlier
this year, refurbished playgrounds were opened at the Piagentini and Jones
Educational Complex, in Throggs Neck, Bronx, and PS 120 Queens, in Flushing
through NYRR’s $1 million contribution to the organizations’ shared
commitment to provide New York City students and communities with beautiful
outdoor spaces. The renovated sites will serve more than 2,000 students and
50,500 community members who live within a 10-minute walk of these sites.
"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," said Carter Strickland, New York
State Director at The Trust for Public Land.
"Through our first year of partnership with The Trust for Public Land we
were honored and excited to be able to help open three new state-of-the-art
community playgrounds across New York City," said Michael Capiraso,
President and CEO at New York Road Runners. "Each of the sites opened in
2017 host our free youth fitness program, Rising New York Road Runners, and
thanks to this exciting partnership Harlem students and community members
now have a great outdoor space to run, play and get active."
"This new state-of-the-art schoolyard provides a fun and safe place for CS
154 students and the Harlem community, while also helping to capture
stormwater, clean the air, and beautify the neighborhood," said DEP
Commissioner Vincent Sapienza. "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 and we look forward to
cutting the ribbon on many more green playgrounds!"
The $1.3 million playground renovation was funded through an innovative
public-private partnership, with $333,000 from New York Road Runners,
$500,000 from Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer and Assemblymember
Inez E. Dickens, and $339,935 from DEP.
Community participation is a cornerstone of The Trust for Public Land’s NYC
Playgrounds Program, and students spent three months helping plan the new
playground. The Trust for Public Land worked closely with students from CS
154 Harriet Tubman School and Democracy Prep Endurance Middle School to
create a new schoolyard that features an artificial turf field, 3-lane
running track, basketball courts, play equipment, trees in pervious pavers,
plantings, benches, game tables, color seal art designed by the students
and an outdoor classroom. The color seal painting reflects the
student-chosen theme of "Night and Day" to celebrate the neighborhood’s
musical heritage.
Additionally, the playground includes green infrastructure elements, such
as specialized plantings and shade trees, porous pavement and permeable
pavers. Also included in the construction is a new synthetic turf field
made of woven polyester filaments and featuring a broken stone storage
layer and perforated distribution pipes to promote infiltration.
Such green infrastructure design elements are a hallmark of The Trust for
Public Land’s playground work. These features reduce storm runoff that can
flood streets and overwhelm sewer systems, allowing untreated water to end
up in rivers and bays. Each playground absorbs hundreds of thousands of
gallons of water annually and includes 20-30 new trees that bring shade and
better air quality to their neighborhoods. In New York City, similar
playgrounds are being designed in the East River, Bronx River and Flushing
Bay watersheds.
Continuing their multiyear partnership, NYRR has committed to an additional
$1 million contribution, which will continue to help build safe outdoor
recreational spaces for the youth and communities of New York City’s five
boroughs. Looking forward into 2018 and beyond, NYRR plans to help The
Trust for Public Land renovate underutilized school yards in all five
boroughs of New York City.
"We are proud to work together with The Trust for Public Land to transform
public school yards into high-quality, green community playgrounds, and
look forward to enhancing more spaces for the community members as well as
our Rising New York Road Runners, to give them safe, clean spaces to run
and play," said Peter Ciaccia, NYRR president of events and race director
of the TCS New York City Marathon. "We’re excited to announce that we will
be expanding our efforts into Brooklyn and Staten Island in 2018 and 2019,
and look forward to the many years of collaboration ahead of us."
Since 1996, The Trust for Public Land, working with the City, has helped
transform more than 190 public schoolyards from asphalt lots to spaces that
offer safe and durable play equipment, athletic facilities and gardens. The
program has added more than 150 acres of additional playground space
serving the nearly 3.5 million people who live within a half-mile of one of
the sites.
Attendees at Monday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony included Manhattan Borough
President Gale A. Brewer, DEP’s Director of Stormwater Management Outreach
Mikelle Adgate, The Trust for Public Land New York State Director Carter
Strickland and Senior Vice President and Director of City Park Development
Adrian Benepe, NYRR President and CEO Michael Capiraso, NYRR President of
Events and Race Director of the TCS New York City Marathon Peter Ciaccia,
Olympic medalist Jenny Simpson, Ambassador & Special Advisor to Rising New
York Road Runners, CS 154M Principal Elizabeth Jarrett and the students
themselves.
About NYRR
Founded in 1958, New York Road Runners has grown from a local running club
to the world’s premier community running organization, whose mission is to
help and inspire people through running. NYRR’s commitment to New York
City’s five boroughs features races, community events, youth running
initiatives, school programs, and training resources that provide hundreds
of thousands of people each year, from children to seniors, with the
motivation, know-how, and opportunity to Run for Life. NYRR’s premier
event, and the largest marathon in the world, is the TCS New York City
Marathon. Held annually on the first Sunday in November, the race features
50,000 runners, from the world’s top professional athletes to a vast range
of competitive, recreational, and charity runners. To learn more, visit
nyrr.org.
About The Trust for Public Land
The Trust for Public Land creates parks and protects land for people,
ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come. Nearly ten
million people live within a ten-minute walk of a Trust for Public Land
park, garden, or natural area, and millions more visit these sites every
year. To support The Trust for Public Land and share why nature matters to
you, visit www.tpl.org.
About New York City DEP
DEP manages New York City’s water supply, providing more than one billion
gallons of water each day to more than 9 million residents, including 8.5
million in New York City. The water is delivered from a watershed that
extends more than 125 miles from the city, comprising 19 reservoirs and
three controlled lakes. Approximately 7,000 miles of water mains, tunnels
and aqueducts bring water to homes and businesses throughout the five
boroughs, and 7,500 miles of sewer lines and 96 pump stations take
wastewater to 14 in-city treatment plants. DEP has nearly 6,000 employees,
including almost 1,000 in the upstate watershed. In addition, DEP has a
robust capital program, with a planned $14 billion in investments over the
next 10 years that will create up to 3,000 construction-related jobs per
year. This capital program is responsible for critical projects like City
Water Tunnel No. 3; the Staten Island Bluebelt program, an ecologically
sound and cost-effective stormwater management system; the city’s Watershed
Protection Program, which protects sensitive lands upstate near the city’s
reservoirs in order to maintain their high water quality; and the
installation of more than 820,000 Automated Meter Reading devices, which
will allow customers to track their daily water use, more easily manage
their accounts and be alerted to potential leaks on their properties. For
more information, visit nyc.gov/dep, like us on Facebook, or follow us on
Twitter.
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