December 18, 2019

$1.9 Million Green Playground to Bring Nearly 45,000 Residents Within a 10-Minute Walk of a Park and Improve the Health of Flushing Bay

Photos are Available on DEP’s Flickr Page

The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), The Trust for Public Land, Queens Borough President Melinda Katz and Council Member Daniel Dromm today joined a highly diverse student body, teachers and families to break ground on a new, student-designed green playground housed on the joint campus for Pan Am International High School, Civic Leadership Academy, VOYAGES Preparatory High School, and Queens Transition Center in Elmhurst, Queens. Through funding provided by DEP, the new playground will include green infrastructure that will absorb approximately 1.7 million gallons of stormwater annually and improve the health of Flushing Bay.

Scheduled to open in fall 2020, the $1.9 million playground was designed by students from each of the four schools. The student-chosen playground features include basketball hoops, a volleyball court, an outdoor classroom area, game tables, a gazebo, a gymnastics play area and fitness equipment, benches, a track, a hardball court, a turfed softball court, and bleachers, as well as green infrastructure elements such as shade trees, permeable pavers, and a synthetic turf field.

“DEP is proud to partner with The Trust for Public Land and the entire Elmhurst community as they design their new, environmentally-friendly school playground,” said DEP Commissioner Vincent Sapienza. “The green infrastructure elements to be built in the new play space will absorb more than 1.7 million gallons of stormwater annually and improve the health of the nearby Flushing Bay.”

“Once complete, this playground will bring nearly 45,000 Elmhurst residents of all ages within a ten minute walk of the park, giving them a chance to connect, exercise, and have fun together,” said Carter Strickland, New York State Director for The Trust for Public Land. “Parks improve the general health and well-being of the communities they serve, which is why The Trust for Public Land is committed to ensuring that everyone, no matter where they live in New York, has access to a public park within a 10-minute walk of home.”

The groundbreaking ceremony included remarks from Trust for Public Land representatives, elected borough officials, the school’s principals and students who were involved in the design process, as well as a special student performance. The Elmhurst campus playground will be built through The Trust for Public Land’s New York City Playgrounds Program. Since 1996, working with the City, The Trust for Public Land has designed and/or built more than 200 school and community playgrounds across the five boroughs.

"This student-designed and environmentally-friendly playground will be a first-class, state-of-the-art recreational resource for Elmhurst,” said Queens Borough President Melinda Katz. “The construction of this playground represents a significant investment in Elmhurst and will better enable both schoolchildren and local residents to enjoy the outdoors and be physically active. It was a privilege to work with the de Blasio administration, Council Member Dromm and The Trust for Public Land to make today’s groundbreaking possible.”

In addition to serving students, the playground will be open to the public during select after school hours, providing opportunities for both children and adults to be physically active. Overall, The Trust for Public Land in New York City has added more than 160 acres of additional playground space across the five boroughs, serving nearly 4 million people who live within a 10-minute walk of one of the sites.

"This new school playground will serve the Elmhurst community for generations to come,” said NYC Council Finance Chair Daniel Dromm (D-Elmhurst, Jackson Heights). “I am particularly happy that this space, constructed for students, was also designed by students. Placing youth in such positions helps foster leadership skills and civic engagement, something we should be teaching our children at an early age. Because enhancing both NYC green space and public schools is a top priority of mine, I am pleased to join Queens Borough President Katz and the DEP in funding this project.”

The Trust for Public Land’s New York City Playground Program employs participatory design principles, involving students to help them gain valuable knowledge and life skills like budgeting, negotiation, and planning. In addition to being a fun, recreational space, the playground will function as an outdoor classroom for students to explore nature, learn about environmental science, and take part in physical education and after-school activities.

Green infrastructure design elements, made possible in part through a partnership with DEP, are a hallmark of The Trust for Public Land’s playground work. These features help to improve New York City’s resistance to major storms by reducing stormwater runoff that can flood streets and overwhelm sewer systems, allowing untreated water to end up in rivers and bays. Each DEP playground absorbs hundreds of thousands of gallons of water annually and the Elmhurst campus playground will be able to capture 1.7 million gallons of rainwater a year. The playground will also include new trees that bring shade and better air quality to the neighborhood. Similar playgrounds are being designed in the Bronx River, Newtown Creek and Flushing Bay watersheds.

The Elmhurst campus playground is made possible through a partnership with the New York City Departments of Education and Environmental Protection, as well as the City’s School Construction Authority. Funding was also allocated by Queens Borough President Melinda Katz and Council Member Daniel Dromm.

DEP manages New York City’s water supply, providing approximately 1 billion gallons of high-quality drinking water each day to more than 9.6 million residents, including 8.6 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 a robust capital program, with a planned $20.1 billion in investments over the next 10 years that will create up to 3,000 construction-related jobs per year. For more information, visit nyc.gov/dep, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.

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.