Laurelton Playground

NYC Parks Opens $1.5 Million Accessible, Car-themed Laurelton West Playground

NYC Parks’ Queens Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski today joined Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, members of Queens Community Board 13 and children from the Cambria Center for the Gifted Child to cut the ribbon on a $1.5 million reconstruction of Cambria Heights’ Laurelton West Playground. In a nod to the nearby Laurelton and Belt Parkways, the new, accessible playground is arranged in a cloverleaf, with car-shaped playground equipment, a spray shower in the shape of a streetlamp and road markings along its safety surface

"Every community deserves great parks, and every kid deserves a great playground. Laurelton West Playground's new car-themed design will let children of all ages and all physical abilities rev up across ramps, past a streetlamp-shaped spray shower and over a bridge," said Queens Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski. "I would like to thank the Borough President's office, both current Borough President Melinda Katz and former Borough President Helen Marshall, for funding this project and continuing to support our borough's parks."

The new playground is built to be accessible for children of all ages and abilities, with ramps leading to its play features, separate sections of play equipment for younger and older children, and ADA-compliant swings. The project also installed new swing sets, an open lawn area, picnic tables, benches and drinking fountains, and ringed the park with planting beds, shrubs, and trees. This playground was funded with an allocation by the Office of the Queens Borough President and designed by NYC Parks’ landscape architect Imelda Bernstein.