John Jay Park

Parks Cuts The Ribbon On Restorations To John Jay Playground

Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe today joined City Council Member Jessica Lappin, Congress Member Carolyn Maloney, Assembly Member Micah Kellner, and members of the community to cut the ribbon on nearly $1.8 million in new capital improvements to John Jay Playground.

“Kids of all ages can now play along the ‘river’s edge’ with a specially designed playground that includes a play equipment ship, wavy decks, play bridges and more at the new and improved John Jay Playground,” said Commissioner Benepe. “Thanks to $1.8 million allocated by Council Member Jessica Lappin and Mayor Bloomberg, Parks was able to renovate the existing playground and add more amenities for the neighborhood’s children to enjoy.”

Thanks to nearly $1.5 million allocated by Council Member Lappin, and more than $300,000 allocated by Mayor Bloomberg, Parks has transformed John Jay Playground into a recreational oasis.

“This is a great day for our community’s kids and their parents,” said Council Member Lappin. “As any kid will tell you, the playground is the most important part of any park. And now John Jay Park has the playground that it deserves. I’m proud to have been able to secure funding for this project, I’m happy to be here today, and I’m looking forward to bringing my own boys here to play.”

“With its ‘river’s edge’ theme, the newly-renovated John Jay Park will be the next-best thing to a day at the beach,” said Congresswoman Maloney. “I commend Councilwoman Lappin and Mayor Bloomberg for delivering the funding to upgrade John Jay Park, and I thank Commissioner Benepe and his team at the Parks Department for doing such a great job on the renovations. Improving this much-loved park is a great gift to East Side kids, just in time for summer.”

“Today is a great day for the children of our neighborhood,” said Assembly Member Kellner. “With the inclusion of this new ADA compliant playground equipment, now all children will have the opportunity to run, laugh, and play”

The new playground provides a safe, clean and exciting new play space for children of all ages.
With a “rivers’ edge” theme, there is new play equipment with a ships’ front, wavy decks, slides, bridges, a track ride and numerous other activities. There is also a large climbing net and a Whitehall row boat. The swings include bucket and strap swings, as well as a tire swing. The new sand play area provides an elevated sand table and two children’s tables. For the water play area, there are spray showers, spray hoops, and an area with boulders and a stream. Finally, there are new benches, drinking fountain, and plantings of shrubs, ground covers, and trees.

The playground designer was Alan Scholl. The resident engineers were Nadia Jarrett and Rock Massillon. The contractor was AAH Construction Corp.