Kissena Corridor Park

Parks Cuts The Ribbon At Rachel Carson Playground Comfort Station

NYC Parks Queens Borough Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski today joined City Comptroller John Liu, City Council Member Peter Koo, Community Board 7 District Manager Marilyn Bitterman, and University Park Tenants Council President John Henry Byas to cut the ribbon on a new comfort station at Rachel Carson Playground in Queens. It is located within the Kissena Park Corridor on Colden Street between Juniper Avenue and Geranium Avenue.

“This new comfort station is a much needed and welcome addition to Rachel Carson Playground,” said Queens Borough Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski. “Thanks to a generous capital allocation from the City Council, this new restroom will serve as a huge relief to park patrons including the many children that come to play here.”

This project was possible thanks to $1 million in funding from the City Council. Sustainable design techniques were used to make the building energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly. The building serves as a backdrop to a small garden that serves as a new habitat for surrounding birds and insects. The plants in this garden benefit from the rain water run-off from the metal shed roof and allow the stormwater to remain on site, reducing runoff into sewer systems.

Rachel Carson Playground, previously called Playground for All Children, was renamed in honor of Rachel Carson, an environmentalist and author. Rachel Carson's work helped shape environmental policy in the United States, including the 1972 federal ban on DDT under the Clean Water Act. Carson, an accomplished author, published several books receiving critical acclaim. These works include Under the Sea-Wind, The Sea Around Us - which received the National Book Award and the John Burroughs Medal in 1951, The Edge of the Sea, and Silent Spring.

Rachel Carson Playground includes ballfields, four handball courts, a basketball court, drinking fountains, play equipment with safety surfacing, benches, a picnic area with tables, and a trellis. The playground also features cement blocks with depictions of sea creatures, and the titles of several of Carson’s books to commemorate her life’s passion.