South Oxford Park

NYC PARKS FIRST DEPUTY COMMISSIONER AND BROOKLYN PARKS COMMISSIONER JOIN STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS FOR A SPRING CLEAN UP AT SOUTH OXFORD PLAYGROUND

On Saturday, April 8, NYC Parks First Deputy Commissioner Liam Kavanagh and Brooklyn Parks Commissioner Martin Maher joined the Friends of South Oxford Playground, local residents and community volunteers at South Oxford Playground for the agency’s new citywide effort, Spring Cleaning.

This month, with a combined effort from Parks staff, and an expected 2,500 volunteers, more than 8,000 hours will be dedicated to this important prep work.

The Spring Cleaners will scrub down play equipment, paint benches and spruce up greenery, and tree pits (adding mulch, watering trees, planting), among other tasks. To accomplish their tidying goals, Parks will equip volunteers with approximately:

• 6,000 sponges
• 5,000 pairs of gloves
• 4,000 gallons of paint
• 700 paint brushes
• 500 buckets
• 500 drop cloths/tarps

New Yorkers interested in helping to care for their local playgrounds during Spring Cleaning can find volunteer events to join on the NYC Parks site.

In addition to Spring Cleaning, NYC Parks’ staff is undertaking its annual seasonal preparations including:

Playgrounds
• All play equipment will be inspected between March 1st and April 30th, with our goal to any necessary repairs before Memorial Day.

• Under the “Operations for the 21st Century” plan, Parks has improved our mobile cleaning crews citywide – helping to better address playground repair and inspection, deploy additional cleaning and horticulture staff, and put new seasonal “Step-In” staff in place to make sure our parks and playgrounds stay clean.

Water Fountains
• NYC Parks plumbers are busy activating the majority of NYC Parks' 3,500 drinking fountains in April.

• The process of turning on our fountains involves the following:
o NYC Parks plumbers assure that all fixtures are functioning properly, and make any necessary adjustments and/or repairs.
o All water lines need to be properly flushed.
o Drains which became clogged over the winter need to be cleaned and cleared.

Plants/Flowers
• NYC Parks gardens and plantings are supported by three greenhouses, one in Staten Island, one in the Bronx, and one in Queens.

• Starting in December, annuals and perennials are grown from seed, plugs, liners, and bareroot plants so that plants are ready to plant outside in April and May (after the last frost).