By Tara Kyle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
WEST VILLAGE — City leaders kicked off construction on the new Minetta Playground Monday, clearing the way for West Village parents and children to replace the rats and garbage currently inhabiting the space.
The new playground's site at West 3rd Street and Sixth Avenue was occupied by derelict play equipment put in place by an adjacent McDonald’s in 1996 and only recently removed by the Parks Department. The unmaintained equipment had attracted rodents, leading city crews to post rat poison warning signs at the site.
“Getting rid of the hovel trail that was this park has been a drumbeat of this community,” said City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, whose office allocated $937,000 toward the $1.5 million makeover of the playground. “The thanks and recognition really go to the community.”
The new playground will feature a playhouse, spray shower, swings, bicycle rack and a drinking fountain. The Department of Parks and Recreation selected playground equipment with open structures aimed at increasing visibility and safety.
For Pari Dulac, the West Village mother at the heart of the community’s efforts, the ceremony brought to an end a fight that has lasted for more than 25 years.
“I have a lot of gratitude, in my window next door I can hear life,” said Dulac, who has battled to clean up the troubled, 75-year-old park since her own children, now 28 and 31, were small.
Although her sons have not yet given her grandchildren of her own to use the park, Dulac said she never wavered in her commitment to cleaning up the lot because she views her village community as “one family.”
West Village mom Amy Clare, 36, praised the park’s shaded location, noting that some city moms travel well beyond their immediate neighborhood in search of a playground with protection from the midday sun. She also said she was grateful that the new equipment would provide her son with more opportunities for unstructured playtime.
“There’s a tendency to over-schedule that’s happening to this generation of kids,” Clare said, while chasing around her 2-year-old son James.
“Playgroups and activities are great, but there’s nothing like playing in the sprinkler, drawing with chalk. If you can do it in the shade, it’s even better.”
