By Carla Zanoni
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — It may not be the shores of Maui, but the sand box at J. Hood Wright Park is paradise for the kids who play there.
Unfortunately, keeping the box with enough sand has proven hard work for neighborhood parents.
Johanna Flattery, mother of Leo, 2, and Francis Byrne, 4, learned that lesson after the box’s sand went missing less than one year after its installation, due to regular wear and tear, and a design flaw that did not include a lid for bad weather.
When she tried to get new sand for the box from the Parks Department, she said she was told that parents of children who use the sand are responsible for refilling the box. Throughout the city, parks associations formed by residents — and not the department — are responsible for maintenance.
So, together with her neighbor Rachel Sherrow, she formed the volunteer group Friends of J Hood Wright Park, which collected donations online and at the park, and worked with the Parks Department to get the box ready in time for the busy play season.
“In urban spaces, things are very heavily used, we are very different from suburbs where people have their own backyards and own sandboxes,” Jennifer Hoppa, Administrator of Northern Manhattan Parks, said.
“The best thing is for us to build a coalition of parents to try to get word out of this need.”
This year, Friends of J Hood Wright Park hope to once again find the approximately $400 to $500 it will need to replenish the sand twice a year and will continue to work toward educating parents on how kids can best use the toddler playground responsibly.
The group has already posted signs asking parents to be careful of the amount of sand spilled outside of the box — an initiative that may be a losing battle from the amount of sand that is spread throughout the entire toddler play area.
But Flattery believes that the more parents get involved in the upkeep, the more they more conscientious they are about not only the sand box, but the entire park.
