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Parks Department Recreation Vans Bring Skating, Games to You

By Mary Johnson | July 17, 2011 10:24am
Kassandra Montanña, 8, went rollerblading for the first time ever on Friday in Bellevue South Park, using equipment provided by a Parks Department mobile recreation unit.
Kassandra Montanña, 8, went rollerblading for the first time ever on Friday in Bellevue South Park, using equipment provided by a Parks Department mobile recreation unit.
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DNAinfo/Mary Johnson

KIPS BAY — In Bellevue South Park, 8-year-old Kassandra Montanña went rollerblading for the first time ever.

She didn’t have any equipment, but that wasn’t a problem. A Parks Department mobile recreation unit was on hand, offering rollerblades, safety equipment and a few helping hands entirely for free.

Kassandra, who lives in Florida but is spending the summer with her aunt in Jamaica, Queens, scooted around the park on Friday afternoon, half-stomping and half-gliding around orange traffic cones set up across the park’s basketball court.

She fell periodically, but her awestruck smile never faded. When asked if she now thought skating was fun, she replied simply, “Yeah.”

The Parks Department operates seven mobile recreation units — vans that carry toys and play equipment — around the five boroughs from June to September.

The units come in three basic varieties. One is dedicated to skating and provides safety gear and rollerblades. Five carry sports equipment, board games and arts and crafts. And the fitness unit is outfitted with two 32-inch flat-screen televisions, the Dance Dance Revolution video game and a Nintendo Wii Fit.

The purpose of the units is to bring play equipment to areas that might not have any, said Nancy Barthold, assistant commissioner for recreation and programming at the Parks Department.

The program has been around for decades, but last year, it was scrapped because of budget constraints, Barthold said. This summer, it's back, and organizations and individuals can apply online to have one visit their area — which is exactly what Lisa Metrock did to bring the skate unit to Bellevue South Park.

“This is the first mobile unit [to ever visit the park],” said Metrock, a volunteer and groundskeeper who has made it her mission to revitalize Bellevue South Park.

Metrock said she was pleased with the unit and with the volunteers.

“I like them. They’re really doing they’re jobs,” said Metrock. “They put the skates on [the kids]. They make sure the gear they’re putting on fits.”

Metrock has been patrolling the park, which stretches from East 26th Street to East 28th Street between First and Second avenues, for about five years. She works 14 hours a day, seven days a week to clean up the area, which has long been populated by drug addicts and the homeless.

The skate van spent six hours in the park on Friday and seemed to be a hit with area children.

Andreen Richardson, 14, who came to the park with her aunt, slalomed around the orange cones and held her own in several races with the boys also skating at the park. And she has at least one trick up her sleeve.

“I turn usually on one foot,” she said with a smile.

Thanks to Metrock’s applications, mobile recreation units will be stopping by the park for the rest of the summer. The park will host play and fitness units twice over the next few weeks and the skate unit will be back toward the end of August.

Metrock has taken it upon herself to help spread the word about the new attractions.

“I tell everybody,” said Metrock, who has lived in the area around Bellevue South Park her entire life. “I’m related to half the people around here.”