STATEN ISLAND — On a scorching hot day, Staten Island parents turn to spray showers in public parks to cool down their kids.
"It's very refreshing," said Lorrain Litman, who took her granddaughter Abigail Litman, 3, to the sprinklers at Clove Lakes Park. "It's very enjoyable."
While damages from Hurricane Sandy closed the large spray showers at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Boardwalk and Beach, Seaside Wildlife Nature Park, and the one at Midland Playground, 21 other parks across the borough have spots for kids to get a break from the summer heat.
For Tina Watson, 56, who takes her granddaughter Alecia Watson, 5, to the spray showers at the Old Town Playground, said the park isn’t just a good place to cool down in the summer, but a place for the neighborhood kids to meet over the summer.
“We all get together, it’s nice,” she said. “We get to see each other over the summer.”
Watson, who has lived in South Beach her whole life, said the younger children who can’t swim in the public pool in the park can keep cool in the sprinklers, and also play on the slides and swings right next to it.
“It’s a good place,” she said. “Especially for the little ones that can’t go in the pool.”
Here’s a list of the open spray showers this summer across the borough:
► Cloves Lake Park, Forest Avenue and Victory Boulevard
► Old Town Playground, Parkinson Avenue and Kramer Street
► Long Pond Park, Page Avenue, Hylan Boulevard and Amboy Road
► De Matti Playground, Tompkins Avenue, between Chestnut Street and Shaughnessy Lane
► Dongan Playground, Mason Avenue, between Buel and Dongan Hills avenues
► Dugan Playground, Mill Road to Weed Avenue
► Greencroft Playground, Greencroft Avenue, between Ainsworth and Redgrave avenues
► Jennifer’s Playground, Jules Drive, Elson Court and Regis Drive
► Lt. Lia Playground, Wall Street, between St. Marks and Belmont places
► Lopez Playground, Palma Drive, between Targee Street and Oder Avenue
► Gen. Douglas Macarthur Park, Dongan Hills Avenue and Jefferson Street
► Mahoney Playground, Beechwood Avenue, Jersey Street and Crescent Avenue
► Markham Playground, Willowbrook Parkway, Forest Avenue to Houston Street
► McDonald Playground, Forest Avenue, Myrtle Avenue, Broadway and N. Burger Avenue
► Prescott Playground, Edith Avenue and Irvington Street
► Schmul Park, Wild Avenue
► Silver Lake Park, Victory Boulevard, Clove Road and Forest Avenue
► Skyline Playground, Prospect Avenue, between Harvard Avenue and Cylde Place
► Toad Hall Playground, Schmidts Lane, Manor Road and Laguardia Avenue
► White Playground, High Street, Lyman Avenue, Bay Street and Summer Street
► Wolfes Pond Park, Holton Avenue