YORKVILLE — The city wants to hear from residents about how best to spend $1.3 million to upgrade a run-down playground at Carl Schurz Park.
A meeting dedicated to the topic on Dec. 15 will gather ideas from the community about how to improve the play space at East End Avenue and East 84th Street, according to City Councilman Ben Kallos, who earmarked the funds.
"Parents have been complaining that some of the playground equipment is falling apart and didn't feel it was safe for their children," Kallos said.
The playground has suffered a lot of wear and tear over the years and the play equipment has "come to the end of its useful life," according to a Parks spokeswoman. In addition, plywood covers one side of a climber, and an empty asphalt court sits in the middle of the space.
The city's Parks Department, which is hosting the meeting, will present a rough, preliminary design for the playground based on residents' suggestions at a previous meeting held on Oct. 29. The agency is holding another meeting because the first one didn't have much of a turnout, the spokeswoman said.
Allie L., an Upper East Side mother of three who declined to reveal her full last name, said there's a lot that can be done to improve the playground, including renovating the "gross" bathroom facilities and evening out the ground, which is currently made up of a mixture of gravel, concrete and rubber.
"Kids always fall in the asphalt courtyard," she said. "I've seen a bunch of kids trip over the uneven ground, too. This is such a massive space. The city could make it a super great playground."
The meeting will be held at the Chapin School, 100 East End Ave., at 6 p.m. on Dec. 15.
