Agency and elected officials join P.S. 9 and community members in celebrating the reopening of Naples Playground. Image Credit: NYC Parks/Daniel Avila.
NYC Parks spent $3.115 million in reconstructing the park’s basketball courts and play area. On June 1, 2023, NYC Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue, Council Member David Carr, Principal Deanna Marco and students from P.S. 9 joined other community members to celebrate the reopening of Naples Playground in Concord, Staten Island. The park, which had been closed for renovations since April 2022, reopened in April 2023.
Naples Playground, originally known as P.S. 48 Playground and locally known as Concord Playground, is situated on Naples Street near P.S. 9 Naples Street Elementary School. The park provides a large area for young children to play, and has been a popular community gathering place since it opened in 1965.
Recent renovations to Naples Playground include new cutting-edge basketball courts and a play area for children aged 2-12. The park was redesigned to best serve the needs of P.S. 9., which uses the area during the day, and the design process even included input from P.S. 9 students, whose requests were incorporated into the renovations. For example, the play area was reconstructed to include monkey bars, slides, a spray park, swings, balance beams, and benches, as requested by the students. The basketball courts were also reconstructed to meet the students’ requests of additional court space, a running track, and a kickball diamond. To integrate all of these uses in one area, the redesign layers elements and differentiates them by color—resulting in an engaging and exciting activity space that meets the many needs of the school and park users.
In addition to fulfilling students’ requests, Parks also added new climbing domes, spinners, steppers, modular climbing cubes, ground-level and elevated sensory play panels, and an ADA accessible swing to the play area, as well as new sustainability features such as enlarged plant beds and permeable pavers. These exciting additions to Naples Playground, which necessitated $3.115 million in funding, can be seen alongside the diverse set of tree species located on the site.
These renovations are the first that the park has undergone since 1997-98, when Mayor Giuliani sponsored a $166,500 renovation that included refurbishing the comfort station and installing new asphalt pavement and safety surfacing. The recent improvements are a testament to NYC Parks’ dedication to providing safe and enjoyable recreational areas for New Yorkers.
Council Member David Carr stated, “I played here as a young neighborhood kid and have so many fond memories of my time in this park. I am glad the children of Grasmere and beyond will finally be able to enjoy the new state-of-the-art basketball courts and play area.”
By: Dylan Shusterman (Dylan is the CityLaw intern and a New York Law School student, Class of 2025.)
Source: NYC PARKS CUTS THE RIBBON ON $3.115 MILLION RENOVATION OF NAPLES PLAYGROUND IN STATEN ISLAND, June 1, 2023.