New York Road Runners, The Trust for Public Land, New York City, and Olympic Medalist Jenny Simpson Unveil New State-of-the-Art Green Playground in Harlem

New York, October 30, 2017 — The Trust for Public Land, New York Road Runners, and New York City today unveiled a state-of-the-art green playground at CS 154 Harriet Tubman Learning Center, in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan. The schoolyard, which is also shared by the Democracy Prep Endurance Middle School, was designed with help from the school’s students and built in partnership with the Department of Education (DOE), Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the School Construction Authority (SCA). The playground includes new green infrastructure components that will allow the space to capture almost 700,000 gallons of stormwater runoff each year, which will help to improve the health of the nearby Hudson River. The playground also operates as a public open space during weekends, holidays and school vacations.

The project broke ground last October, at what was at the time a cracked asphalt schoolyard, and is the third and final site to open in 2017 through NYRR and the Trust for Public Land’s first year of partnership. Earlier this year, refurbished playgrounds were opened at the Piagentini and Jones Educational Complex, in Throggs Neck, Bronx, and PS 120 Queens, in Flushing through NYRR’s $1 million contribution to the organizations’ shared commitment to provide New York City students and communities with beautiful outdoor spaces. The renovated sites will serve more than 2,000 students and 50,500 community members who live within a 10-minute walk of these sites.

“Thanks to our partnership with the New York Road Runners, which not only funds playground and running-track creation but also teaches kids the joys of running and exercise, this new playground will give 37,245 Harlem children and families a 10-minute walk to a park that will provide a lifetime of fitness and health benefits,” said Carter Strickland, New York State Director at The Trust for Public Land.

“Through our first year of partnership with The Trust for Public Land we were honored and excited to be able to help open three new state-of-the-art community playgrounds across New York City,” said Michael Capiraso, President and CEO at New York Road Runners. “Each of the sites opened in 2017 host our free youth fitness program, Rising New York Road Runners, and thanks to this exciting partnership Harlem students and community members now have a great outdoor space to run, play and get active.”

“This new state-of-the-art schoolyard provides a fun and safe place for CS 154 students and the Harlem community, while also helping to capture stormwater, clean the air, and beautify the neighborhood,” said DEP Commissioner Vincent Sapienza. “The more green infrastructure we build to capture stormwater before it ever enters our sewer system, the healthier New York City’s surrounding waterbodies will become and we look forward to cutting the ribbon on many more green playgrounds!”

The $1.3 million playground renovation was funded through an innovative public-private partnership, with $333,000 from New York Road Runners, $500,000 from Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer and Assemblymember Inez E. Dickens, and $339,935 from DEP.

Community participation is a cornerstone of The Trust for Public Land’s NYC Playgrounds Program, and students spent three months helping plan the new playground. The Trust for Public Land worked closely with students from CS 154 Harriet Tubman School and Democracy Prep Endurance Middle School to create a new schoolyard that features an artificial turf field, 3-lane running track, basketball courts, play equipment, trees in pervious pavers, plantings, benches, game tables, color seal art designed by the students and an outdoor classroom. The color seal painting reflects the student-chosen theme of “Night and Day” to celebrate the neighborhood’s musical heritage.

Additionally, the playground includes green infrastructure elements, such as specialized plantings and shade trees, porous pavement and permeable pavers. Also included in the construction is a new synthetic turf field made of woven polyester filaments and featuring a broken stone storage layer and perforated distribution pipes to promote infiltration.

Such green infrastructure design elements are a hallmark of The Trust for Public Land’s playground work. These features reduce storm runoff that can flood streets and overwhelm sewer systems, allowing untreated water to end up in rivers and bays. Each playground absorbs hundreds of thousands of gallons of water annually and includes 20-30 new trees that bring shade and better air quality to their neighborhoods. In New York City, similar playgrounds are being designed in the East River, Bronx River and Flushing Bay watersheds.

Continuing their multiyear partnership, NYRR has committed to an additional $1 million contribution, which will continue to help build safe outdoor recreational spaces for the youth and communities of New York City’s five boroughs. Looking forward into 2018 and beyond, NYRR plans to help The Trust for Public Land renovate underutilized school yards in all five boroughs of New York City.

“We are proud to work together with The Trust for Public Land to transform public school yards into high-quality, green community playgrounds, and look forward to enhancing more spaces for the community members as well as our Rising New York Road Runners, to give them safe, clean spaces to run and play,” said Peter Ciaccia, NYRR president of events and race director of the TCS New York City Marathon. “We’re excited to announce that we will be expanding our efforts into Brooklyn and Staten Island in 2018 and 2019, and look forward to the many years of collaboration ahead of us.”

Since 1996, The Trust for Public Land, working with the City, has helped transform more than 190 public schoolyards from asphalt lots to spaces that offer safe and durable play equipment, athletic facilities and gardens. The program has added more than 150 acres of additional playground space serving the nearly 3.5 million people who live within a half-mile of one of the sites.

Attendees at Monday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony included Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer, DEP’s Director of Stormwater Management Outreach Mikelle Adgate, The Trust for Public Land New York State Director Carter Strickland and Senior Vice President and Director of City Park Development Adrian Benepe, NYRR President and CEO Michael Capiraso, NYRR President of Events and Race Director of the TCS New York City Marathon Peter Ciaccia, Olympic medalist Jenny Simpson, Ambassador & Special Advisor to Rising New York Road Runners, CS 154M Principal Elizabeth Jarrett and the students themselves.

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