by 
Share On Social!
Children and residents living in the South Bronx, are hoping to see some long needed improvements brought to St. Mary’s Park.
Thanks to a $1.5 million commitment backed by city council member Melissa Mark-Viverito, the park’s playground will hopefully soon see improvements.
“If you are a child growing up in a community where everything around you is in disarray, with trash and broken things, it sends a message that you don’t count,” said Deborah Marton, executive director of the New York Restoration Project, in a New York Times article. “If you walk through a well-maintained open space, even in a low-income community, you feel like your city is investing in you.”
According to the New York Times, although mayor Bill de Blasio recently launched a city-wide Community Parks Initiative aimed at restoring .5 to 1.5 acre parks throughout New York, parks like the 35-acre St. Mary’s, are ineligible for the program due to the park’s larger size.
Although the initial $1.5 million investment may only be enough for improvements to the park’s playground, Ms. Mark-Viverito hopes the it will encourage the city to consider increasing funding for restoring parks like St. Mary’s.
“Open spaces and parks make our neighborhoods more sustainable, vibrant and livable places to call home,” she said, adding that the money would bring “much-needed improvements to a well-loved but under-resourced” park.
When asked by the Times what he would like to see at St. Mary’s park, 14 year-old Jaivon Ramirez said he would like to see more playgrounds with seesaws, and new bleachers around the baseball field. Another teen, Francisco Crespo, said he wished the park stayed open later.
“Instead of closing down so early [at 10 pm], they should hire more security guards,” Crespo said.
Read more about this here.
Access Salud America!’s Active Spaces resources to see why Latino children are in need of safe streets more walkable communities.
By The Numbers
33
percent
of Latinos live within walking distance (<1 mile) of a park
