Letter Report on the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation’s Maintenance and Inspection of Its Playgrounds Located on New York City Housing Authority Property

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This Letter Report presents the results of the New York City Comptroller’s audit to determine whether the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (Parks) is inspecting and maintaining its playgrounds in New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) developments in a satisfactory condition.

Parks is the steward of nearly 30,000 acres of land, including more than 5,000 individual properties ranging from Coney Island Beach and Central Park to community gardens and Greenstreets.   Parks is New York City’s principal provider of recreational and athletic facilities and programs, operating athletic fields, playgrounds, basketball courts, tennis courts, public pools, recreational facilities, nature centers, golf courses, and beaches.  Parks’ mission is to plan resilient and sustainable parks, public spaces, and recreational amenities, build a park system for present and future generations, and care for parks and public spaces.  Inspection teams assigned to the Parks Inspection Program (PIP), administered by the agency’s Operations and Management Planning (OMP) division, use hand-held computers and digital cameras to perform nearly 5,000 PIP inspections each year, rating each inspected park as “acceptable” (A) or “unacceptable” (U) for overall condition and cleanliness.  Parks’ inspection calendar specifies four inspection seasons (Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter) beginning in early March and ending late February.  Each season consists of six inspection rounds, each typically of two weeks’ duration, with 205 randomly-selected, ratable sites inspected in each round.

Parks has a limited but important role with respect to the maintenance and inspection of playgrounds located in NYCHA developments: of the 822 playgrounds within and adjacent to NYCHA’s residential developments across the five boroughs, Parks currently leases and manages 34 such playgrounds located on NYCHA property.   This report concerns Parks’ maintenance and inspection of those 34 sites.  The 788 playgrounds under NYCHA’s jurisdiction will be discussed in a separate report.

Audit Findings and Conclusions

The audit found that, overall, Parks satisfactorily maintains the playgrounds within and adjacent to NYCHA developments as required by the PIP.  We inspected all 34 playgrounds on NYCHA property for which Parks is responsible and reviewed the related inspection reports created and maintained by Parks.   Our inspections found that the playground structures, equipment, and grounds at 33 of the 34 playgrounds were maintained in satisfactory condition.

As an illustration of the acceptable conditions that we observed, the report includes an overall view of Willis Playground, located at Mott Haven Houses in the Bronx (370 East 141st Street), which we visited on July 6, 2017.  The playground had a play structure, fences, and paved surfaces with no structural deterioration, the safety surfacing was intact and the benches, including paint, were in good condition.

However, our inspection found that one playground, Vladeck Park playground, located at 28 Jackson Street, Manhattan, was not maintained in a satisfactory manner.  Our inspection of that playground, on June 2, 2017, found the climbing structure and benches had peeling paint and graffiti.

In addition, through our review of inspection reports, we found reports for 33 of the 34 playgrounds indicating that each was inspected at least twice per year; no inspection reports for the Vladeck Park playground were found.  Our review showed that in the inspection reports posted on Parks’ website, it noted unacceptable conditions found by its inspectors.  In addition, Parks identified the condition of each playground as acceptable, unacceptable, or not rated, in three categories: cleanliness; landscape; and structural.

Parks officials informed us that although the agency’s website lists the Vladeck Park playground, which is situated within a NYCHA development, as a Parks-managed facility, Parks has not been inspecting and maintaining it.  Parks officials informed us that they are now investigating whether the agency has an agreement with NYCHA that makes NYCHA responsible for inspecting and maintaining that playground.  No further information has been provided by Parks.  Accordingly, as of the date of this report, absent evidence to the contrary, we consider the Vladeck Park playground as one for which Parks is responsible, based on Parks having identified it as such on the agency’s website.

Audit Recommendations

The audit recommends that Parks should:

• Continue to (a) inspect and maintain the playgrounds as required by the PIP; and (b) maintain bi-annual inspection reports for each playground site.
• Enroll the playground in Vladeck Park in its inspection program and maintain biannual inspection reports for it.
• Repair and refurbish the playground structures in Vladeck Park in accordance with its regular standards for playgrounds.

Agency Response

In its response, Parks stated, “[w]e are pleased that your Report concluded that, overall, Parks satisfactorily maintains the playgrounds within and adjacent to NYCHA developments as required by the Parks Inspection Program (PIP).  We are also pleased that your inspections and your review of our inspection reports found that the playground structures, equipment, and grounds at 33 of the 34 playgrounds on NYCHA grounds that are Parks properties were maintained in a satisfactory condition.  With regard to Vladeck Park, while the site is a Parks property, the issue of its maintenance jurisdiction was not entirely clear.  Parks is reaching out to NYCHA to coordinate maintenance inspections moving forward.”