The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) joined with the Trust for Public Land (TPL), Council Member Robert Holden, staff, students and others to celebrate the opening of the newly renovated green infrastructure playground In Maspeth, Queens.
The opening of the new playground took place on October 1, 2024.
By replacing the formerly asphalt playground with new green infrastructure, the new schoolyard will absorb 720,000 gallons of stormwater annually, helping to combat flooding in the area and reduce pollution in the East River and New York Harbor.
DEP provided $1 million in funding for the new playground, which was designed by students and staff.
It features play equipment, a track, a basketball court, a volleyball court, picnic tables, an outdoor classroom and green infrastructure that will capture stormwater.
This will ease the pressure on the area’s sewer system, reduce flooding, and help improve the health of the river and harbor.
The schoolyard will be accessible to both the school and wider community after school hours and on the weekends.
Since 1996, TPL’s NYC Playgrounds Program has helped design and build 231 school and community playgrounds across the five boroughs.
With urgency, TPL is leading the movement to transform asphalt school grounds into vital green infrastructure through advocacy, policy change, research, resource sharing and by creating and evaluating important projects like the schoolyard in Maspeth.
DEP’s green infrastructure program has constructed nearly 14,000 green infrastructure installations including curbside rain gardens, green roofs, subsurface detention, permeable pavers and green medians.
All of these green installations intercept stormwater before it can drain into the sewer system, creating additional capacity in the sewers, which helps to reduce flooding and any overflows into local waterways.
Over the last 10 years, DEP has invested $5.7 billion to upgrade all drainage systems, including sewers, across the city and is planning to invest more than $10 billion for similar upgrades over the next decade.
