Corona park is among City’s worst

A Corona playground recently received a rating as third worst in the city from the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG). Linden Park was singled out for or its peeling paint, uneven terrain, and sprinkled litter.
What makes Linden Park, located at 104th Street and 41st Avenue so bad? Surveyors from the non-profit organization noted a number of different surfaces: asphalt, rubber tiles, and wood chips, which had dirt and glass in the mix.
Paint peeling off on most of the aged equipment earned the park a “Toxic Playground Risk” description, and the surveyor saw litter all over the four-square-block area. In addition, at the park, places where children were likely to fall are hard surfaces.
Linden Park in Queens was the only one in the borough to rack up a score of four-hazardous conditions - as did five other parks in the city - several playgrounds in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Staten Island shared the first and second place worst parks spots with five- or six-hazards.
For parents who frequent the park with pre-school aged children during the afternoon, the park’s problems go beyond those visible in the daylight hours.
“Sometimes drunk people come to the park at night,” said Margarita Galindo, who brings her 5-year-old daughter Giselle to the playground in the afternoon. At night, Galindo said the park is off limits for anyone who wants to stay safe. “I’ve been coming here for seven years . . . Everything is a little old. [Park officials] should replace things.”
According to the Parks Department, the equipment at Linden Park - and at all other parks in the city - is up to industry standards, and the parks are renovated in rotation.
Nevertheless, repairs cannot come soon enough for Melissa Menendez, who comes to the park with her 2-year-old son Juelz.
“It’s unsafe. They need some seats for adults,” she said. “There could be glass anywhere [in between the playground’s rubber squares].”
Menendez said that she occasionally takes Juelz to parks in Manhattan.
“There are better parks, but there are no better parks over here,” she said, shrugging.
The closest park - the Corona Health Sanctuary, located at 104th Street and Corona Avenue, had a two-hazard rating in this year’s survey - for “Head Entrapment” and “Toxic Playground Risk.”