Corona park is among worst in city

A Corona playground recently received an adverse review, designating it as one of the ten most dilapidated and dangerous in the city (out of 69 surveyed) from the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG). Linden Park was singled out for its peeling paint, uneven and dangerous terrain, and widespread litter.
What makes Linden Park, located at 104th Street and 41st Avenue so objectionable? Surveyors from the non-profit organization noted several different playing surfaces: asphalt, rubber tiles, and wood chips, which also contained glass shards in its mixture.
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, unforgiving surfaces.
Linden Park was the only one in Queens to compile a hazard quotient of four - as did five other parks in the city; five other playgrounds in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Staten Island shared the first and second place worst-parks- designation with five- or even six-hazard citations.
For parents with pre-school-aged children who visit during the afternoon, the park’s problems go far 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 during the day. At night, Galindo said the park is essentially 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 69 city parks are renovated in chronogical rotation.
Nevertheless, repairs cannot come soon enough for Melissa Menendez, who often 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.
The closest alternative park - the Corona Health Sanctuary, located at 104th Street and Corona Avenue, received a two-hazard rating in this year’s survey - for “Head Entrapment” and “Toxic Playground Risk.”