Howard Beach playground to get $1.7M makeover

After being an underused, mostly empty lot for years, the public playground attached to P.S. 207 in Howard Beach will get a makeover next summer.
Located at 160th Avenue and 88th Street, the lot, also known as Walter Ward Playground, will get swing sets, a few pieces of exercise equipment for adults and other amenities to replace the aging metal structure for toddlers that is currently there, explained Dorothy Lewandowski, Queens Borough Commissioner for the Department of Parks & Recreation.
The idea behind having adult exercise equipment in the 0.9-acre playground is to encourage people to move instead of just sitting when they come to the park, Lewandowski said.
“We are hoping on Saturdays and Sundays to bring the families back to the park - how it used to be years ago,” said Nina DeBlasio, parent coordinator at P.S. 207. “This park here in the summer is like a ghost town. Nobody comes,” DeBlasio added.
She explained that the design of the playground is the result of collaboration between the school, Community Board 10 and the city, which will perform the renovation.
The money for the makeover — $1.7 million — which will come from the City Council, has been secured by Councilmember Joseph Addabbo.
“It was about time to get it renovated,” said Addabbo.
He said reconstruction will be done next summer in order not to disturb the school’s studies during the academic year.