By Sadef Ali Kully
Queens residents flock to public parks for reasons that range from sunbathing to playing sports. However, according to the latest data from Center for an Urban Future, the amenities that city parks offer vary considerably from borough to borough.
While Manhattan is home to the city’s busiest park, Central Park, Queens is home to its fourth-largest park, Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Parks in Queens have much to offer such as tennis courts and baseball diamonds, but they can come up a little short when it comes to swimming pools or such basic needs for visitors as bathrooms.
The Center for Urban Future compared and contrasted park facilities across the five boroughs, including pools, tennis courts, handball courts, baseball diamonds and bathrooms.
The data found that Queens had the most tennis courts (90 per million residents), and baseball diamonds (82 per million residents), but was at the bottom of the list when it came to swimming pools (31 per thousand residents) and bathrooms (70 per million residents).
The city’s Parks Department maintains over 29,000 acres of property, covering 14 percent of the city and encompassing more than 1,000 playgrounds, 800 athletic fields, 550 tennis courts, 14 miles of beaches, 13 golf courses, and four zoos.
Reach Reporter Sadef Ali Kully by e-mail at skull
