City-Wide
City Comptroller John C. Liu announced yesterday that a series of audits of the Parks Department found the agency has been slow to make both routine and emergency repairs to playgrounds.
“It’s bad enough that the City is slow in keeping up with routine maintenance and repairs to playgrounds, but it is unconscionable for the City to drag its feet on fixing hazards that can injure children,” Comptroller Liu said. “No child should get hurt on a playground or play equipment that the City knows is damaged. The Parks Department needs to better prioritize repairs to our children’s play areas.”
The Parks Department oversees more than 1,000 playgrounds. The agency’s district offices in each borough issue repair orders based on the observations of their staff and complaints from the public. Many of these orders are for routine repairs and maintenance, but a small number are issued for repairs of hazardous conditions, such as dead tree limbs hanging over play areas, surface problems that can cause tripping, or exposed metal on play equipment.
The audits found that many routine — and even some hazardous — repairs go untouched for months, often taking more than a year to be resolved. In addition, the audit found that the Parks Department has treated many conditions that could easily have been considered hazardous and classified as needing “Immediate Attention” by its Park Inspection Standards — thereby requiring attention within 30 days — as routine. Although emergency conditions are to be resolved in 30 days, the agency lacks any guidelines for timely response to routine repairs and maintenance. Among the five boroughs, only Staten Island playgrounds were consistently maintained and repaired in a timely manner.
Manhattan
The Parks Department issued 3,957 work orders for Manhattan playgrounds from April 1, 2011, through March 31, 2012. Most were routine work ranging from turning on water fountains and spray showers to repairs of play equipment. Of the 3,152 repairs (80 percent), the Parks Department reportedly completed (as of June 18, 2012), it took more than one month to complete 32 percent (996) of these repairs.
Additionally, there were 392 Immediate Attention conditions, such as trip hazards, that were identified by PIP inspectors and were supposed to be resolved in 30 days, although 36 of them were not.
Comptroller Liu’s audit also found that dozens of playground conditions could easily have been classified as requiring Immediate Attention if the conditions had been found by the PIP inspectors, but were not because they were reported by Parks supervisors and were not repaired for many months. (See table below)
Manhattan Potential Immediate Attention Hazards with Longest Wait Times for Repair
Hazard
|
Playground
|
Date Reported
|
Date Repaired
|
Days Elapsed
|
Fall hazard on very top step at 110th Street & Manhattan Avenue
|
Morningside Park
|
5/20/2011
|
3/8/2012
|
293
|
Trip hazard at tree pit from broken tree post
|
Clement Clarke Moore Park
|
5/4/2011
|
2/24/2012
|
296
|
Trip hazard on ground around water cover
|
Hell’s Kitchen Park
|
5/4/2011
|
2/24/2012
|
296
|
Worn out s-hook at bottom of climbing chains
|
McCaffrey Playground
|
4/20/2011
|
2/16/2012
|
302
|
Up lifted concrete trip hazard on sidewalk outside playground
|
Gutenberg Playground
|
4/16/2011
|
2/16/2012
|
306
|
Dead limbs hanging over play equipment
|
Matthews -Palmer Playground
|
6/5/2011
|
5/24/2012
|
354
|
Large limb broken and hanging down over 23rd Street sidewalk
|
Asser Levy Playground
|
5/31/2011
|
6/4/2012
|
370
|
Brooklyn
The Parks Department issued 4,731 work orders for Brooklyn playground repairs and maintenance from April 1, 2011, through March 31, 2012. The Parks Department completed just 3,541 (75 percent) of these work orders as of September 24, 2012. Comptroller Liu’s audit found that, among the completed work orders, just 58 percent (2,043) were resolved in 30 days and 25 percent (868) took more than three months to correct.
In addition, PIP inspectors identified 583 Immediate Attention conditions, of which 46 (8 percent) were not resolved within the required 30-day period. Some of these took as long as 387 days to resolve.
Finally, Comptroller Liu’s audit identified 63 of the work orders that could easily have been classified as needing Immediate Attention, requiring correction in 30 days, if the conditions had been found by PIP inspectors. (See table below)
Brooklyn Potential Immediate Attention Hazards with Longest Wait Times for Repair
Hazard
|
Playground
|
Date Reported
|
Date Repaired
|
Days Elapsed
|
Weld loose railing on Play Equipment. 5-foot fall hazard
|
Benson Playground
|
5/26/2011
|
2/15/2012
|
266
|
Exposed bolt on bottom railing of play equipment
|
Ethan Allen Playground
|
4/19/2011
|
1/11/2012
|
267
|
Trip hazard-missing cobble stones on East 68th Street opposite fire hydrant
|
Hickman Playground
|
5/9/2011
|
3/31/2012
|
327
|
Tree roots pushing up pavers causing a trip hazard
|
Jackie Robinson Park
|
7/31/2011
|
9/17/2012
|
414
|
Repair/Replace climbing on play equipment. Coating cracked, pinch hazard
|
Mother Cabrini Park
|
5/17/2011
|
8/28/2012
|
469
|
Queens
The Parks Department issued 6,164 work orders for Queens playground repairs and maintenance from April 1, 2011, through March 31, 2012. Of the 5,269 work orders that the Parks Department managed to resolve by May 29, 2012, Comptroller Liu’s audit found only 64 percent (3,385) were corrected within 30 days, and another 16 percent (832) waited more than 90 days.
In addition, PIP inspectors identified 527 Immediate Attention conditions, of which 58 (11 percent) were not fixed within the required 30-day period.
Finally, Comptroller Liu’s audit identified 55 work orders that could easily have been classified as hazardous conditions that needed attention within 30 days. Some of these took more than 200 days to resolve. (See table below)
Queens Potential Immediate Attention Hazards with Longest Wait Times for Repair
Hazard
|
Playground
|
Date Reported
|
Date Repaired
|
Days Elapsed
|
Uncovered manhole
|
P.S. 42/Almeda Playground
|
7/30/2011
|
2/12/2012
|
198
|
Loose rail on both sides of monkey bars platform
|
Glendale Playground
|
6/18/2011
|
1/12/2012
|
209
|
Protruding chain link fencing at eye level to be removed in handball court
|
Leo Ehrenreich-Austin St. Playground
|
6/19/2011
|
1/20/2012
|
215
|
QBC/A [Queens Boro Command/ High Priority] Please cold patch in front of water fountain ASAP
|
Astoria Park-Charybdis Playground
|
6/24/2011
|
3/14/2012
|
264
|
QBC/S [Queens Boro Command/ Safety] Several uplifted curled edges of safety surface
|
London Planetree Playground
|
7/24/2011
|
4/20/2012
|
272
|
Bronx
The Parks Department issued 6,040 work orders for Bronx playground repairs and maintenance from April 1, 2011, through March 31, 2012. Of the 5,432 work orders that the Parks Department was able to address by September 24, 2012, the audit found that 90 percent (4,916) were completed within 30 days.
In addition, PIP inspectors identified 239 Immediate Attention conditions, of which 12 (5 percent) were not resolved within 30 days. In fact, some took from 31 days to 129 days to remedy.
Finally, the Bronx audit found 32 work orders that could easily have been classified as hazards demanding repair within 30 days. (See table below)
Bronx Potential Immediate Attention Hazards with Longest Wait Times for Repair
Hazard
|
Playground
|
Date Reported
|
Date Repaired
|
Days Elapsed
|
Hole in handball court surface, trip hazards at curb, by comfort station, and work out play equipment
|
Captain Rivera Playground
|
11/12/2011
|
8/9/2012
|
271
|
Remove dead limb, entrance to basketball handball courts
|
Matthews Muliner Playground
|
8/31/2011
|
6/11/2012
|
286
|
Very large limb down over play equipment
|
St Mary’s Playground South
|
8/29/2011
|
6/14/2012
|
291
|
Large dead limb over sidewalk. Can fall on parked vehicles, Story Ave. side
|
Story Playground
|
4/19/2011
|
4/24/2012
|
371
|
Dead branch hanging over swings, approximately 20 feet long and 6 inches in diameter
|
Ciccarone Park
|
7/18/2011
|
8/3/2012
|
383
|
Staten Island
The Parks Department issued 1,301 work orders for Staten Island playground repairs and maintenance from April 1, 2011, through March 31, 2012. Of the 1,206 work orders completed by May 29, 2012, 83 percent (1,001) were completed within 30 days.
In addition, PIP inspectors identified 90 Immediate Attention conditions, of which six (7 percent) were not resolved within 30 days. They took 38 days to 63 days to resolve.
Finally, the Staten Island audit found 11 work orders that could easily have been classified as hazards demanding repair within 30 days but were not. Some of these work orders took over 100 days to resolve. (See table below)
Staten Island Potential Immediate Attention Hazards with Longest Wait Times for Repair
Hazard
|
Playground
|
Date Reported
|
Date Repaired
|
Days Elapsed
|
I.S. 2 safety fences missing from bottom of backstop
|
Midland Field
|
6/14/2011
|
8/15/2011
|
62
|
Remove large hanging limbs in trees on Lincoln Avenue
|
Midland Playground
|
12/29/2011
|
5/21/2012
|
144
|
Check all shackles on top of swings, at least four are worn
|
Lopez Playground
|
9/11/2011
|
5/24/2012
|
257
|
Trip hazard due to protruding bollard
|
Midland Field
|
6/14/2011
|
5/3/2012
|
324
|
Fall Hazard. 6 inches wide, 1.5 feet deep, 100 feet long
|
Naples Playground
|
5/25/2011
|
5/17/2012
|
358
|
No comments:
Post a Comment