Mud Lawn Frustrates Users In Battery Park City

The Lawn - 2011. The new field in West Thames Park turned to mud shortly after it opened last summer and residents are not happy. The contractor who built the park used the wrong kind of sod according to the Battery Park City Authority. Despite strong community opposition, NY State Department of Transportation (DOT) went ahead with the controversial $ 9.4 million plan which removed the original playground to accommodate "Pataki's Promenade," a plan left over from the previous administration which extended the promenade north, through the playground. The plan also destroyed more than a dozens trees.

State DOT, which built the park for the authority, planned to install new sod in April or May, a spokesman said. (Photos: By Julie Shapiro/DNAinfo )

The Lawn - Spring 2010. Irrigation issues on the lawn and poor drainage in the children's spray shower area have added to the frustration of park users.

Manhattan

The new sports field in West Thames Park is still little more than a mud puddle, more than eight months after its ceremonious opening, according to DNAinfo.

The field's grass died almost immediately after children first began playing on it last summer, and since then it has drawn complaints from residents who are upset that their highly anticipated, promised field is just a large stretch of dirt.

"It's very unpleasant," said Robert Mueller, a board member at the Battery Park City Authority. "It's right in the middle of everything … It's such an obvious eyesore in a place where we have no eyesores."

Mueller, who lives in Battery Park City, said at a board meeting this week that his neighbors kept asking him what's going on with the field.

Gayle Horwitz, president of the Battery Park City Authority, replied that the contractor who built the park used the wrong kind of sod. The sod has a layer of clay underneath it, which prevented drainage and stopped the grass from growing, she said.

The State Department of Transportation, which built the park for the authority, planned to install new sod in April or May, a spokesman said. The field will then be closed for several weeks while the root knits into the soil, so the new grass lawn will not be ready until mid-June at the earliest.

Jessica Weitzman, 38, a Battery Park City resident who brought her 7-year-old son to the park recently, said the mud didn't stop kids from playing on the field, much to their parents' chagrin.

"They have literally destroyed their clothing," Weitzman said. However, she added, "We're so desperate for [playing] space — at least we have some space to run around."

Sunita Iyer, 40, another neighborhood mother, said the lawn was perfect when it was covered by snow this winter, but the springtime mud puddles are becoming a problem.

"I hope they'll fix it," Iyer said. "It's one of the only fields that's open [year-round]."

The tire swing in West Thames Park was taken down shortly after the playground opened last year after several children were injured. The swing has still not returned. The State planned to reinstall the tire swing this spring at the request of Community Board 1, but they had not set a date, a spokesman said.

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Muddy Battery Park City Field Called an 'Eyesore'

DNAinfo - March 9, 2011 - By Julie Shapiro

Controversial Tire Swing Park To Close for Repairs Three Months After Opening

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Battery Park City Residents Decry Destruction of "Tire Swing Park"

A Walk In The Park - September 9, 2009

Tire Swing Park To Close for Repairs Three Months After Controversial Construction

Battery Park City's West Thames Park, locally known as Tire Swing Park, will close for repairs 

three months after re-opening. Despite  strong community opposition, NY State DOT went ahead with the controversial $ 9.4 million plan which removed the original playground to accommodate "Pataki's Promenade," a plan left over from the previous administration which extended the promenade north, through the playground. The plan also destroyed more than a dozens trees. 

Since its re-opening the park has been plagued with a variety of issues including a tire swing where at least two children were hurt,  poor drainage and cracked safety surfacing. Bill Schoemaker,  (above) father of one of the girls who bumped her head on the crossbar of the tire swing,  demonstrates how the tire can easily reach the cross beam.  The swing was removed. (Photo: Carl Glassman/TRIBECA TRIB.  

Manhattan

The controversial tire swing isn’t the only problem at West Thames Park.

Just three months after the $9.4 million park opened, the water play area does not drain properly, the springy safety surface is cracked and the grass field has turned into a mud pit, according to DNA info.

"We haven’t wanted to close it, because it’s so popular and well used," said Lisa Weiss, urban design director for the State Department of Transportation, which built the park.

But as the problems added up, the state realized it made sense to close the lawn and playground and fix everything at once. The two-week closure will likely happen later this month or early next month.

The state declined to say how much the repairs would cost. The original $9.4 million came from the Federal Transit Administration’s 9/11 recovery fund.

During the closure, the state will likely reinstall the tire swing that injured several children earlier this summer, said Adam Levine, State DOT spokesman. Community Board 1 gave the tire swing the green light at a meeting last week.

Of the many issues at West Thames Park, parents said one of the biggest disappointments was the lawn, which turned into a mud puddle a few weeks after it opened.

Weiss said the irrigation system was left on too long one night, which compacted the sod and caused poor drainage. The state is still figuring out how to repair the lawn, she said.

irrigation issues on the lawn and poor drainage in the spray shower area have added to the frustration of park users. (Photos: Julie Shapiro/DNA info)

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West Thames Park to Close for Repairs Three Months After Opening

DNAinfo - September 14, 2010 - By Julie Shapiro  

Battery Park City Residents Decry Destruction of "Tire Swing Park"

A Walk In The Park - September 9, 2009 

Battery Park City Residents Decry Destruction of "Tire Swing Park"

DON'T TREAD ON ME: Matthew Fenton and his 7-year-old daughter, Katie-Jo, like Battery Park City's "Tire Swing Park" the way it is.   Battery Park City residents are fighting a controversial NY State DOT plan to replace a popular playground and destroy more than two dozen trees to accommodate "Pataki's Promenade." (Photo:  Tamara Beckwith/NY Post)

Manhattan

For hundreds of Battery Park City families, the reconstruction in lower Manhattan will soon mean the loss of a tranquil, tree-lined refuge where children have played on tire swings in the shade for over 20 years, according to the New York Post.

State highway officials plan to bulldoze the playground -- affectionately known as Tire Swing Park --in an effort to rebuild West Street and to extend a pedestrian promenade, part of a master plan developed after 9/11 by then-Gov. George Pataki.

The project is set to begin Oct. 13 and should be done by May 2010.

While the state is promising to replace the park, parents don't like losing 28 fully grown trees and the rustic wooden playground they've enjoyed for a generation.

"What we'll get when they're done is a playground of plastic, metal and industrial materials for our kids to play on," said Matthew Fenton, a parent and a member of a group fighting to block the park project.

The group collected petitions with 500 signatures to save the site, formally West Thames Park, which includes a playground, garden and a small field on the eastern edge of Battery Park City, just south of the World Trade Center.

To the south of the park, a promenade built after 9/11 runs to Battery Park. State officials want to extend the promenade north, right through the playground.

On sunny afternoon last week, Tire Swing Park was packed with parents and kids, while the promenade to the south -- dubbed Pataki-stan by residents -- had only an occasional pedestrian.

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New York Post - September 8, 2009  - By Tom Topousis  

Parents Protest Destruction Of Popular Playground 

NY1 - September 17, 2009  - By Susan Jhun