Tire Swing Park: The victim of two feuding bureaucracies
August 26th, 2010
The new Tire Swing Park by West Thames has had as controversial of a launch as its planning stage. First, opponents of the park raised concerns over the iconic swinging tire and forced it to be removed. Then, the drainage of the rubberized surface by the kid’s waterfall was backing up and creating a pond.
As a result, the BPCA never assumed responsibility for the park from the DOT as promised on the day of the ribbon cutting.
As the two bureaucracies feuded and played “hot potato” with the troubled park, the expensively sodded playing field became the neglected child in an ugly divorce. The DOT was watering the field too much and the BPCA Parks Conservancy people did not close the grass field occasionally to protect it from overuse, as they do with adjacent grass lots in the parks.
Rector Park grass field closed for protection
Hence, 40% or so of the field is now completely dead and all mud.
Re-sodding would cost $30,000 for a private project, but likely $100,000 for a State contract. This is in addition to the $9 Million cost of building the park (that many did not want and preferred the original shaded, more natural, park with a real tire swing!)
BatteryPark.TV emailed and called the Region 11 of the New York State DOT media relations staff nearly a dozen times and received no reply. Only after contacting the Director, Phillip Eng, did we get some answers. They wrote:
From the DOT: I am writing in response to your questions regarding West Thames Park. First, my apologies for not getting back to you yesterday. As you saw from my response e-mail, I was on vacation the past week, and I was very busy catching up on other calls and e-mails. Also, I wanted to touch base with the Route 9A project team to see if there had been any communication with you before I spoke with you.
Next, as part of my discussion with the project team, we visited the park today, and I saw that the drainage issue has been repaired. Perhaps you’ve seen the holes the team drilled in the safety surface to improve the drainage. These holes were drilled last week, and the parents in the park told us they have been pleased with the performance of the drain since that time. This is only a temporary measure, and we will look to do something more permanent after Labor Day, when the Parks Conservancy is expected to shut off the water features of the park for the season.
Regarding the lawn, as we have noted in the past, it was constructed to Parks Conservancy standards, and the responsibility for closing the lawn to rest the grass is theirs. We have been involved with testing of the grass and soil to determine if there are any changes that would be necessary to either the grass or soil. We are expecting the results of those tests within the next few days, and we will be discussing the results with the Parks Conservancy and the BPC Committee of Community Board 1.
Finally, the park is already partially under the authority of the Parks Conservancy. They are already tending to the sand, cleaning and policing the park, and performing other operational functions. We will continue to work with them on construction “punch list” items, such as the lawn and the drainage, to ensure a smooth transition.
I hope this is helpful. Please feel free to let me know if you need any additional information.
Adam Levine
- Battery Park City Authority, - Community Board 1, - State Government, Outdoor events, Parks | admin | 
August 26, 2010 8:39 pm | 
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