Add The New York Post on Google Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Monday announced a 24-person “renew crew” will be embarking on a series of blitzes to refurbish city playgrounds, recreation centers and basketball courts.
The team of plumbers, painters and other skilled workers will tackle up to 30 projects in stints of about three weeks each between April and October annually, with $2.3 million budgeted this year to cover the costs of the maintenance crew, City Hall officials said.
“This is a team dedicated to transforming playgrounds, sports courts, and rec centers at parks across the five boroughs,” Mamdani said at a press conference in Queens.
“The basketball hoop that is hanging on for dear life, the water fountain that has not worked since Spring, or the fence that looks like it’s about to give up entirely,” he said. “If it is broken, this crew will fix it.”
Hizzoner announced the project alongside city officials at the Dry Harbor Playground in Forest Park — as the “renew crew” kicked off its first project: repainting the basketball courts, nautical-themed climbing equipment and more.
Upwards of 5,000 complaints have been made to 311 regarding needed fixes to recreation areas over the past year, Mamdani said.
The maintenance team will address faulty horseshoe and bocce courts, rickety benches and other common park amenities in disrepair. They’ll also be mulching, pruning trees and enhancing the greenery around 9/11 memorial, city officials said.
New Yorkers can keep up with the crew’s progress at NYC Parks’ online tracker.
Maxime, an eight-year-old New Yorker, told reporters at the press conference that he’d recorded a video urging Mamdani to re-open the McKinley Park playground in Brooklyn, which had been closed for two years.
“But guess what? A few weeks later, the park was finally open. So thank you, Mayor Mamdani and NYC Parks for hearing me out,” Maxime said.
“I’m really passionate about parks being opened because kids need a safe and fun environment to play in.”
