Cuomo closes playgrounds across NYC

Travers Park’s playground, and every other playground in the city, will close to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Photo via the Parks Department

By Victoria Merlino

All New York City playgrounds will close to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday. Parks will remain open, he said.

Keeping playgrounds and parks open during the crisis has remained a contentious issue. Cuomo criticized the number of people congregating in parks when he toured New York City in late March, and he ordered the city to come up with a plan to open more streets to foot traffic to try and reduce density. The city shut down four streets to cars — one street in each borough except Staten Island. 

That wasn’t enough for Cuomo. 

“I’ve talked about this for weeks. I warned people that if they didn’t stop the density and the games in the playgrounds — you can’t play basketball, you can’t come in contact with each other — that we would close the playgrounds,” Cuomo said. 

In recent days, Mayor Bill de Blasio closed 10 playgrounds, including one in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, saying that residents frequenting those areas were not social distancing. He also instructed the Parks Department to remove the rims from 80 basketball hoops.