Roger Gendron of the New Hamilton Beach Civic Association could barely contain his excitement when announcing the news at last Thursday’s summer meeting. After years of waiting, his community was finally going to see change at its old, decrepit playground by September and nearby Resorts World agreed to pick up the tab.
"This is really going to go a long way to help this community,” he said. “It’s not just damage from [Hurricane] Sandy. It’s the graffiti that’s out there, too. It’s an eyesore.”
Since Superstorm Sandy swept through the northeast in 2012, the playground at the end of Hamilton Beach has sat in disrepair and disarray. Chipped paint, graffiti, and overturned flooring were only the beginning of the laundry list of things desperately waiting for a fresh start.
And despite the community’s best efforts to get its hands on funding to fix the area, bureaucratic battles between the National Parks Service and city agencies kept the Hamilton Beach playground renovations in flux.
But that all changed when Michelle Stoddart, public relations director for Resorts World Casino, delivered a mockup of the new $40,000 playground to Hamilton Beach residents at last week’s civic meeting showcasing fresh fire engine red slides and a blue and yellow exterior.
“A lot of our staff live in this community and are from this community. We thought it would be a good idea to help,” she said. “This is something we are very excited to get involved with and look forward to seeing it finished.”
Stoddart said Resorts World would be teaming up with Pavers and Road Builders Local 1010 as well as the National Parks Service to reconstruct the playground. The entire deal, she said, was also made possible because of borough elected officials helping grease the wheels.
4 comments:
Looking for a little good press, eh? Maybe something good does come from Cuomo pushing for more casinos years after the boom ended.
"The entire deal, she said, was also made possible because of borough elected officials helping grease the wheels."
nice choice of words there lady.ain't it nice that we can just openly admit that the local pols favor your interests above others.
I got news for you,the vandals are just going to tag the playground again,probably by the neighbors of the people that work in your den of desperation.
Wow, all the parks in NYC should be owed by the National Park Service. $40,000 is a bargain. NYC Parks and the city are screwing us on all their park projects within the city. This $40,000 project would probably cost 2 million if the Parks department was doing the job.
Even graffiti and breaking benches - Hurricane Sandy - is there nothing that you can't do?
The vandals who were there before Sandy are still there. Rinse. Repeat.
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