Carroll Park Play Areas Re-Open After Sandy, But Some Sections Still Off Limit

Volunteer Joe Auer with little helpers Finneas and Arianna re-open a section of Carroll Park

Carroll Park has been closed ever since Hurricane Sandy toppled some of our park's beautiful old trees. On Wednesday, the NYC Park's Department was able to send over a crew to begin to cut the fallen trees into sections for removal and to make sure that all the others are still sound.
Crews need to come back to repair fencing that was damaged and in the meantime, the World War I memorial and Valentino Ball Field are still off limits.
Luckily for everyone, the playgrounds and the area around the Acito Park House have been deemed safe by the Parks Department. Members of Friends Of Carroll Park spent some time yesterday afternoon to clean the play areas and opened the gates.

Here is a message from the Friends Of Carroll Park:

Good news! The play areas on the Smith Street end of Carroll Park have been reopened by the New York City Parks Department effective immediately (Saturday afternoon, November 17).
The rest of the park (the ball field and central WWI monument area) will remain closed until the remaining safety hazards can be resolved. We ask visitors to stay out of those areas and to remind others to do the same. It may be necessary to close the entire park again if these restrictions are not respected.
Since it may be some time before the Parks department returns to its normal cleaning and maintenance schedule, please do not leave toys and games in the park and please remove your trash to the full extent possible.
Thank you,Friends of Carroll Park