BY JANE ARGODALE | After a six-year redesign and construction process, June 29’s ribbon-cutting ceremony saw kids, parents, longtime community members, city officials, and local electeds eager to use the new amenities in Ramon Aponte Park — whose renovations include new plantings, more safety surface for small children, improved lines of sights for parents with children, and sprinklers in the park’s sunniest corner. Funds for the project, totaling $1.4 million, were allocated by former District 3 City Councilmember Christine Quinn. The West 47th/48th Street Block Association, along with Community Board 4 (CB4), worked with the Parks Department throughout the park’s design process. Current District 3 Councilmember Corey Johnson worked to keep track of the progress, and assist the Parks Department when necessary.
The renovations to Ramon Aponte Park (W. 47th St., btw. Eighth and Ninth Aves.) provide a much-needed boost to public recreational space in Chelsea and Hell’s Kitchen. Speaking to Chelsea Now, Johnson noted the necessity of such improvements. “Here on the West Side we have a lack of green space, so what we have we want to be beautiful, accessible, and user-friendly, and this renovation achieves all those things.”
CB4 Chair Delores Rubin concurred, noting, “The district is actually park-starved, which surprises people because of Hudson River Park and the High Line, but Hudson River Park is a state park, and the High Line is unique—you can’t really have courts or swings there. We’re really working on having more open green space where people can get away from things, and with that we have comparatively less square footage than other parts of the city.” Both Johnson and Rubin cited a new park on W. 20th St. (btw. Sixth & Seventh Aves.) along with other renovations to area parks (including W. 22nd St. & 10th Ave.’s Clement Clarke Moore Park) as a part of such efforts.
One of the park’s longtime champions, West 47th/48th Street Block Association President Elke Fears had been in attendance at the park’s original ribbon-cutting in 1990. The playground was built on an empty lot that had formerly housed a police station, and was owned by the city. The Block Association President at the time, Ramon Aponte, worked to clean up the lot for children to play in, and lobbied City Council and CB4 officials to make the land into a park. Mayor David Dinkins provided $200,000 for the park’s construction and turned the land over to the Parks Department. Ramon Aponte Park became one of only a few city parks to be named after someone still living at the time.
Fears traced the park’s eventual decline to its state prior to renovations. “People weren’t really using the park anymore, so it became not so attractive. Teenagers were going into it to smoke, drink, and use drugs. It became a magnet for not such good things. You had to watch where you were walking because rats would scurry across the street.” Fears praised the renovations, which helped to make the park more friendly to families with small children. “There’s loads of families in the neighborhood now, more than there were 20 to 25 years ago. Hell’s Kitchen Park is overflowing with kids because the area is lacking in park land. It’s very important for families, for children, adults, and seniors.”
Parents who had brought their children to Ramon Aponte Park last Tuesday morning agreed that the park was a great space for their families. Mariko O’Connell, from Brooklyn, brought her six-year-old daughter Indira to the park, and praised the space. “It’s beautiful, with plenty of shade. I love that the playground has lots of opportunities for imaginative play, like the pretend kitchen, and other little things to discover.”
Kyra Weaver, who lives down the street on W. 47th St. and Eighth Ave., brought her three-year-old son Ray to the park, and agreed that the playground was great for her family.
“The playground is so nice. He’s not in daycare right now, and he needs somewhere to go. We come here every day.”
