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Council Member Brewer discusses legislation on drinking fountains and playground access
0:11:12
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4 min
Council Member Gale A. Brewer presents her remarks on two pieces of legislation she has introduced: Intro 573 concerning access to drinking fountains, and Intro 566 aimed at expanding access to school playgrounds outside of school hours. She emphasizes the importance of these initiatives for improving public access to water and recreational spaces in New York City.
- Brewer highlights the need for more public drinking fountains to reduce reliance on single-use water bottles
- She discusses the potential of the Schoolyards to Playgrounds program to utilize unused open spaces, particularly in areas with limited access to city parks
- Brewer mentions support from various organizations and recalls the origins of these ideas from her time in the Dinkins administration
Gale A. Brewer
0:11:12
Thank you very much, chair Kristen.
0:11:14
I really appreciate your scheduling this hearing.
0:11:17
As you indicated, I wanna talk about, intro five seven three, which concerns access to drinking fountains, and intro five six six, access to playgrounds, which I've been talking about this freaking issue for twenty years.
0:11:31
On the drinking fountains, I think it's clear that we as New Yorkers should not have to purchase a single use bottle of water because there's no public option available.
0:11:43
Into five seven three would increase the number of durable and permanent drinking fountains adjacent to public parks and green streets, as you stated.
0:11:53
This idea came from a youth commissioner named Richard Murphy who was youth commissioner during the Dinkins administration where I was proud to serve.
0:12:01
And one of his big practical ideas was giving every public school children a free reusable water bottle, but then we'd have to have the water fountains to be able to utilize them.
0:12:13
So I'm still working on the water bottles, but I hope we can put in the water fountains.
0:12:19
We have great water in New York City thanks to DEP and other agencies, but it's one thing to have the resource and another to have access to the resource.
0:12:29
Second, Intro five sixty six, as you've suggested, aims to expand the Schools to Playgrounds program.
0:12:37
There's no reason for us to be surrounded by open space that is unused, especially in a city where open space is so scarce and the parks department budget is inadequate.
0:12:48
We still want that 1% of the budget to be for parks.
0:12:52
I think we can improve the lives of thousands by capitalizing on what already exists.
0:12:58
The legislation would create an annual plan to expand access to playgrounds outside of school hours by a minimum of 25 locations per year.
0:13:09
The plan would prioritize playgrounds in areas with the least access to city parks.
0:13:15
I wanna mention, as you did, how important currently the jointly operated DOE and parks are and what I call just trust for public land, those playgrounds.
0:13:25
When I was borough president, I had the honor of funding and then seeing operational many, many of the playgrounds.
0:13:34
And I think if you go to any of them on the weekend or in the summer, you will see every single playground inch occupied.
0:13:43
And what that says to me is we need more space to be similarly occupied.
0:13:48
It is very depressing to go by as I have in my district, at PS 9.
0:13:53
It's half a block playground, huge.
0:13:57
And it is absolutely locked all summer long and you there's a NYCHA development right next door and you see the young people looking at it.
0:14:04
Can I just play some basketball?
0:14:06
They can't.
0:14:06
It is locked.
0:14:08
And that's the kind of unlocking we wanna do.
0:14:11
I wanna mention, that I have spoken to Robert Trollor, who is the president of Local eight ninety one, the school custodian engineers and a student of mine many years ago at Queen's College, and he is supportive.
0:14:27
I believe that some of these playgrounds, ideas started again with Richard Murphy during the Dinkins administration, and every custodian is obviously paid, as they should be, to, making sure that the playground is clean Monday morning and when school starts.
0:14:43
And that is part of the deal.
0:14:45
Has to be that part.
0:14:47
I was surprised and so pleasantly surprised when mayor Adams, when he did his state of the city this year, 2025, he mentioned playgrounds.
0:14:58
I said, where the I where the hell did you get that friggin' idea?
0:15:01
He said, from you, Gail.
0:15:03
I said, you did not.
0:15:04
I don't know where you got it, but I'm so delighted that you got it.
0:15:07
And then to the credit of speaker Adam, she mentioned the same idea in her state of the city.
0:15:13
So they both talked about expanding schoolyards to playgrounds in their state of the city addresses.
0:15:19
I just wanna make sure I talked about it first twenty years ago, and I wanna make sure that it happens.
0:15:25
That's why I'm so excited about today's hearings.
0:15:28
IBO has done a study of this.
0:15:30
The New York League of Conservation Voters, Randalls Island Park Alliance, Riverside Park Conservancy, Open Plans, Trust for the Public Land, Wellness in the Schools, New York City h Duo Regional Plan Association, Transportation Alternatives, and New York Restoration Project, New York is for Parks, Local Nature Lab.
0:15:48
All of these organizations are supportive.
0:15:50
Thank you very much, mister chair.