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Jointly Operated Playgrounds (JOPs) and Schoolyards to Playgrounds initiative
0:02:45
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149 sec
Council Member Krishnan explains the concepts of Jointly Operated Playgrounds (JOPs) and the Schoolyards to Playgrounds initiative. He highlights how these programs have increased public access to recreational spaces in New York City.
- JOPs, started in the 1930s, are used exclusively by schools during regular hours and open to the public at other times.
- There are currently about 267 JOPs maintained by the Department of Parks and Recreation.
- The Schoolyards to Playgrounds initiative, started in 2007, has opened up many previously inaccessible schoolyards to the public.
- Krishnan shares a personal example of working on the IS 145 playground in Jackson Heights as part of this initiative.
Shekar Krishnan
0:02:45
The concept of adapting playgrounds for joint use by public school children and the surrounding community began in this city with the creation of JOPs or jointly operated playgrounds.
0:02:56
They started early in the nineteen thirties with the Board of Education and agreements to open them up for public use.
0:03:02
Generally, JOPs are used exclusively by schools during regular school hours and are open to the public at all other times.
0:03:10
There are currently about 267 jointly operated playgrounds throughout the city that the Department of Parks and Recreation staff cleans, maintains, renovates, and upgrades, though they are not officially marked as parkland.
0:03:25
We also have Schoolyards to Playgrounds, which are part of the Schoolyard to Playgrounds initiative that was another joint effort between the Parks Department, the Department of Education, and the nonprofit sector to expand access to open space for the city's children.
0:03:40
I know our current park commissioner was instrumental in the creation and implementation of this program during the Bloomberg administration, working in conjunction with the nonprofit organization Trust for Public Land, which is an excellent organization that I personally worked with on these Schoolyard to Playground in this Schoolyard to Playground initiative to renovate a number of such playgrounds in my district as well.
0:04:05
The program started in 02/2007 with mayor Bloomberg, and they've effectively opened up many playgrounds and schoolyards to the public.
0:04:14
These former schoolyards were previously off limits to their respective communities.
0:04:18
They are now open and accessible to the public on weekdays from after school until dusk, and from 8AM until dusk on weekends or days when school is not in session.
0:04:29
One such playground that I was proud to work on with the Trust Republic Land and the Parks Department and other city agencies was IS 145 in Jackson Heights, right on our open street that we've renovated into a beautiful playground today that's used throughout the year after school, during the summertime, all year round.
0:04:47
And so it really is a testament to what is possible through the Schoolyards to Playgrounds initiative.
0:04:52
Both of these, JOPs, Jointly Operated Playgrounds, and the Play Schoolyards to Playgrounds initiative provides examples of the way in which we have started in this city opening up our public fields and playgrounds beyond simply the technical purposes of them and have opened them up to make them accessible to our community.