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Ask Judy: Free summer fun in NYC |
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Dear Judy,
We just moved to New York City this summer. Do you have any ideas for free summer activities?
New to NYC
Judy answers:
Dear New to NYC,
Welcome to summer in New York City! Lots of families may be at loose ends now that summer school is ending and early camp sessions are over. A good way to meet other families in your neighborhood is to check out your neighborhood public school playground. A city initiative called “Schoolyards to Playgrounds” is working to renovate and open school playgrounds to the public. Many are now open even if school is not.
Department of Parks and Recreation playgrounds are also open from 8 am to dusk. Their website has a list of playgrounds and other indoor and outdoor recreation programs. They also have a list of wheelchair accessible playgrounds, fields, pools and beaches. And, if you find a favorite playground, the Department is even inviting folks to pick their favorite playground, so you can see what other families recommend.
For kids who have tired of swings and slides, there are many other recreation opportunities: The City Parks Foundation sponsors free instruction in golf, tennis, track and field for kids ages 5-16 at the beginner, intermediate and advanced level. Call (718) 760-6969 for more information.
For students in grades 5-12, the Big Apple Games, a sports program at city schools sponsored by the Public School Athletic League, is underway until Aug. 13.
Don’t forget the library. Besides being a cool and comfortable place to enjoy a book, libraries offer special summer reading programs, contests, story hours, and fun events all summer. Check out the summer programs for kids at the New York Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library, and Queens Borough Public Library. Did you know that children 11 years old and older can apply for a library card online? But, it’s just as easy to drop in, there are local libraries everywhere and all you need is an ID.
This week, in Let it grow, our blogger Claiborne Milde, writes about the fun her family is having getting dirty in school and community gardens. Check out her post for links to free family gardening programs around the city.
And save the date: The Department of Education’s Office for Family Engagement and Advocacy is holding a Family Back to School Kickoff on Saturday, Aug. 22, 10am to 3pm in Central Park. Call 212-374-7625 or email ofea@schools.nyc.gov for details.
Do others have a suggestion for how to spend the last month of summer? Share your comments below. Happy summer!
Judy
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Don’t count on the playgrounds as an option if you live in Queens. Many of the small local playgrounds in Queens have been given over to private for-profit camps leaving local kids no place to play. These roving camps, which are caravans of 25 school busses and 500 kids without a permanent facility, take over the playgrounds and try to keep the local kids out by stationing people at the entrance and denying local kids admittance. My children have come home very upset on several occassions after they have been told to leave by camps that arrive and pretend they have exclusive use of a playground. Young People’s and Creative Daycamp are two of the worst. Their camps consist of driving large numbers of children around all day and invading peaceful neighborhood playgrounds denying local children the right to play. You never know when or where they will show up so this has been an ongoing problem for my kids all summer. The parks dept has issued too many permits to too many large camps forgetting that local kids need a place to play during the day also. And this includes many playgrounds directly adjacent to schools, as for some reason the parks dept has authority over many of these playgrounds, not the school here in Queens.
The Parks tennis and track programs are excellent and we have been doing those programs for years.
Comment by queens parent — July 28, 2009 @ 6:15 pm
in other words city has nothing to offer this summer as usual. Library, playgrounds, what else? Such a huge city could do more for kids than so called “fun” in library. Besides, all these public pools are located in certain areas I would not go.
Comment by Anonymous — August 15, 2009 @ 12:23 am