UPDATE: Cuomo has now closed all NYC playgrounds
Mayor de Blasio warned New Yorkers that if they didn’t heed social distancing rules, NYC parks and playgrounds would be shut down (and you could be fined!).
Yesterday, March 31, he took official action and closed 10 playground across the city.
“For the most part, we’re seeing compliance when it comes to social distancing in our playgrounds, but we have seen a few trouble spots, and I’ve ordered those ten playgrounds to be closed today,” he said.
Here are the locations:
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Mauro Playground in Flushing, Queens
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Two playgrounds in Clove Lakes Park on Staten Island
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Middleton Playground in South Williamsburg, Brooklyn
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Brighton Beach Playground in Brooklyn
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Two playgrounds in Fort Greene Park, Brooklyn
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Watson Gleason Playground in Soundview in the Bronx
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Fort Tryon/Jacob Javits Playground in Washington Heights
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Raoul Wallenberg Playground in Inwood
“I know parents need outlets for their kids,” he said. “But if we see unsafe behavior we’ll have to shut locations down.”
In the same press conference he announced that the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center would become a 350-patient temporary hospital to treat patients from the overwhelmed Elmhurst Hospital.
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