All Brooklyn news
Neighborhood Map
Bay Ridge
  • Bensonhurst, Dyker Heights
Brooklyn Heights
  • Downtown, DUMBO
Carroll Gardens
  • Cobble Hill, Red Hook, Boerum Hill
Fort Greene
  • Clinton Hill, Crown Heights
North Brooklyn
  • Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Bushwick
Park Slope
  • Prospect Heights, Windsor Terrace, Greenwood Heights
GO Brooklyn
Dining Guide
Where to GO
Events calendar
Classifieds
The Brooklyn Wire
Not Just Nets
Police Blotter
Perspective
Parenting
Politics
Transit
Podcasts
Brooklyn Cyclones
Special sections
About The Paper
Mobile site
Twitter
Facebook
RSS Feeds

A ‘Juicy’ story: Sugary drink maker to fund playground

The Brooklyn Paper

You’ve heard of Hershey Park, but have you heard of Nestle Park?

The Nestle Corporation — whose very name is synonymous with Big Cocoa — is shelling out $60,000 to help the state’s cash-strapped parks agency construct a playground in East River State Park in Williamsburg.

The cash — which is part of a $350,000 statewide commitment from Nestle’s Juicy Juice brand of sugar-heavy drinks — will be coupled with donations to construct the playspace, possibly by spring.

“Our commitment is to really try to promote and develop really healthy children,” said Kim Rguem, a spokeswoman for Nestle Beverages, a division of the world’s largest food company. “There didn’t seem to be enough money [so] we felt it was a great way to be consistent with what it is we’re trying to do, but in a really socially responsible way.”

That would be a shift in policy, given that juice drinks — even 100-percent fruit elixers like Juicy Juice — have been seen as responsible for part of the childhood obesity epidemic because the consumption of juice tends to supplant eating healthier foods, studies have shown.

An eight-ounce serving of Juicy Juice has 26 grams of sugar and 110 calories.

The Juicy Juice-funded playground will take up a prominent plot in the relatively barren waterfront greenspace between N. Seventh and N. Ninth streets, which hosted the popular Pool Party concert summer.

The playground will include low berms for children to play on, a dry rocky streambed crisscrossed by bridges, and the centerpiece: a wooden train that children can climb through that will pay homage to the park’s prior use as a train yard.

“This is very much in keeping with the park itself, which is a very natural post industrial area, it’s not glitzy, it’s not high tech,” said Rachel Gordon, the state’s director of New York City parks.

Gordon told The Brooklyn Paper that the cash couldn’t have come at a better time.

“We’re delighted that Juicy Juice is being so generous,” she added. “It’s particularly appreciated when we are going through such extreme budget cuts.”

This isn’t the first time that funding was a problem for the riverside greensward.

Last winter, the state was closed the park because of a 10 percent budget cut to the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, but the agency reopened it after implementing cost-cutting measures and receiving pledges from community groups that promised to help maintain the space.

Reader Feedback

Tanya from Colorado says:
Do you really think that is a natural fruit juice that is the CAUSE of the childhood obesity epidemic in this country? Really? This is the kind of poor journalism that is plaguing our country as well. We all need to do a better job of finding the real cause of issues or we will NEVER resolve them. The lack of exercise and overall poor diet of kids is what is causing the problem. If you look at the diet of the kids that are obese, I am pretty sure you will find a diet full of empty calories from chips, sugary sodas, and tons of fast food. Please communicate the real information. That is YOUR job as a good journalist and news site.
Nov. 2, 2009, 1:35 pm
Matt C. from Greenpoint says:
Yeah, I thought Juicy Juice was notable for being "100% Juice." I appreciate the attempt at humor, but it's only funny if you get the joke right. Don't drink juice is the takeaway?
Nov. 2, 2009, 3:56 pm
Char from Greenpoint says:
I agree - Juicy Juice is pretty healthy... Its not like its Kool-Aid or Coca-Cola...
Nov. 11, 2009, 1:03 pm
Lisa from Staten Island says:
Actually, it is. All the sugar, none of the fiber. When was the last time you sat at a table and ate 10 apples in a few seconds?
Nov. 11, 2009, 5:54 pm

Enter your comment below

By submitting this comment, you agree to the following terms:

You agree that you, and not BrooklynPaper.com or its affiliates, are fully responsible for the content that you post. You agree not to post any abusive, obscene, vulgar, slanderous, hateful, threatening or sexually-oriented material or any material that may violate applicable law; doing so may lead to the removal of your post and to your being permanently banned from posting to the site. You grant to BrooklynPaper.com the royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual and fully sublicensable license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, perform and display such content in whole or in part world-wide and to incorporate it in other works in any form, media or technology now known or later developed.

First name
Last name
Your neighborhood
Email address
Daytime phone

Your letter must be signed and include all of the information requested above. (Only your name and neighborhood are published with the letter.) Letters should be as brief as possible; while they may discuss any topic of interest to our readers, priority will be given to letters that relate to stories covered by The Brooklyn Paper.

Letters will be edited at the sole discretion of the editor, may be published in whole or part in any media, and upon publication become the property of The Brooklyn Paper. The earlier in the week you send your letter, the better.

Links