It’s the park that keeps on growing – thanks to a little help from its friends in City Hall.
While some parks in the borough wait decades for a new sprucing, a playground at Friends Field, a one-time Quaker refuge in the heart of Midwood, has been built, as well as expanded upon in just two short years, said city officials, who had plunked down the necessary green to ensure its growth.
The new playground, which is now “double the size” of the existing play space, was unveiled late last month.
The $1.3 million expansion was spearheaded by City Councilmember Simcha Felder, who pushed for a playground at Friends Field back in 2005. The original playground cost $1.5 million to complete, officials said.
Park officials said that, besides the creation of the playground, Friends Field has seen a sprucing of the tennis courts for $474,000 and “pavement and site work” for $2 million – all within the last eight years.
Friends Field is bounded by Avenue L, East 4th Street, and McDonald and Washington cemeteries.
Felder, who is currently running for State Senator, said that he was very happy to secure the money for the playground, which he considered his baby from the beginning.
“[Friends Field] had a large baseball field, trees and grass and even a tennis court,” said Felder. “But there was never a playground for children, even though there were all of these families coming there bringing their lunch or having a barbecue. All of the kids were running around, but there was no place to play.”
The city acquired it from the Quakers in 1973. The expansive green space had been opened in 1921 to act as the main athletic fields for Quaker schools throughout the city.
Felder said that when he first floated the idea in 2005 for the playground, it was met with staunch resistance by residents living near the park who thought that the playground would end up being a hangout spot for hooligans, “from outside the community.”
When it was finally built in 2007, it was an overnight success, Felder said.
“Instead of becoming a problem, it was just the opposite. It attracted families not drug dealers,” said Felder. “Not only were people coming to apologize, they were complaining that it wasn’t big enough.”
The playground’s success demanded its expansion, said Felder, who said that he has been sprinkling city dollars into parks in his district for the past few years – including Seth Low Park in Bensonhurst and Gravesend Park.
“As I grew up one of my fondest memories was being in the playground, playing on the see-saws and the monkey bars,” Felder said. “For a kid in Brooklyn, a playground is like an apple pie.”
But there could be another reason why Felder was so hot on parks.
“Felder in German is ‘field,’” he said. “Maybe there’s a bug in my blood about parks.”
