One of the few open spaces for kids to play in Hell's Kitchen could be going another summer without a basketball court, and parents and community activists are starting to lose patience.
Six years have passed since scaffolding was erected on the wall adjacent to Matthews Palmer Playground (West 45th Street/46th Street, 9th Avenue/10th Avenue) to repair the building's crumbling facade and restore a historic mural featured in a Paul Simon music video. Despite promises that the work would move forward quickly, no progress has been made since 2018.
The netted scaffolding blocks off part of the playground's basketball court, which is now missing a hoop and in need of repairs — a frustrating story for Areta Lafargue, the mother of an 11-year-old boy who loves basketball.
“My child used to spend a lot of time on the playground, but now he's older and he wants to play basketball,” she said. “If he can't play basketball, there's no point.”
Her son used to meet up with his friends from Midtown West Elementary School at the park, but she stopped taking him there in recent years.
The building behind the scaffolding, at 430 West 46th Street, is owned by the Housing Development Fund Corporation (HDFC) Cooperative, a city program that allows residents to own apartments as shareholders at below-market rates.
Nicholas Siano, a representative for HDFC, did not respond to multiple emails seeking comment.A representative for the Parks Department, which has been acting as a broker for the building, said construction is scheduled to be completed by “fall 2024,” with construction expected to begin in early July.
Chairman of HK45/46 Block Association, David Stuart, is expecting action from HDFC as the company has been negligent in completing repairs.
“The local community is fed up. We're fed up with our kids not having a place to play,” Stewart told W42ST. “We want the scaffolding removed and the basketball court fixed – as soon as possible.”
After sending “dozens, maybe hundreds” of emails to HDFC and the parks board over the years, Stuart said he was “done with playing around. No more being nice. Now the community is fed up.”
Stuart isn't confident about the Park Service's timeline: The service told him last year that work would be completed by December 2023, but has broken promises in the past.
“Why is this different from the several previous completion dates you have given?” he asked, adding that “fall 2024” is “not a completion date, or even a completion window.”
As of Sunday, July 7, work on the building's facade appears not to have yet begun.
In 2020, the city of New York sued HDFC for refusing to take responsibility for repairing the wall. The lawsuit states, “The plaster and masonry of the wall are in such poor condition that debris has fallen into the park.”
The city has paid tens of thousands of dollars to maintain the scaffolding. “Through January 2020, the City had paid $28,300 for the installation and rental of the sidewalk sheds and continues to pay additional rental fees for each month the nuisance continues,” according to the lawsuit. It's unclear whether the city is still paying for the scaffolding.
Leslie Woodruff, a community activist and parent who has worked closely with Stuart, said HDFC had previously told local residents it would need to sell units in the building to raise the funds needed to complete repairs.
“We were told last year that repairs (to both the building and courts) would be completed before the end of the school year,” Woodruff said. “We knew it would take some time for the sponsored units to be sold and for the proceeds to be deposited into the co-op's account, but there has been no movement. We're really disappointed and disgusted.”
Woodruff and Stuart frequently host community events in the park, and Woodruff complained, “Why isn't anyone prepared to take down the scaffolding?” after years of inaction.
Last summer, fencing around the scaffolding – which has now been removed – electrocuted two children, raising safety concerns.
Matthews Palmer isn't the only playground in Hell's Kitchen plagued by ugly scaffolding. A building adjacent to Ramon Aponte Park (between West 47th Street and 8th/9th Streets) has been covered in scaffolding for the past five years and may soon be demolished to make way for an apartment building nearly twice its size, a move some are denouncing as a case of neglect.
Lafargue, who grew up in Hell's Kitchen, said he never used his local playground as a child because it was considered too dangerous.
“Now that I'm a parent, it's so wonderful to have so many play areas that can be used for their original purpose,” she said, noting that two of them currently have scaffolding and “only retain a little of their former self.”
Representatives from the Parks Department will provide an update on the district's parks and answer community questions about Matthews Palmer Playground and more at this Thursday's Community Board 4 meeting at 6:30 p.m.
