On a warm Monday evening in late April, elementary students gathered behind the Westbury Recreation Center to enjoy the village park. After sitting and snacking under the sun, they appeared ready to engage in activity, but what followed was students standing around, uncertain about what to do next.
Westbury After-School Program coordinator Sarah Haskell-Mann said the students often mill about, not knowing precisely how to interact with the park’s recreation equipment.
“It’s a lot of standing around. They’ll play tag a lot more than anything,” Haskell-Mann said. “An interactive game would be easier when you have a hoop or some type of area to set something up.”
The recreation center hosts the Village of Westbury’s after-school program, and students use the park behind the center when the weather permits.
The playground equipment there has not been updated in more than 20 years and is now showing signs of aging: outdated slides and other apparatuses, worn swings, and rusted fencing. Village officials say upgrading the park would increase accessibility and inclusivity.
At the March 6 board meeting, Westbury Mayor Peter Cavallaro said the village is seeking funding to upgrade park equipment.
“We have two village parks that are pretty old. We’ve been wanting to modernize them and make them more accessible,” Cavallaro said. “There’s a lot of new technology and new materials that are used now that make parks more accessible to people of all abilities.”
Westbury’s demographic is predominantly people of color, and the parks directly serve village residents.
Tamar Renaud, the Trust for Public Land’s New York State director, identified a difference in the size of parks in communities of color compared to predominantly White communities in the Town of North Hempstead, where Westbury Village is located.
“While a similar percentage of residents in North Hempstead live within a 10-minute walk of a park, regardless of race—75% of Black and Hispanic residents compared to 71% of White residents—proximity alone doesn’t tell the whole story,” Renaud said. “According to TPL data, parks located in neighborhoods with a majority of residents of color are half the size of parks in predominantly White neighborhoods, yet serve five times more people per acre.”
Renaud continued, “In neighborhoods with low-income and neighborhoods with majority residents of color, parks are of lower quality, are less well-maintained and have less programming compared with parks in higher-income neighborhoods or with majority White residents.”
According to the Trust for Public Land, a nonprofit organization that protects public lands and creates new ones in areas where they are needed the most, Westbury is a high-priority area for new parks in North Hempstead.
Map showing highest need areas for new parks in North Hempstead. // Courtesy Trust for Public Land
Funding needed
Cavallaro said the village is looking at possible grants to fund the revamp of its parks. Among them is a request for $1 million in Community Development Block Grant funds—federal funds aimed at low- to moderate-income villages and towns with fewer than 50,000 residents.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development oversees the CDBG program. Funds are intended to provide housing assistance and infrastructure improvement, including park upgrades.
“We’ve been looking at different grant potentials, and some of them are in the works, but we’re going to try all of the sources that we can have,” Cavallaro said. “The CDBG is one that we started last year, trying to get money for this project, and we were denied, but we’re going to try again.”
Westbury Trustee Beaumont Jefferson said, despite not receiving CDBG funding for this project last year, the village has requested the same $1 million this year.
“When you apply for CDBG funding, they receive all these requests and then they prioritize them,” Jefferson said. “If you don’t receive all your funding in any given year, you can go back because that funding is distributed amongst all municipalities.”
Cavallaro said that while the parks are maintained annually, new equipment and materials would create a more modern and accessible space.
“There’s new playground equipment and even surface materials that are used now, which make it easier for people of all abilities to use the equipment or even access the park,” Cavallaro said. “We would hire an architect who is an expert and has designed accessible parks in the past to help us design it. These parks haven’t been redone in 20 years.”
Engagement upgrades
Workers at the Westbury after-school program spoke about updating the outdated playground equipment.
One worker said the playground needs to be modernized.
“Some of these kids have been coming to this park for years. They see the same thing every day,” said the worker, who did not wish to be identified. “Nothing is new and nothing has changed. They have a water fountain that doesn’t work.”
The worker said an update to the swings is much needed.
“Some of the swings have been here forever. They’re old, they’re dingy, and they haven’t been painted in many years,” the worker said. “I feel like they should make the playground to fit not just the younger kids but also the ones who are in middle school.”
Haskell-Mann, the after-school coordinator, echoed the desire to update the swings. “Having more swings would be really good for them. They’re definitely just like ‘what do we do’ a lot of the time,” she said. “I think some of the structures aren’t as engaging for them when they get older.”
Haskell-Mann said an area for the students to play interactive games without the equipment would be an important addition to the park.
“If there were a foursquare area, I could see them enjoying that. There isn’t really a specific space for playing some kind of competitive game with a ball like basketball,” she said. “Some way for them to play a game without the equipment there would be nice — a hoop or even just squares on the pavement.”
Haskell Mann added that the students enjoy the field next to the playground and often play soccer in the open space.
A slide set outside the Westbury Recreation Center. Photo by Denivia Rivera/Long Island Advocate
Safety measures
In addition to an interest in updated playground equipment, a worker at the Westbury after-school program raised the need for additional safety measures at the park.
“A new fence would be nice to have,” the worker said. “I never understood why you could lock this fence, but people can still come into the park the other way. It would be nice to have the park fenced off at a certain point, and at night it should be locked up.”
Additionally, the worker said cameras would be a critical addition, as people often walk through the park on the way home.
“There’s no cameras on this property, so if something were to happen, no one would know, which is a safety issue,” the worker said. “People walk through this park back and forth to get to their homes, so it would be nice to have cameras here.”
The worker also said the mulch in the park should be removed and replaced by an alternative.
“Kids take the mulch and throw it at each other, and that’s not safe,” the worker said. “They trip on it all the time.”
Cavallaro agreed that upgrades are needed.
“In the last 20 years, there’s been a lot of advancement in playground equipment so people of all abilities can use the equipment, whereas in the past they couldn’t,” he said.
“What we know now is that there’s new stuff out there now, and we would like to give the park a face-lift,” Jefferson said.
The ball field at the Recreation Center. Photo by Denivia Rivera/Long Island Advocate
High-priority area
As reported by the Trust for Public Land, Westbury is a high-need area for new parks in North Hempstead. Renaud said access to the outdoors is a human necessity and strengthens communities.
“Access to the outdoors is a fundamental human need, and all communities are stronger, healthier and more connected when everyone is able to get outside and engage with nature,” Renaud said. “Working hand in hand with neighborhoods and communities, TPL supports the efforts of historically and economically marginalized groups to generate investments in and access to parks and public land that benefit everyone and that address wide-ranging challenges.”
Renaud said equitable investment in public parks is important for every resident to best benefit from the resources available to them.
“This means that although communities of color may technically live near a park, they’re less likely to have access to high-quality green spaces with the same amenities, programming and maintenance found in wealthier, Whiter neighborhoods,” Renaud said. “Addressing these disparities requires not just expanding park access but ensuring equitable investment in park quality, so every resident can benefit fully from public green spaces.”
The Village of Westbury Recreation Center. Photo by Denivia Rivera/Long Island Advocate
