You are reading

Astoria Park Goers Petition To Reopen Bathroom After It Sat Closed For An Entire Summer

_MG_4713

Jan. 8, 2016 By Jackie Strawbridge

Hundreds of residents have signed a petition calling for the re-opening of a bathroom at Astoria Park that was closed last summer.

The bathroom sits within Charybdis Playground, located near the Hell Gate Bridge adjacent to Shore Boulevard. It was closed while the Parks Department worked on plumbing repairs.

Portable toilets were installed at the other end of the playground and remained throughout the summer and fall season.

The petition states, “with the start of the 2016 park-going seasons just a few months away, we are looking at the prospect of a second full year without clean, safe, and operational permanent bathrooms in the playground.”

As of Friday afternoon, more than 350 people have signed the petition.

“Our kids need this!” one petition signer wrote. “We can’t spend much time there if there are no facilities available.”

Trailer bathroom at Charybdis, summer 2015

Trailer bathroom at Charybdis, summer 2015

The Parks Department could not immediately be reached for questions. However, a spokesperson told the Astoria Post in October that the ongoing repairs to Astoria Park’s plumbing system is “complicated work” and that the bathroom closure “will likely last a year or more.”

Richard Khuzami, chair of Community Board 1’s Parks Committee, said that the restroom closure “is also a priority for the Community Board and we know that it needs to be done – it’s very important.”

As part of its Fiscal Year 2016 budget requests, CB 1 requested upgraded bathrooms in Astoria Park, as well as a new restroom outside of Charybdis Playground.

The only other bathroom in the park is located in the Field House near the tennis courts.

email the author: [email protected]
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Manhattan bouncer charged in New Year’s Day fatal stabbing in Elmhurst: NYPD

A Manhattan man was arrested on Saturday and charged in the fatal stabbing of an East Elmhurst man during the early morning hours of New Year’s Day in what notably became the city’s first homicide of 2024.

Torrence Holmes, 35, of St. Nicholas Place in Hamilton Heights, was taken into custody at his home and transported back to Queens, where he was booked at the 110th Precinct in Elmhurst on manslaughter and other charges on Saturday afternoon.

After surge of traffic violence, Queens leaders demand safer streets especially for children

Following a tragic week on Queens streets where three pedestrians — 43-year-old Natalia Garcia-Valencia, 58-year-old Elisa Bellere and 8-year-old Bayrron Palomino Arroyo — were fatally struck by unsafe drivers, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards announced that he has allocated $1.5 million in capital funding for street safety improvements on three of the borough’s most dangerous roadways.

Richards made the announcement at 82nd Street and Astoria Boulevard in East Elmhurst on Monday morning, about a mile from where the 8-year-old boy was struck and killed by an impatient pickup truck driver from Flushing on Mar. 13 as he walked in the crosswalk at 31st Avenue and 101st Street with him mother and brother, who was injured.