The Marx Brothers Playground sign, posted on its fenced entrance. Photo taken by Briana Belfer.
By: Briana Belfer
Public parks and fields are spaces aching to be filled. The Marx Brothers Playground is an expansive field located on East 96th Street and 2nd Ave, situated near bustling neighborhood activity. The park is flanked by schools, a hospital, retail locations, and a brand new Q subway station on the recently finished 2nd Ave Subway line. One would expect that it would be thriving and filled with life, sports and laughter. In my two site visits, this wasn’t exactly the case, but perhaps, there is hope for growth.
The Marx Brothers Playground is named after the famed family comedy group who grew up in the neighborhood, an apt namesake for a park that’s intended to spark joy and function as a place for leisure in cities. The park is a large, open field that could host a variety of outdoor activities. It has the occasional benches located on the periphery of the field, two rusted goalposts without nets on each side, a few cones, and a bench behind another fence that appears to be vaguely intended for team sports like baseball, softball, etc. The park’s location is appropriate and well-needed for the area, right across the street from a a 6-12 school (The Life Sciences Secondary School), behind a vocational school (School of Cooperative Technical Education), the Metropolitan Hospital and is now finally connected to the rest of the city through a brand new subway station. Students, neighborhood residents, people on lunch breaks have the whole field at their disposal. However, there is an issue that I encountered.
The vacant field at the Marx Brothers playground. Photo taken by Briana Belfer.
A map outlining features in and nearby Marx Brothers playground. Taken from Google Maps, outlined by Briana Belfer.
When I stepped onto the field for the very first time on Wednesday morning, there was not a soul to be found. I arrived on an early Wednesday morning at 7:45 AM for my first site visit, fully aware that I may not have as fruitful of a turnout as I expected. When I finally found an entrance and became situated at a bench in the far left corner, in front of the hospital, I realized there was more to be heard from birds chirping than anything else on the field. There was a steady stream of pedestrians coming to and fro on 96th St, cars coming from the FDR drive, commuters heading to and out of the Q train, and even students heading to their respective schools. But, the field was as desolate as ever. I used this site visit to mainly make note of the field’s features, the subtle indications that soccer (goal posters) and baseball (small, non-descript bases and a bench) are played here occasionally, the trees outlining the space, and the astroturf that’s littered with twigs. After 40 minutes, I vacated the field and joined the rest of the crowd of commuters, thinking about how the space was not overwhelmingly dilapidated nor was it state-of-the-art, it was modest and surely had potential to be the site of joy for many.
A map outlining activity on Wed, March 29th. Taken from Google Maps, outlined by Briana Belfer.
A view of the empty goal posts and empty field. Photo taken by Briana Belfer.
I came back the next afternoon, arriving at the field on a Thursday at 1:50 PM. I had hoped that around this time, students and people on their lunch breaks would be enjoying a pleasant, sunny day in the field. I too was enjoying the afternoon, albeit with a pen and notebook in hand, attempting to be as surreptitious and non intrusive as possible. Thankfully, my prediction came somewhat true. On the right side of a field, I spotted two women having lunch on a park bench. They seemed to have been there for a while and lingered, enjoying the sunny afternoon, leaving 30 minutes into my visit. At 2:07, three students presumably from one of the nearby schools showed up, eating lunch and running around the field with a ball, enjoying their day just as much. 5 minutes later, two more kids arrived, laying down on the astroturf with food in hand. I left at 2:20, instilled with more hope that the playground served some use as a ‘hang-out’ spot, but as far as my knowledge went from both site visits, it wasn’t being as widely used for larger community events and activities despite the evidence of occasional use and sports related objects.
A map of the activity which was increased on Thurs, March 30th. Taken from Google Maps, outlined by Briana Belfer.
A picture taken far away and from behind of three people enjoying time at the park. Taken from a slightly less visible angle in order to obscure the faces and identities of those in the photo. Photo taken by Briana Belfer.
A closer view of the ‘team’ bench. Photo taken by Briana Belfer.
Signs right next to the park, on the corner of 2nd Ave and E 96th St. Leftover construction from the brand new Q Train-2nd Ave station nearby. Photo taken by Briana Belfer.
The Marx Brothers playground is a large modest space that is somewhat in use by the residents of East Harlem, but isn’t being fully utilized for purposes of play. Parks are a welcome sight and reminder of the beauty of the outdoors in metropolitan cities, and the Marx Brothers playground is part of that. Although I do not want to be presumptive as I am not a resident of East Harlem, I do believe that the playground and community at large would benefit from more local sports leagues (for children and adults) who would plan to more frequently use the park. This could also lead to some more frequent upkeep and clean-up, getting rid of the all of the twigs and grime on the astroturf. The park is open to the East Harlem community, or whoever is willing to take the Q train up to 96th St, whoever wants to toss around a ball, have a pleasant lunch break, or just enjoy a sunny day in an open space. All New Yorkers could benefit from a little less work and a little more play.
