About eight years after a popular New York City playground was closed to accommodate major rehabilitation of the nearby George Washington Bridge, the playground called “Dolphin Playground” was reopened on May 28 by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
The south side of the bridge, currently under reconstruction as part of the $2.1 billion Restoration of the George rehabilitation program, is scheduled to reopen later this year. This will give pedestrians dedicated use of the southern path, while cyclists will be able to use the northern path. The program, progressing in phases on the New York and New Jersey sides of the crossing, includes replacing the bridge’s 592 original steel suspension cables, roadway rehabilitation and ramp reconstruction.
Because construction required the use of the surrounding park, the playground in Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood was originally closed in 2018.
“As the construction footprint around the New York approach to the bridge has evolved,” the Port Authority, which owns the park, wrote in a press release, “the Port Authority has worked to address the operational and safety requirements necessary to reopen the playground to the public.”
The Covid-19 pandemic, followed by the death of park founder and volunteer park manager Jeanlee Poggi in 2021, also kept the park closed. Parents and community members pushing the Port Authority to reopen were also looking for nonprofits and volunteers to care for the park. In January, Community Board 12-Manhattan passed a resolution pressuring the Port Authority to reopen the playground. Now the Port Authority not only manages the park, but doubles its operating hours.
“Dolphin Playground is a reminder that the Port Authority’s job is about more than moving people across tall bridges and massive airports,” said Port Authority Executive Director Kathryn Garcia at the park’s reopening. “It’s also about being good neighbors to the communities around our infrastructure and the families that call them home.”
Founded in 1994, the park, officially named George Washington Bridge Playground, is known for the blue dolphin statue that sprays water from its mouth in the summer.
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The agency invested about $400,000 in the original construction of the playground on Port Authority land acquired in the 1960s for bridge approach ramps and completely renovated it in 2015, adding accessible features and new play equipment, the release said.
The parking lot reopened days after two incidents involving chipped concrete and metal that caused debris to fall onto busy roads leading to the George Washington Bridge. The Port Authority says both incidents were the result of severe winter conditions with “extremely cold temperatures and significant snowfall.”
