Community Alert: Kids Losing Access to St. Vartan Park; Attend CB6 Parks and Cultural Affairs Committee Meeting on Tuesday, May 5, 2026

With the playground closed and peak outdoor season underway, local children are being left without a reliable place to play

As the neighborhood moves into the busiest outdoor months, access to the St. Vartan Park Athletic Field has reached a critical point for families in Murray Hill and Kips Bay.

The Murray Hill Neighborhood Association has received a significant volume of outreach from parents reporting that their children have little to no access to nearby outdoor space, particularly after school and on weekends.

What’s Happening

Residents report that the field is scheduled back to back for organized leagues, leaving minimal opportunity for open community use.

Weekend permits frequently run from morning through evening, with similar limitations during afterschool hours on weekdays. Nearby options, including the Robert Moses Playground, are also heavily scheduled, further limiting alternatives within walking distance.

A nearby parent shares, “From about 9 AM to 7 PM every Saturday and Sunday, the field is permitted. There are zero hours for families to reliably use it. There is literally nowhere for our kids to go.”

Why This Is Worse Right Now

The situation is further intensified by the ongoing renovation of the St. Vartan Park playground, which is expected to remain closed for a period of one year.

For years, the playground and adjacent field functioned as complementary spaces for neighborhood families. That changed in 2021, when the field was converted to turf. Since then, NYC Parks has increasingly permitted the space to organized leagues, reducing consistent access for local use.

Although this playground renovation has been planned for many years, the remaining green space has continued to be heavily permitted for team sports and remains scheduled through the fall, with little indication that the needs of the thousands of children and families in the surrounding community were accounted for in the interim.

With the playground now closed, the field has effectively become the only nearby outdoor option for children after school and on weekends. Despite this increased demand, it remains largely scheduled during those same critical hours.

Why This Matters

Thousands of children live in this neighborhood, many without access to private outdoor space. For these families, local parks are essential to daily life.

At present, many children do not have a reliable place nearby to play.

What MHNA Is Doing

MHNA has been actively documenting community experiences and tracking how current permitting patterns are affecting children’s access to outdoor space.

The organization will share these concerns to the CB6 Parks and Cultural Affairs Committee on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, with the goal of identifying solutions that better support neighborhood families. Please join us in person or online.

Access to safe, nearby outdoor space is a fundamental component of healthy childhood development and community well-being. As demand increases heading into summer, this issue requires timely attention.

Join us in person or online for the CB6 meeting, Tuesday May 5th @ 6:30pm or email your support ahead of time.

CB6 in person: 211 East 43rd Street, Suite 1404

Sign up to join on Zoom here: https://www.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_YXWS_9QtSQK9auneGq_oJg

Email CB6 here: info@cbsix.org and MHNA here: info@murrayhillnyc.org