Office of Borough President James P. Molinaro
Staten Island, New York
Borough President Molinaro and NYC Department of Parks Announce Creation of Comfort Stations in Eight Island Parks
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Borough President James P. Molinaro today announced that his office and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation will be creating new comfort stations at eight locations in parks throughout Staten Island.
The parks include:
- Clove Lakes Park - open Fall 2005
- Willowbrook Park - open Fall 2004
- South Beach Boardwalk - open Spring 2005
- Greenbelt Nature Center - opened June 2004
- Conference House Park - open Fall 2004
- Bloomingdale Park - open Fall 2004
- Fairview Park - open Fall 2005
- Ocean Breeze Fishing Pier - opened Spring 2004
“Clean restrooms are heavily requested by visitors to our parks, especially seniors and parents with young children,” said Molinaro. “The renaissance at South Beach and the opening of the Ocean Breeze Fishing Pier are attracting thousands of people, making the availability of restrooms a top priority.”
In March, Molinaro announced that he is committing $400,000 in capital funding to renovate the South Beach Boardwalk comfort station, adjacent to the new Boardwalk restaurant now under construction. The interior of the restroom will be entirely gutted and new fixtures put in place, including new lighting and electric eye flush units, and full handicapped access.
Molinaro is also providing $750,000 from his FY05 budget for new comfort stations at Clove Lakes Park. The development of Conference House Park, funded by Mayor Bloomberg and the Borough President, will also include public restrooms at its visitors center. Construction has already begun and the work is expected to be complete in Fall 2004.
The Parks Department will be renovating the Willowbrook Park comfort station, and expects to complete it by Fall 2004. Construction on a new comfort station in Fairview Park, as part of the athletic fields complex, is scheduled to be completed by the Parks Department in Fall 2005.
Other new comfort stations already opened in Staten Island park sites include the Ocean Breeze Fishing Pier and the Greenbelt Nature Center in Spring 2004. A comfort station is part of the amenities in the new Bloomingdale Park opening in Fall 2004.
Molinaro noted that maintaining public restrooms is a difficult and costly challenge for the Parks Department.
“Most people use restrooms responsibly, but there are a few bad apples who trash the facilities,” Molinaro said. “Public restrooms are expensive because they need to be vandal-proof and impregnable when closed at night. In working with the Parks Department, our new restrooms will be easy to clean and hard to damage, with stainless steel toilets instead of ceramic and a modern ventilation system.”
“With the leadership of Mayor Bloomberg and the support of Borough President Molinaro, we have begun to enhance park restrooms on Staten Island. The new and renovated facilities will help to increase usage and allow patrons to enjoy the parks for years to come”, said Borough Parks Commissioner Thomas Paulo.
Molinaro concluded, “Staten Island is proud to have the greatest percentage of parkland in the city, and we need all our citizens’ help to keep our parks the cleanest and best-maintained as well. The improvements we are announcing today are only a small part of a wide-ranging effort to enhance our beaches and recreation facilities and keep Staten Island ‘The Borough of Parks’.”
July 12, 2004