Playgrounds officially open at Greis Park in Lynbrook

About 15 people came to Greis Park on Aug. 20 to celebrate the official ribbon cutting ceremony for the new playgrounds, including members of the Village of Lynbrook board of trustees, Supervisor of Parks Pat McDermott and several children who just wanted to play during the dog days of summer.

“It went very well,” said Mayor William Hendrick. “We opened it up and kids were playing on the playground.”

The new playgrounds, one for toddlers and one for children between the ages of 5 and 12, are handicap accessible and have rubberized surfaces that prevent children from being hurt if they fall. The new playgrounds also offer new equipment for children to play on that is on par with other modern playgrounds. “It’s very nice for the kids to have a place to play safely,” Hendrick said.

To build the playgrounds, village officials received a grant of $100,000 from Assemblyman Brian Curran, who is a resident of Lynbrook. It then took more than a year to build the new playgrounds because the older equipment had to be gutted and then the land had to be resurfaced. “It was a lot of work,” Hendrick told the Herald earlier this month.

All the hard work paid off on Aug. 20, however, as many children were seen smiling and enjoying the new equipment.