Parks Dept Installs Gate At Local Playground To Keep Out Drugs & Crime

The Parks Department installed a gate Wednesday at the entrance to Homecrest Playground in order keep criminals and drug users from occupying the park at night.

City Councilman Chaim Deutsch posted a photo of city workers putting up the gate to the Facebook group Save Homecrest Playground, whose members have been advocating for heightened safety measures to rid the park of unsavory characters.

“Thank you, NYC Parks, for installing a new gate at Homecrest Playground this morning to ensure increased safety,” Deutsch wrote on his Facebook post. “I am grateful for being given the tools to make a difference – I just never envisioned it would be power tools!”

As we reported this summer, neighbors complained the playground, located at Shore Parkway and Homecrest Avenue, had been overrun by vagrants, rampant drug use, and brazen criminal activity. Calls to police brought no response, they said.

Deutsch responded to neighbors’ pleas for support by asking the NYPD to step up patrols in the area, which lead to a major drug bust. He also reached out to the Parks Department to request they install a gate that could be locked at night.