As part of its “Schoolyards to Playgrounds” initiative, the Adams administration has announced the opening of 11 new schoolyard sites across New York City that will now be accessible to the public outside of school hours. The expansion is part of a $770,000 permanent investment included in the Fiscal Year 2026 Executive Budget, and aims to increase access to green space for New Yorkers in underserved neighborhoods, adding an estimated 20,000 residents within a 10-minute walk of a park or playground. Ten plan is being implemented by the Mayor’s Office in coordination with NYC Public Schools and NYC Parks.
The newly added schoolyards are located in The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens, and include public school sites such as P.S. 159 Isaac Pitkin in East New York, P.S. 116 Mary Lindley Murray in Kips Bay, and Jean Nuzzi Intermediate School in Queens Village. These spaces will be open daily year-round from 8AM until dusk and are managed jointly by NYC Parks and the Department of Education.
The effort falls under Mayor Eric Adams’ broader “We Outside Summer” campaign, which promotes safe and accessible public spaces throughout the five boroughs, and brings the total number of schoolyards open to the public to more than 300 citywide. Efforts are particularly focused on neighborhoods that previously lacked proximity to parks, making use of underutilized schoolyards to expand recreational access.
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Opening 11 new schoolyard sites across New York City is great! What’s not is using the slogan “We Outside Summer,” that sounds just as illiterate as the corrupt, indicted NYC Mayor sounds when he speaks. No wonder kids today do not speak properly.
Kids do not listen to the mayor.