NYC Parents Are Handing Their Kids Tools at Governors Island Playground

New York parents are dropping their elementary school children off at a junkyard on Governors Island for an unconventional experience by today’s helicopter parent standards.

Located on a former Coast Guard installation, The Yard, a roughly 20,000 square-foot playground at 40 Barry Rd. in Nolan Park, provides kids with real hammers, saws, and knives. The children climb ladders, play in the mud, and shove each other around in secondhand wheelchairs, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Since parents are barred from the main play area, trained staffers known as playworkers, who are coached not to issue unnecessary warnings about being careful, are responsible for the well-being of the children. An exception is made for caregivers of kids with special needs, and there is a separate family area for children under the age of five.

“There are no parents allowed on the playground. There are playworkers instead that empower and encourage kids to do safely whatever they choose to do,” Jaclyn Katz, board director of play:groundNYC, said.

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Amy Potter, who is among those parents who sends their child to The Yard, recalls a time when she was younger and would jump off a shed onto a trampoline until there was a hole in it.

Entry is free with a suggested $5 donation per child, plus a signed waiver, and closed-toe shoes. Admission is capped at about 45 children at a time.

The Yard runs from noon to 4 p.m. on weekends, and closes on Nov. 15.

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