{"id":306765,"date":"2026-07-27T17:17:29","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T17:17:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/306765\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T17:17:29","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T17:17:29","slug":"ev-grieve-petition-to-preserve-tompkins-square-park-fitness-area-tops-2000-signatures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/306765\/","title":{"rendered":"EV Grieve: Petition to preserve Tompkins Square Park fitness area tops 2,000 signatures"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Photos by Stacie Joy<\/p>\n

Reporting by EVG and SJ<\/p>\n

Back in May<\/a>, we reported that the city’s planned reconstruction project for the Tompkins Square Park mini-pool, basketball courts and fitness area had prompted concerns among some park users.\u00a0The proposal returned to the spotlight this past week after Gothamist<\/a> reported on the petition opposing plans to rebuild the park’s fitness area.\u00a0The petition<\/a>\u00a0(find it here<\/a>), which has now collected more than 2,000 signatures since it launched on May 9, asks the Parks Department to remove the fitness area from the scope of work.<\/p>\n

Specifically, the petition asks Parks to “remove the fitness area from the scope of work so the space remains accessible during the pool reconstruction, and direct the money where it will do good instead of doing harm.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Supporters say the fitness area serves a broad cross-section of the community \u2014 people of every gender, age, income level, race and fitness ability \u2014 who use it year-round, in all weather and throughout the day and night. They also note that the equipment is well known among calisthenics practitioners, with many traveling to Tompkins Square Park specifically to train there.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last Thursday, I stopped by and spoke with some of the gym regulars. They described the workout area as much more than a place to train \u2014 it’s also a gathering spot and community built around the equipment that’s been there for years. Several said they want the bars preserved as they are, expressing little confidence that the Parks Department would adequately replace them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Two people pointed to the reconstruction of East River Park, saying the changes to the fitness equipment there left them skeptical of promises that new facilities would meet the needs of the calisthenics community.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Procurement and construction timelines have not yet been established, though Parks notes that procurement typically takes nine to 12 months and construction 12 to 18 months after those phases begin.<\/p>\n

As previously reported, the project calls for a new in-ground swimming pool, which will double the capacity of the current above-ground trailer park model.<\/p>\n

According to city officials, key water lines for the pool run beneath the courts and fitness area, so they’ll need to find a workaround to avoid disrupting them.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Previously on EV Grieve:\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photos by Stacie Joy Reporting by EVG and SJ Back in May, we reported that the city’s planned…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306766,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,11,10],"class_list":["post-306765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306765\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}