Modern playgrounds report more injuries than older ones in NYC

UNION SQUARE (WABC) -- Some of the newest playgrounds in New York City have the most injuries reported.

At Evelyn's Park in Union Square, the dome is a shiny, sleek fan favorite. It's almost as fun as the wheel where kids get to giggle, as they hang on tight and spin around in a circle.

"There's the design and the space it's just more modern than what they've done in a lot of the standard parks that you see around the city. I think that they've done a good job in just making them more modern," said Melissa Stayrides, a mother.

But the newer playground, renovated just six years ago, is where the most kids get hurt in the city. There have been 12 injuries in the last two years, including a 43-year-old mother who injured her ankle sliding down the dome.

"That's considered high, yes," said Liam Kavanagh, NYC Parks First Deputy Commissioner.

Kavanagh says some of the newer, more innovative equipment can lead to the injuries.

"We try things that we think are going to be successful and sometimes they don't always work out. One of those cases was a spinning disk that we installed in several playgrounds. It was a lot of fun; kids loved it, including my granddaughter who enjoyed it tremendously. But there were some accidents associated with it, once we saw those accidents we moved very quickly to remove them from the playground or make them inoperable," Kavanagh said.

One of the reasons parents say kids are so attracted to this park is because it's new and so much fun.

The Parks Department says there was a total of 60 of injuries at the city's 1,000 playgrounds in last two years, which overall is very low.

"I'm always around them; I don't leave them by myself so I'm always nearby," said Rebecca Alder, a mother.