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Citizen complaint of the day: Enough with the toys already at this JP tot lot
By adamg on Mon, 10/10/2016 - 11:50am
A concerned citizen files a complaint that well meaning JP parents have gotten out of hand with the tradition of leaving toys at the Brewer Street tot lot for other kids to play with:
Too many toys have been dumped at Brewers Playground. It was cute at first but now it's dangerous. Can't even walk without tripping over discarded and broken toys.
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Comments
Broken toys?
Why don't you pick them up and discard them yourself?
why do that
When you can be passive aggressive about it and post about on BOS:311 and have some city work come do the work for you?
Because
If someone who does not agree with cleaning up the toys sees you doing it, it could cause a conflict? Especially if it's toys they left/their kid likes.
Parents can be flat-out crazy.
Been there, done that
There is a work around for this.
You throw out anything uselessly broken or dangerous. Then you take the rattier stuff and corral it in a corner with a note/sign saying that if it isn't used in a week, it too will be tossed. Sometimes the threat of tossing something out leads to things finding new homes.
It also helps to create or have the city create a corral or a designated zone for storing the toys so that the playground is not so cluttered (and so people finding it too cluttered can just chuck them into their dead zone).
The real problem in this picture appears to be that there is no place to put the toys to get them out of the way. Some of these programs have pounds for them. Medford has the city put them out and collect/put them away.
Nope. Medford doesn't.
The head of the Parks Department for Medford DPW is a wonderful man in many ways and does a phenomenal job with a small staff, but he *hates* having shared toys in the playgrounds both as a parent and as a city employee. Last fall, as part of a city cleanup, he told his crew to remove all broken toys (read all toys, because they are all, by default, broken whether safely usable or not). Those toys never returned, no they never returned. And their fate, while assumed to be a landfill, is still unknown.
On the other hand, several Medford tot lots have parents who are self-appointed guardians. We try to throw away the broken stuff, control overages by moving toys among the parks, and get rid of the big, broken items by catching the city workers when they come to pick up the trash.
Then someone
could call 311 to report that the toys they donated have been stolen from the tot lot!
Absence of large enough trash
Absence of large enough trash cans?
I don't live in JP, or any neighborhood where people leave toys at the playground. But you're basically asking a concerned parent to drag broken toys home (usually on foot, we walk to a lot of that stuff) and stash them until trash day.
Yup
They're neighborhood parks. Some people drive (throw it in the trunk), some people walk (carry it or, if you've got too much kidstuff, don't).
It doesn't have to be the case that every single user is in a position to take the trash home to throw it out. Just a handful of parents who are paying attention and considerate of their community.
Just like dog walkers should be policing each other's poop scooping, parents should be scanning community toys to throw out ones that are dangerous or otherwise inappropriate.
In My Sam L Jackson voice
I'm tired of these motherfu@@ing toys in this motherfu@@ing park!
Organize a tot lot cleanup?
Back when I lived in JP there was a loosely-organized tot lot cleanup every couple of years. People like having the older toys, as long as they work - but the users of the tot lot need to rally and throw things away when needed (as Swirly suggests). Is JP Moms still active? That used to be the place to post the rallying cry for a cleanup. Alternatively you can post a flyer.
This isn't a problem
My daughter and I visit this place multiple times a week. Almost all of the toys that have been intentionally left here are not broken and are used by the kids who come here to play with them. When parents find a broken toy it is standard to put it over near the trash and the city will pick it up on trash day. There is no issue with this place, and the toys are the reason why we hang out there. JP Moms is still active and they do have regular cleanups here. I'm not sure why the person who posted this complaint is visiting this tiny toddler filled park to walk around - that is clearly not the purpose of this place - it is full of toddlers (more than toys) so I think the complainer needs to find a new place to go for a walk. Try jamaica pond instead.
Agreed
This is the go-to spot for keeping our two year-old entertained. And even if some toys aren't in perfect working condition, a toddler's idea of what constitutes "broken" is very different from an adult's.
While it is great that this
While it is great that this is a super rich play space for the littlest citizens of this neighborhood in Boston, all citizens should be able to enjoy public spaces. We don't know that this person is able to make it to the pond to walk. Additionally, why do you assume and label this person a "complainer" for their own purposes rather than expressing a community-minded concern for the safety of both children and adults in the space?
This is a very tiny fenced in
This is a very tiny fenced in Tot Lot. When my kids played there, a sign indicated it was for children ages 5 and under.
it is an issue
My parents were in town from out of state a couple weeks ago, and we took our 2-year old there to play. They thought it was insane.
It is completely out of control. Part of the reason we've stopped taking our kid to this tot lot is that there are a ton of kids and parents, and everywhere you turn you trip over something. It's nice that the toys are there, and he loves playing with them. I'm not saying they shouldn't be there, but there should be some limit on the number. I mean, it really does look just like it does in the photo in the 311 complaint.