A. asked, “when will kids be able to play at the Battery Park City playground again?” The playground at Rockefeller Park (my kids called it the nets playground, and I know others called it the dog playground, for the Labrador retriever gargoyles that spit water) looks like it is a long way from coming together, but Nick Sbordone at the Battery Park City Authority says the completion date is still early spring, “April-ish.” Could be earlier, but of course, it’s weather dependent (though if winter hasn’t happened yet, does not seem likely now…).

The whole place got an overhaul, from the safety surface to the pavement to all the playground elements. The latter will be repainted and reinstalled. There will be new everything: sand, all the wood timber posts, all the decking, steps and pergolas — including the carousel gazebo. All the drinking fountains will be replaced with drain-free trough types (similar to the ones at the ballfields, I am guessing, so no more sand clogging the drains). All the concrete tables will be repaired and the fences around the entire playground will be repainted.

Should be pretty spiffy.