Higher West Facet classmates Hannah Bruner and Wilder McGraw, each 8, wakened one morning and determined to make historical past.
The 2 adventurers, together with Bruner’s mother and McGraw’s dad, launched into a 9-hour, 21-mile mission, biking by way of the Higher West Facet and Midtown West to tackle an bold summer time problem: break the world report of visiting probably the most NYC playgrounds in a single day.
Collectively, the 4 visited 41 playgrounds final Friday, shattering the earlier Guinness World File of 26 stops.
“Sooner or later when me and my mother have been sitting within the park, we visited like 5 playgrounds and we questioned what the world report for visiting playgrounds in a day was,” Bruner advised The Submit. “It was solely 26, so we determined it was straightforward to beat.”
“The youngsters are getting older and we solely have just a little little bit of playground time left with them,” Bruner’s mom, Jesenia Ruiz de la Torre, advised The Submit. “It virtually felt like a method to say goodbye to the playground.”
Ruiz de la Torre made an inventory of playgrounds on the Higher West Facet and Midtown West utilizing Google Maps and mapped out a path, marking each inexperienced house she noticed so as, utilizing a zigzag methodology to make sure she didn’t miss any parks.
“We strategized in regards to the order that may take advantage of sense prematurely,” Ruiz de la Torre defined to The Submit. “Then, on the day of, Wilder’s dad plugged the deliberate route into his GPS to ensure we took probably the most environment friendly route to every playground.”
The route hit a variety of parks from large playgrounds to tiny apartment-building extensions, beginning at 8 a.m. sharp and ending round 5 p.m.
“I’ve at all times wished to interrupt a world report,” eight-year-old McGraw advised The Submit, admitting that the most important problem for him was ignoring his rumbling abdomen. “I needed to persevere by way of not getting hungry and concentrate on the enjoyable, particularly when the mother and father would go down the mini slides.”
The group hustled to complete the problem earlier than Spain’s World Cup match later that day, so that they stopped solely twice for meals: one lunch spot for hen and fries and a bodega for snacks.
To make it official for Guinness World Data, the proof needs to be standardized and simply replicable, so the group used the identical course of because the 2019 report holders, taking timestamped pictures and movies of themselves utilizing a bit of playground gear at each cease, earlier than rapidly transferring on to the subsequent one.
The group despatched Guinness World Data their proof and is ready to listen to again for acceptance. Jordi Lippe-McGraw, Wilder’s mom, stated she is happy with their accomplishment regardless.
“The sweetness about residing in NYC is we now have entry to a lot proper outdoors our door, and a lot of that’s inexperienced house,” Jordi McGraw advised The Submit and admitted that her son enjoys the Large Apple’s parks greater than when the household lived within the suburbs.
“We’re smushed between two unbelievable parks (Central Park and Riverside Park), regardless of being referred to as the ‘concrete jungle.’”
New York Metropolis has over 2,000 playgrounds throughout the 5 boroughs, with over 200 in simply Manhattan, managed by the NYC Division of Parks & Recreation, the NYC Housing Authority (NYCHA), and native faculties.
Which parks have been the group’s favourite? Bruner most well-liked the River Run Playground on West 83rd as a result of “it had so many slides and monkey bars,” whereas the opposite three famous Harbor View Park on West fifty fifth, a model new park with a big climbing construction, as a memorable one.
Whereas the day wiped them out, the delight they felt was unmatched. Bruner and her mom ended the day with a sushi dinner and a 10-block stroll residence, which the 2 stated was fairly the problem after their exhausting day.
“We’re so happy with the children for reaching their purpose,” Ruiz de la Torre beamed. “The day was so enjoyable and will certainly be one of many highlights of our summer time.”
Beneath is their accomplished record of playgrounds, so as:
- River Run Playground — West 83rd St & Riverside Drive
- Hippo Playground — West 91st St & Riverside Drive
- Dinosaur Playground — West 97th St & Riverside Drive
- Tot Lot 105 – West one hundred and fifth St & Riverside Drive
- Tot Lot 110 West one hundred and tenth St & Riverside Drive
- Tot Lot 112 West 112th St & Riverside Drive
- Darlene & Julien Yoseloff Playground — CPW & West one hundred and tenth St
- Anibal Aviles Playground — West 108th St
- Bloomingdale Playground Amsterdam Ave & West 104th St
- Frederick Douglass Playground — Amsterdam Ave & West one hundred and first St
- Joyful Warrior Playground — Amsterdam Ave & West 98th St
- The Smart Towers Playground – West ninetieth St
- Playground 89 – West 89th St
- Sol Bloom Playground – West 92nd St
- Rudin Household Playground — CPW between 96/97 St
- Tarr Household Playground — Central Park, Close to West one centesimal St
- Wild West Playground — Central Park & West 94th St
- Safari Playground — Central Park & West 91st St
- Toll Household (Mariners) Playground — Central Park & West 84th St
- Diana Ross Playground — Central Park & West 81st St
- Tarr-Coyne Tots Playground — Central Park & West 68th St
- Journey Playground — West 67th St & CPW
- Heckscher Playground — Central Park, Close to West 62nd St
- Gertrude Ederle Playground — West sixtieth St
- Waterline Sq. Playground — West 59th St
- West Finish Park – West 63rd St
- Samuel N. Bennerson 2nd Playground – West 63rd St
- Matthew P. Sapolin Playground — West seventieth St
- Tecumseh Playground – West 78th St
- Henry Neufeld (Elephant) Playground — West 76th St
- Little Engine Playground — Riverside Blvd & West 68th St
- Large River Playground – West 67th St
- Pier 97 Playground — West 57th St
- Harbor View – West fifty fifth St
- Erie Canal Playground — West 52nd St
- Hell’s Kitchen Park — forty seventh St & tenth Ave
- Mathews-Palmer Playground — West forty fifth St
- McCaffrey Playground — West forty third St
- Tom Otterness Playground — West forty second St
- Traditional Playground — West 73rd St
- St. Gregory’s Playground (Bonus)
