Battery Park

It's Monday afternoon on the southernmost tip of Lower Manhattan. Tourists and families gather at Castle Clinton, the post-Revolutionary fort now run by the National Park Service, to purchase tickets for the ferry to the Statue of Liberty.  Ellis Island can be seen across the Hudson River.

But the real "melting pot" is right here at the foot of Battery Park, as almost one hundred children from all over the city of New York play atop blue slides, yellow jungle gyms, and green tire swings.

Sitting on one of the many well-kept benches in the Battery Park playground, June Williams watches her elementary-school-aged granddaughter scale the monkey bars. "I find it very nice here; they keep it clean. And there's so much to do and see down here. If the kids get tired of playing, we can go for a walk along the water, or go on the ferry…and then come back for more."

Ms. Williams didn't stumble upon this playground by accident. Though she lives in Long Island City in Queens, she rides the N train for 45 minutes just so her granddaughter can come to Battery Park to play. In fact, a number of the kids and families pushing each other on the swings and bouncing rubber balls on the blacktop hail from New York City's other boroughs.

Elizabeth, a woman in her early thirties, keeps an eye on her three-year-old son, Elisha. "I live on Staten Island, but this playground is so convenient. We come here three to four times a week," she says.  "First thing when we get off the boat, right off the ferry, he wants to come here and play. He really likes going down the slide."

A young Staten Island mother agrees that the playground has a strong allure.  Sitting at a picnic table watching her three young boys chase each other in circles, she enthuses "I came here when I was little, and I take my kids here now."