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The NYC Parks Department is in in the process of replacing natural grass on many of its playing fields with artificial turf. The fake grass is plastic and laid over a rubber layer that softens the field. According to the NY Post, the Parks Department installed 74 artificial turf fields since 2002. 55 replaced natural grass and 19 were put over existing hard-top lots. Another 100 fields are planned for conversion to artificial turf over the next five years, at a cost of $150 million and an annual maintenance savings of $15,000 per field. We hope those fields are durable, because that envisions a 100-year investment timeline before the artificial-turf fields pay for themselves, even if the city is getting its money for free.
Parks advocacy group New Yorkers for Parks did a study on artificial turf in city parks and recommends the surface for playing fields intended for year-round use, but never on baseball fields. It also cautions that the long-term health effects of the materials used in artificial turf are unknown and that public input should be a major factor when considering conversion to or installation of artificial turf.
However, we wonder about the study conducted by atmospheric scientist Stuart Gaffin (of the Center for Climate Systems Research at Columbia University) which found that artificial grass gets really hot: Apparently artificial turf can get as hot as 140-160 degrees Fahrenheit, making them "among the hottest possible for urban areas, rivaling dark roofs and fresh asphalt."
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And how long before areas of it start disappearing in the middle of the night only to grace suburban backyards and Wburg roofdecks?
Lotsa LI walkways made of 150 year old Belgian bluestone.
More heat? wonderful...
And unleashed poops must integrate wonderfully into that texture.
Bofug
NO!!!!!!!! This is WRONG. The artificial turf stinks, kicks off nasty fumes in the summer when it's hot. This is offensive and morally wrong. If the city council had any intelligence, instead of banning the N word and aluminum bats, they would ban artificial turf.
I agree. It's a horrible waste. In my neighborhood, a previous multi-use field, which was red clay based and open at all times to various groups that shared the space, is now closed to only ball games that have to pay a fee to access the space. I walk around this "public" space now and have never been inside, ever. It is never left open. I don't even have a chance to let my dog off-leash illegally, let alone to poop illegally. I don't know why we need grass in these fields really. Is dirt considered toxic now or something? When did that happen? What's closing pools because water gets you wet? Paving Central Park because the grass just doesn't grow straight? Insanity!
New Yorkers should be very wary of this use.
Have you ever played on these fields? They smell obnoxious all year and tear apart your body. Try slide tackling someone in soccer on the field. You'll wish you hadn't.
do yo mean an annual savings of 15,000 each? if not, do the math again on how long that investment is.
I dunno...I kinda hope for this at Cooper Park in Wburg. God knows as soon as the weather shows any sign of warming, and the green grass shoots begin to spring up from the ground, the fields are taken over on the weekends and end up a dusty, muddy affair for the rest of the year. I can't say I've ever seen the "grass" field with any grass covering more than 50 percent of it.
Maybe they should cut down all the trees because artficial ones dont need maintenance. or replace them with tree-like cellphone towers, they can make money that way! this is pathetic. the city is operating at a surplus, politicians are always talking about creating new jobs, yet they want to replace real grass with turf because it doesnt need to be maintained by humans. absolutely positively insane, and just plain wrong.
Math looks right to me:
$150MM/100 fields = $1.5MM/field
$15k/year in savings.
1,500,000/15,000 = 100 year payback
CUNY professor Bill Crain has found that synthetic turf puts out nasty levels of carcinogens and toxic fumes. The city is refusing to allow him to test the installed turf for safety.
http://ny.metro.us/metro/local/article/See_no_evil/7796.html
Thank you for showing the math Bob. I indeed meant $15K annual savings per field and will add that to the post.
In additon to joeholmes' above link on Bill Crain's research, Metro has published a lot of different stories on artificial turf -- everything in this post plus.
Today, Metro's Patrick Arden reports that Public Advocate Betsy Gottbaum is leaning on the Parks Dept. to participate in Crain's study. Why are you so far behind the curve, Gothamist?
There is a very good reason most pro sports teams that played on fake grass went to the real stuff - less wear and tear on the players.
If you have ever been on an Astrotruf field in the height of summer - say a hazy hot and humid August day, the turf makes it feel at least ten to twenty degrees hotter. Not fun!
Hey people, this stuff is not "Astroturf". It's nothing like the first generation stuff you're used to. Almost all professional teams use this new artificial turf, and with good reason. Because it's the best playing surface possible. It doesn't grip like old astrotuf, so you don't have the serious knee injuries you used to see. Don't kid yourselves people, NYC isn't replacing grass fields with this, they're replacing giant mudpits full of broken glass, bottle caps, and used needles. I've found needles on fields before, and IT IS NOT FUN.
I've been playing soccer in the city for over 6 years now, and have watched as these fields have been installed. It's absolutely the best improvement I've seen in the city. I've played on them in every season, and I can tell you I have a fraction of the number of injuries I used to have. Even in the middle of summer i've never experienced these heat problems mentioned.
The fields are long blades of plastic "grass", with tiny black foam pellets that act like dirt. So you can do a full slide on the stuff and get up with no scrape. Just brush off the little pellets and go. I play goalie and before these fields were out there, I constantly had bleeding knees, elbows and hips from diving around on cracked dirt fields littered with glass and trash. Playing on these new fields is like heaven.
Thank you NYC!