Gothamist-a

Apparently Fifth Avenue's Ancient Playground is as beloved by The Gothamist as it is by my kids and Lewis the Bagle.

Despite being hated by parents citywide for its labyrinth-like, "where-the-hell-did-my-kid-just-disappear-to" architecture, featuring pyramids with trap-doors, tunnels and hidden climbing walls, as well as for its Tarzan-ropes that pretty much beg children to play a game called "Knock Me Off the Rope, I Double Dog Dare You",The Ancient Playground has remained virtually unchanged since it first opened, notwithstanding the move toward modernizing playgrounds all around the city.

As parents, we love when our playgrounds are safe, helping us to feel secure in engaging in engrossing conversations, attending to our Blackberries or reading our trashy magazines (the ones we didn't buy, but rather "found" on the park bench), knowing that our children will be fully visible when we finally turn around to look for them. But hey, ultimately, we're quite happy to actually watch our children having fun. So we allow ourselves to be cajoled into taking them to the Ancient Park once in a while.

Will the City Parks Commission have its way and safeti-fy the beloved pyramids of the Ancient Playground? Or will the
Gothamist and other supporters of perhaps the last vestige of childsplay in New York City that doesn't support our kids turning, unwittingly, into wussies, convince the City otherwise?

We shall see. Now where did my kids disapear to? See-saw anyone?

YC