Imagination Playground

We are FiDi residents. This playground was a great activity for our kids when deciding to move here. During Covid the playground was neglected and fell into disrepair. Mr. Glen, the park coordinator was fired due to city cutbacks. The wooden walkway is such a hazard giving many kids splinters and cuts. Then the slide broke and has since been sitting that way. It's quite a depressing place now. All it needs is a little TLC from the city or the Rockwell group. Perhaps a $$$collection. Either way, the city Parks and Rec has let this playground and the kids of FiDi down. What a shame.

Back in the old days everyone wanted to grow up when they were little; life was boring. The playgrounds were one flat slab of asphalt with maybe a handball wall, basketball hoop or if you are luck monkey bars and a hot metal slide that violated every OSHA rule you can think of for playground safety.

The other day I walked by the new Imagination Playground and I wanted to be young again!
The NYC Parks department took over this once boring parking lot bordered by John St. and Burling Slip between Front St and South St.
The have successfully created a fantastic state-of-art playground for kids. There are water works, sand pits, large form blocks, ramps, bridges and even a tower to climb. They even added a modern restroom.
The playground design is revolutionary. I wish my kids are small again so I can visit with them.

Hint: do not walk in like me with a camera and start walking around taking pictures; you get a lot of strange stares from the mother bears protecting their cubs.
So if you don't have children, go borrow, rent, find a child so you can enjoy this wonderful playground with them.
More here: http://imaginationplayground.org/

It's ok. The water wasn't working at the time so maybe that would've bumped up the stars. I'm glad there was a bathroom inside the park, fairly clean. I liked the space of the park, plenty of room to run around.
But no shade.
Not really much to do. You really do have to use your imagination.
And the fact that you can't be around your kid while they build with those blue foam blocks is annoying as fuck. Also that means that parents are just chilling on the benches and not regulating their kids which means those kids can act sh*tty with no repercussion.

Very nice playground in Lower Manhattan. Great for kids. Sand, water and things to climb. Whats not to like. Its also enclosed, and has restrooms etc.

Easy park for those with toddlers and associated strollers etc.

Its surprising to see this amid all the office buildings here, but in true NYC fashion, there are some residential buildings here too.

This park is cool, however the kids here were reminiscent of those assholes who buy tables at clubs and then guard them with their lives.

Screw you, little kids! These kids here were such jerks in training.

My boo and I were coming out of the South Street Seaport and I noticed this playground. I figured it'd be cool to check out.

Every time I tried to grab with a random blue block, a kid ran up to me and said, hey, why are you touching my block?

So I asked if they were using the other block.
"Yup, that's mine".

I repeated this process over and over again until I found some blocks that wasn't guarded. I really felt as if I was being bullied by these punks. Their parents were watching them and didn't even urge them to share.

I'm not sure if every kid had to check out the blocks, but wow, these kids had some serious attitude. Those blocks seem like a total waste of taxpayer dollars. Back when I was a kid, we had to use sticks and rocks and make due with our imaginations. Heck our old playgrounds were covered with sharp edges and concrete, not rubberized flooring.

Places like these are the cause of the wussification of America!

Great space for children to manipulate and manifest all their creative machinations. This is an innovative approach to a playground where there are no stationary play stations. The children create and dismantle their play areas using ginormous foam cubes ,and other shapes. This leads to a great sense of cooperative autonomy unlike any other park I have visited.

There are also full time staffers monitoring this playground to facilitate appropriate usage of the equipment. It is good to have people maintaining the space for other future visitors. This place can get a little crowded and there are not too many places in to sit in the shade that's my only problem with this venue.

I have been to this playground numerous times and my five year old always has a great time! The building blocks are awesome and the water features are wonderful on a hot, sunny day. It's across from the Seaport and there are TONS of dining options nearby. You can even go to the TKTS office around the block and look for Broadway tickets 40% - 50% off.

Bring your sunscreen! There are times that there is absolutely no shade and the sun just beats down on you.

I'd give five stars but sometimes the supervisor speaks to the parents like they are children. Today he was rude and condescending when I asked him to wait 30 seconds for my son to return from the bathroom before taking apart a fort he spent fifteen minutes building.

More like kill-your-imagination playground. I say this purely because of the man who works there. He has now made my 2 year old son cry twice and he is literally scared of him, meaning he won't walk by the man without holding my hand. The most recent time was because he tried to tell my son that he could not fill up his bucket with water because there was already sand on the bucket from playing in the sandbox. He said we had to use a clean bucket and that I should teach my son the "right" way to get water.

The first time he made him cry was because he was using his scooter in the playground, which I guess is not allowed. I understand if that is because of insurance issues or whatever, but we were literally the only people inside the playground at the time so then we just left.

Other than the attendant the sandbox is nice and there is a tunnel slide right into it. The blocks are also fun, but again, the attendant hovers over and tries to control what everyone is doing.

Luv this playground. Only thing I dislike. The restroom is locked on Sundays. Where r u supposed to take your kids to use the bathroom? Especially younger toddlers, who are just being party trained.

The Imagination Playground attendant at the playground near the South Street Seaport was terrible. I think it's absolutely wrong to tell a parent not to play with and enjoy their children. But I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, so I complied with his request to take a hands off approach. That's when he began to interact with my children in my place!

NYC parents don't get a whole lot of time with their children and to have a fun family experience basically hijacked by a stranger is just wrong and absurd. The attendant literally told me that I should not help my kids and then proceeded to direct them to build HIS structure. He was awful. I don't think parents should EVER be told not to interact with their kids. And if that's the rule, then some stranger who enforces it should also ABIDE BY IT. Our children actually NEED and WANT our attention and would be just as well without a bossy stranger telling them what to do.

Hiding behind lies that parents inhibit other children just demeans every parent who enjoys spending time with their kids and knows how to encourage sharing. The attendant should be fired. Or his job description changed to encouraging EVERYONE to enjoy the blocks together. I honestly will never bring my children back and will advise against this playground to everyone I know.

I'll also report it to the parks department, 311, imagination playground and the better business bureau.