Mayor set to announce more funds for new schoolyards, swim safety classes

January 9, 2025 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Photo: Seth Wenig/AP File photo

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CITYWIDE — EXPANDED FUNDING TO OPEN NEW SCHOOLYARDS AND MONEY FOR SWIMMING CLASSES will be unveiled when Mayor Eric Adams delivers his State of the City address on Thursday afternoon, Jan. 9 at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, Spectrum News NY1 reported. City Hall announced that 11 additional schoolyards will be opened for use during the summer, after school and weekends in underserved neighborhoods. The new investment brings the number of New Yorkers that live within a 10-minute walk of a public space to 85%, City Hall pointed out.

“By opening even more schoolyards for families to use after school, on weekends and during the summer, we will put another 20,000 New Yorkers within a 10-minute walk of a park,” Adams said in a statement.

Adams will also be expanding free swim safety classes for second graders this year. During an exclusive interview with NY1, Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi noted the seven drownings from last year and said the city, which has the necessary staffing to support the swim safety classes, aims to reduce such tragedies in the coming summer.

The new investment aims to save working-class New Yorkers $1.3 million, NY1 reported.

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