By Gus Saltonstall
It was an ugly sight in Hippo Playground on Tuesday morning.
One of the largest of the 12 hippos within the Riverside Park playground near 91st Street was clearly injured in recent days, with extensive bandages across his body and a special cup-like device on its right ear.
It is unclear what led to the injuries, but the large hippo was the only one of its pod to have suffered injuries, leaving some to speculate that it bravely warded off danger by itself.
A Parks Department spokesperson told West Side Rag on Wednesday that a staff member recently repaired the hippo’s ear, and that it will take two to three days to reset depending on the weather. There is no hazardous material within the repair work, and the spokesperson emphasized that the other hippos were in good health and available to play with the children.
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Too many rounds of the floor is lava!
He’d just been standing there, motionless, all day, while telling kids to play and be more active. That was when a large box fell on his head, causing the injury. It was a hippo crate.
Someone call Hippocrates!
I trust Hippocrates, but first do no harm.
Housing is an issue in NYC. Hippothetically, we’re a caring city with caring people. It’s not the zoo everyone thinks it is. Never leave a hungry hungry hippo unhoused. Let’s build him a hippo-dome :rim shot:
I diagnose brittleness.
All thes comments are hippocritical .
Clearly, the situation is hippo-critical!
Hope he didn’t hurt his hippocampus
Aww, poor hippo! Did someone hurt him? Shame on you. . Hope all will be well soon, and Hippo can hop and hip back into hippo land with the others.
The real travesty is the Dinosaur Playground on 98th Street, there has been sink hole in there since early on in the pandemic that hasn’t been fixed. They’ve closed off a section of the playground all this time.