UWS Playground Receives $3M To Improve Restrooms as Half the Space Remains Closed

By Gus Saltonstall

Last week, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that $3 million in state funding would be allocated for improvements to the bathrooms and pavilion at Dinosaur Playground on the Upper West Side.

The renovations will add new lighting, update the fixtures, and improve accessibility at the restrooms within the popular playground in Riverside Park and West 97th Street. The funding will also go toward improvements throughout the upper pavilion area of the playground, including the roof to the bathrooms, terrace and stairs repairs, new waterproofing, restoration of masonry, upgrading the drinking fountains, and more.

*The restrooms at Dinosaur Playground. Photo by Gus Saltonstall.*

“As New York’s first mom governor, I am proud to offer this financial support to Riverside Park Conservancy for improvements into the Dinosaur Playground facilities,” Hochul said in a news release. “This funding will ensure that families have a safe and welcoming community space to get offline, get outside and come together.”

*The inside of the Dinosaur Playground restrooms. Photo by Gus Saltonstall.*

With the announcement of new funding headed toward the Dinosaur Playground restrooms, it does bring to mind what is going on in the rest of the neighborhood play space.

Half of Dinosaur Playground is currently closed.

*The fenced-off side of the playground. Photo by Gus Saltonstall.*

The northern portion of the playground has been closed for years due to a sinkhole that formed during Hurricane Ida in 2021.

The sinkhole and closed-off portion of Dinosaur Playground. Photo by Gus Saltonstall.

The area has become overgrown as a ring of silver metal barricades blocks off the hole.

In 2024, the playground received $8.6 million in funding from then-Mayor Eric Adams, Councilmember Gale Brewer, and FEMA to renovate and fix this side of the space. At the time, city officials said this construction work would begin in 2025.

Work has not begun as of October 7, 2026.

“Any idea what’s become of Dinosaur Playground?” one reader emailed to West Side Rag in July. “They have done literally nothing.”

Another reader asked, “I’ve been wondering for years what is happening with Dinosaur Playground? As far as I can tell, the funding was approved for the renovations years ago.”

WSR reached out to the New York City Parks Department to see if we could get an update on the larger work at Dinosaur Playground.

A spokesperson for the city agency said the delay in any work taking place is due to waiting on permit approvals.

“This part of the playground is part of the larger upcoming reconstruction, which will include extensive upgrades to the underground drainage infrastructure,” the Parks Department spokesperson told the Rag. “We are waiting on final permit approvals. We anticipate construction will begin late 2027 or early 2028.”