Clinton Hall Parents team up after possible drug containers found at local park
In response, the parents decided to handle the situation themselves - and show up to the playground every morning before the kids get there and make sure things are clean.
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Families from The Learning Experience day care in Clinton Hill are taking matters into their own hands after an email sent home showed that containers, which police told the school are used for drugs, were found at the Classon Playground.
The school often takes kids to play at Classon Playground.
"I'm freaking out," Karina Escaño, who has a 13-month-old at the school told News 12. "In the Bronx, in that day care, that poor baby passed away because there were some drugs present, so of course my mind goes there - day care, baby, drugs."
Another parent, Jingmin Ye, said she could easily see kids picking them up and thinking they were toys, noting how colorful the containers are.
In response, the parents decided to handle the situation themselves - and show up to the playground every morning before the kids get there and make sure things are clean.
A Google Doc is already filled with volunteers through the start of December, and Escaño says that even though they're all busy, "our kids come first, their safety comes first, so we made sure we had time for it."It seems to be paying off - the morning News 12 team joined the cleanup, parents found glass beer bottles, and a vape, which Ye believes was "strawberry flavored, which is really concerning, because strawberry flavor is one of the kids favorite flavors."
Also concerning to families is the fact that the park is literally right next to the NYPD's 88th precinct, and parents say they have brought up the issues of the trash with local police.
News 12 reached out to the NYPD, and are still waiting to hear back on if they have any plans.
Ye says she thinks it will take "a combination of parents, community and the city" to get the resources to fully solve the problem, which is why parents are also working on setting up a meeting with Councilmember Chi Osse - hoping to secure someone assigned to regularly clean up the park, and the city to lock the gate every night when it closes at nine.
Until then, Escaño says the families are going to "do what we can until they're able to do what they have to do."
