Ramapo Parks and Recreation Holds Groundbreaking at Viola Park for New Children's Play Area

by M.C. Millman

Monsey's Manny Weldler Park, otherwise known as Viola Park, held a groundbreaking on Thursday, August 9, for the new play area. 

The symbolic groundbreaking will be followed by the installers doing their own groundbreaking on Monday, September 12, for the new equipment that is already on site. The park should be ready in two to four weeks – just in time for the Yomim Tovim. 

The new children's play area will be opposite the tennis court parallel to West Maple Avenue. 

"This is a great day for Ramapo, but it's only a start," Rabbi Hersh Horowitz shares with Rockland Daily. "We look forward to many more parks to keep pace with the growth of our community, so families don't have to travel. I am glad the Town has undertaken this initiative, the first of many additional local parks. We look forward to making that happen. I want to thank the Town of Ramapo Supervisor Michael Specht and Mona Montel, Town of Ramapo Director of Purchasing, for making this happen."

The new play area includes all-inclusive equipment. There will be thirty swings, some for handicapped, some for babies, and flat swings and belt swings for ages five and up. There will be climbing apparatus, shade structures, and benches built on a berm – so caregivers will be able to watch the children from a higher elevation. 

Additional parks in the works include Sandy Brook Park in New Hempstead, where a new playground is planned along with a walkway around the lake. Besen Park in Airmont and Childrens Park in Chestnut Ridge are also slated for upgrades. 

"We are very excited to start building parks to meet the needs of our ever-growing community," Michelle Antosca, Director of Ramapo Parks and Recreation, shares with Rockland Daily. "Our parks were sufficient when they were designed a long time ago, but now, given the number of children in our community, we are happy to be able to expand them."

"The groundbreaking for this new playground is exciting news for families in Monsey and central Ramapo," Senator Elijah Reichlin-Melnick tells Rockland Daily. "As the community grows, we need to continue providing local recreational options for kids. I'm proud to support the Town of Ramapo in this effort and am in the process of trying to secure state funding for further expansion of Weldler Park."

Among those on hand for the groundbreaking were Ramapo Town Supervisor Michael Specht, Rabbi Hersh Horowitz, Executive Director of the Community Outreach Center, Senator Elijah Reichlin-Melnick, Michelle Antosca, Director of Parks of Recreation, Ramapo Councilman David Wanounou, and Rockland County Legislators Aron Wieder, Phil Soskin, and Itamar Yeger.