We haven't been all that impressed with progress on Terrapin Playground, the section of J.J. Byrne Park that Novo developer Shaya Boymelgreen pledged to revamp in exchange for using the public park as a staging area during the Novo's construction. The playground, which is supposed to include eight new handball courts, two new basketball courts, a skate area, and a dog run area, was originally slated to be completed this summer, then this fall, and now—who knows? Not the Parks Dept., anyway. A Parks rep told us they "don't have a new estimated date of completion but we're still working with them and monitoring their progress. While the original goal was to have it completed in 2007,
there were some unforeseen complications involving the park's plumbing and drainage system. They're working to resolve that but during the winter, construction work often becomes weather dependent.