Save Kensington Playground

Kensington Playground in the Dwight neighborhood of New Haven, CT, is about to be sold for $1 to The Community Builders so that housing and a parking lot can be built on the parkland.
 
Located at 25 Kensington St., Kensington Playground is the largest public parkland in the Dwight neighborhood and the neighborhood’s only public playground.  Located on a quiet one-way street, the park is surrounded on all  sides by families with children.

The Dwight neighborhood is a low-income, high-density neighborhood situated in central New Haven adjacent to Yale University and Yale New Haven Hospital's St Raphael campus.  92% of Dwight's residents are renters.  
 
The Friends of Kensington Playground, a group of Dwight residents, is fighting the sale of the parkland. We believe the Playground is an important asset to the health and well-being of residents of the neighborhood.  While we support affordable housing, we believe there are other places to build 15 units of housing and a 15 space surface parking lot.
 
The Friends have filed a lawsuit in November 2020 against City of New Haven over the sale of the parkland; the sale  was approved by the City in late October 2020.  We are appealing to the community for donations to help with legal costs and, if we win, to improve the parks's playscape.  We are also pursuing historic preservation and environmental issues under federal law, because the playground is in the heart of the Dwight Street National Historic District,  

See our website KensingtonPlayground for additional details.
 
The Friends of Kensington Playground is a nonprofit association formed by neighbors to advocate for this parkland located in the heart of the Dwight Street National Historic District.  Friends of Kensington Playground is registered as a public charity with the State of CT Department of Consumer Protection. We are an incorporated non-profit,  but not tax exempt, so your donation is not tax deductible. We also welcome checks payable to “Friends of Kensington Playground,” mailed c/o 66 Edgewood Ave., New Haven, CT 06511.

A full accounting will be made of donations received and expenditures made.

Our video was filmed, edited, and produced by Collin at Tangible Planet Photography.  Thanks, Colin! https://www.tangibleplanet.com