First Ever Public Housing Fitness Zone at the Carver Houses in East Harlem

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Joan Keener

Deputy Director, NYC Playgrounds, The Trust for Public Land

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Nekoro Gomes

Media Relations Director, NYCHA

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The Trust for Public Land, the New York City Housing Authority, and Mount Sinai Health System Partner to Open New York City's First-Ever Public Housing Fitness Zone® at the Carver Houses in East Harlem

Fitness Zone® Will Provide Thousands of NYCHA and East Harlem Residents with Equipment and Programming That Promotes a Healthy Lifestyle

(New York, NY) - The Trust for Public Land, the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), and the Mount Sinai Health System, in a unique partnership, will open New York City's first-ever Fitness Zone®, a free outdoor fitness equipment area, located at NYCHA's Carver Houses in East Harlem on Madison Avenue at 103rd street directly across from Mount Sinai Hospital. The area is also expected to support public fitness programming later this year.

The new outdoor exercise area will serve the 2,586 public housing residents at the Carver Houses, providing access to a state-of-the-art facility where East Harlem residents can engage in healthy physical activity and gather with neighbors.

"Everyone deserves the opportunity to engage in physical fitness no matter where they live," said Carter Strickland, New York State Director for the Trust for Public Land. "Given the rising trend of people exercising outdoors and the obstacles those in public housing face to being healthy, we teamed up with NYCHA and Mount Sinai Health Systems to provide East Harlem residents access to free exercise equipment right outside their front door. Nearby access can potentially transform lives and allows residents the opportunity to sculpt the future they see for themselves. Green spaces are essential infrastructure for healthy, connected, equitable, empowered communities."

The Fitness Zone is the latest project realized under NYCHA's Connected Communities program, a design initiative that's guided by a resident-led approach and public-private partnerships. Created through a participatory design process by NYCHA residents over the past two years, the Fitness Zone® is a prime example of this approach to designing outdoor space.

The outdoor equipment space at Carver Houses will feature a range of circuit training elements that include a stationary fitness bike, a free runner (lateral elliptical-like machine), a push-up and leg-lift station, plyometric steps, triple bars (accessible for those with mobility impairments) for upper body training, and a bench for core strengthening.

The East Harlem project is The Trust for Public Land's first New York City Fitness Zone®. The Trust for Public Land has built similar outdoor exercise areas in Miami and Los Angeles. The Fitness Zone® will be maintained through a five-year renewable service contract with the equipment manufacturer, Kompan, Inc., also made possible by The Trust for Public Land.

The Fitness Zone® will be located at the center of the Carver Houses development, which spans three city blocks and includes 13 residential buildings. It is immediately adjacent to three residential NYCHA buildings, including one which also houses a senior center.

"We are excited to break ground on this Fitness Zone in Carver Houses," declared NYCHA Chairman & CEO Gregory Russ, "and are grateful to have partners like the Trust for Public Land and Mount Sinai who share our commitment to providing NYCHA residents with the outdoor spaces needed to enrich their health and well-being."

NYCHA officials are currently in the process of solidifying partnerships with a local health and fitness education non-profit to develop an eventual framework for ongoing training programs. Health officials from Mount Sinai, an organization which has partnered in the past with NYCHA on providing career opportunities to residents and young people living in Carver Houses, will also advise on a training curriculum.

"Mount Sinai is committed to improving and advancing the health of our community with access to life-saving, world class care and removing barriers to effective tools for good health, wellness and quality of life," said David Reich, MD, President and Chief Operating Officer, The Mount Sinai Hospital. "The Fitness Zone will be an important resource for residents, improving opportunities for physical activity and overall weight management, and providing an environment to encourage social support and interaction. We are proud and excited to join our partners in these efforts."

The goal of creating the Fitness Zone® is to improve the health of the East Harlem community, where many residents have high rates of avoidable hospitalizations and chronic diseases, such as asthma, high blood pressure, and diabetes, according to the Harlem Health Advocacy Partners (HHAP) Community Needs Assessment and a 2019 study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Research published in Health and Place has shown that increased access to parks is associated with lower body mass index and reduced risk of obesity. Additionally, another Health and Place article showed that access to green space is associated with greater personal well-being and improved mental health, yielding positive effects such as reduced stress and lowered risk of depression.

About The Trust for Public Land
The Trust for Public Land creates parks and protects land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come. Since 1972, The Trust for Public Land has connected millions of people with nature by protecting more than 3.6 million acres and completing more than 5,400 close-to-home parks and conservation projects across the United States. Today, nearly ten million people live within a ten-minute walk of a Trust for Public Land park, garden, or natural area, which serve as hubs for climate resiliency, improved health, education, and community empowerment. To support The Trust for Public Land and share why nature matters to you, visit www.tpl.org

About the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA)
NYCHA's mission is to increase opportunities for low- and moderate-income New Yorkers by providing safe, affordable housing and facilitating access to social and community services. Over 390,000 New Yorkers reside in NYCHA's 316 public housing developments and PACT/RAD developments formerly managed by NYCHA around the five boroughs. Over 190,000 receive subsidized rental assistance in private homes through the NYCHA-administered Section 8 Leased Housing Program.?For more information, visit www.nyc.gov/nycha, and for regular updates on NYCHA news and services, connect with us via www.facebook.com/NYCHA and www.twitter.com/NYCHA.

About the Mount Sinai Health System
The Mount Sinai Health System is New York City's largest integrated delivery system, encompassing eight hospitals, a leading medical school, and a vast network of ambulatory practices throughout the greater New York region. Mount Sinai's vision is to produce the safest care, the highest quality, the highest satisfaction, the best access and the best value of any health system in the nation. The Health System includes approximately 7,480 primary and specialty care physicians; 11 joint-venture ambulatory surgery centers; more than 410 ambulatory practices throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and 31 affiliated community health centers. The Icahn School of Medicine is one of three medical schools that have earned distinction by multiple indicators: ranked in the top 20 by U.S. News & World Report's "Best Medical Schools", aligned with a U.S. News & World Report's "Honor Roll" Hospital, No. 12 in the nation for National Institutes of Health funding, and among the top 10 most innovative research institutions as ranked by the journal Nature in its Nature Innovation Index. This reflects a special level of excellence in education, clinical practice, and research. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 14 on U.S. News & World Report's "Honor Roll" of top U.S. hospitals; it is one of the nation's top 20 hospitals in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Geriatrics, Gynecology, Nephrology, Neurology/Neurosurgery, and Orthopedics in the 2019-2020 "Best Hospitals" issue. Mount Sinai's Kravis Children's Hospital also is ranked nationally in five out of ten pediatric specialties by U.S. News & World Report. The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked 12th nationally for Ophthalmology, Mount Sinai St. Lukes and Mount Sinai West are ranked 23rd nationally for Nephrology and 25th for Diabetes/Endocrinology, and Mount Sinai South Nassau is ranked 35th nationally for Urology. Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Mount Sinai St. Luke's, Mount Sinai West, and Mount Sinai South Nassau are ranked regionally. For more information, visit https://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.