State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

From Police Shootings to Playground Injuries, Lawsuits Drain Cities' Budgets

Governing: There’s a big silver dome in the corner of Union Square Park in New York City. Kids love to scramble up the six-foot-high stainless steel structure, called the Mountain, and then slide back down. The only problem is, the thing gets hot in the sun. Really hot. One afternoon in 2012, the metal surface was so warm that a young girl climbing on it suffered severe burns to her hand from the scorching hot steel. Her father filed a claim against the city, which was later settled for $24,500. (The city has since added a shade structure to shield the dome from the sun.) But that wasn’t the only injury in Union Square Park that year. City records show three other families also filed claims in 2012 holding the government liable for injuries on the playground -- one of the highest tallies in the city’s parks system.

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