NEW CITY – Emotional speeches were followed by the sound of children happily at play during the official opening of the Councilman Mark Woods All Inclusive Playground at Zukor Park.
The play area opened Friday, June 20. Woods, who died unexpectedly in May 2024, had conceived of and was working on the playground.
Clarkstown Supervisor George Hoehmann said bringing the play area to fruition was “one of the highlights of my tenure as supervisor.”
Hoehmann said the Councilman Mark Woods All Inclusive Playground is among the largest accessible play areas in the Lower Hudson Valley.
Mark Woods was dedicated to public service
Woods was a U.S. Army combat veteran, a retired NYPD detective and was serving as director of the Joseph P. Dwyer Peer to Peer program that supports veterans at BRIDGES, Rockland County’s independent living center.
Woods was Rockland County’s 2024 Veteran of the Year and had previously served as Veterans Service Officer with the county.
Woods represented Ward 1, which encompasses the northwest portion of Clarkstown. The Republican from New City was in his first term on the Clarkstown Town Board.
Woods served veterans with dignity, and fun
An emotional U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler said he was honored to speak about Woods and his commitment to public service. Lawler recalled the heartbreaking call he had received at 6 a.m. last year, telling him of Woods’ death.
“He was so committed to making sure our veterans knew they were not alone,” said Lawler, a Pearl River Republican who represents Rockland, Putnam and parts of Westchester and Dutchess counties.
BRIDGES Executive Director Carlos Martinez said Woods took very seriously his work to protect veterans’ dignity.
“But there was a really cool side of Mark,” Martinez said with a nod to the Woods family in the front row. “He wasn’t embarrassed by being just a little extra colorful.” Woods went all-out for BRIDGES’ annual holiday ugly sweater day, Martinez said, wearing a full Christmas-themed suit.
Honoring him with a playground, Martinez said, was “so right.”
Transcending limits for people with disabilities
Jeanne Woods explained that her husband understood early in his life that people with disabilities often faced hurdles.
Mark Woods’ uncle and godfather, Joseph Monaco, had been born with Osteogenesis imperfecta and had used a wheelchair.
The two would go to Yankees games and all sorts of places, Jeanne Woods said. At times, Woods would have to carry Monaco when there were impediments to his ability to navigate an area.
The concept of an all-inclusive playground, Jeanne Woods, was something that just didn’t exist decades ago, “when Joey was a child.”
After Jeanne Woods cut the ribbon, dozens of children headed into the park, running up and soaring down slides, delighting in the accessible, ground-level merry-go-ground, sharing a double swing.
Elected officials, including Lawler and state Assemblyman Pat Carroll, D-Bardonia, brought their young children along.
Hailey Carroll, 3, when asked what she liked best, looked around and declared, “Everything!”
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Clarkstown’s inclusive playground fulfills vision of late Councilman Mark Woods
Reporting by Nancy Cutler, Rockland/Westchester Journal News / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
