The park workers raced to scoop up rubber balls from the floor of a recreation center, only to turn around and pelt them at one another. “Keep going!” someone yelled as balls flew everywhere.
It was a training session for New York City’s “playground associates,” and learning to survive dodge ball was part of the job.
This summer, about 70 playground associates will head to neighborhoods across the city to provide free fun for families who cannot afford pricey camps and lessons. They will run activities all day long for any young person who shows up at their playground — no minimum age, parents or registration needed.
Synae Aponte, 21, is stationed at the Al Quiñones Playground in the South Bronx where she grew up. Ms. Aponte, who could not afford to go to camp herself, said she was excited to look after children in a similar situation. “It kind of fills my heart in a way,” she said. “It’s like one big family.”
As Mayor Zohran Mamdani has focused on the city’s affordability crisis, the Department of Parks and Recreation has highlighted its free and low-cost recreation offerings this summer — from playground associates and day camps to pools and beaches — to encourage more New Yorkers to take advantage of them.
“We put staff out there on the hottest days of the year to make sure that somebody is looking out for the kids who have no place else to go this summer,” said Tricia Shimamura, the parks commissioner, who calls her department the “agency of affordability.”
The Parks Department maintains a daily calendar with the specific locations and hours for the playground associates on its website.
Each playground associate engages with between 50 and 100 children a day, on average, or thousands over the course of the summer. They are not babysitters, Ms. Shimamura emphasized, but trained park workers who keep playgrounds safe while helping children feel a sense of joy and belonging.
Playground associates come prepared with free activities every day, such as basketball, tag, guided walks and board games. But they may adapt or change their plans depending on the children who show up, tailoring activities to different age groups and interests.
More than 800 people have applied for the position so far this year. Playground associates earn $20.60 an hour and are screened through a hiring process that includes background checks and fingerprinting. Applicants must have previous experience as an instructor, counselor or coach in an organized recreational program.
Playground associates do not have to be certified in first aid, but they are trained in the department’s emergency protocols, which include calling their supervisors or 911. Park officials said there have been no major injuries in recent years. In addition, many children have cellphones to call their parents if needed, and in some cases, the associates know parents from the neighborhood.
The playground program, called Kids in Motion, costs $250,000 annually. Parks officials started it in 2012 to combat childhood obesity and encourage more physical activity. It grew out of earlier parks programs, which have stationed park workers in playgrounds for the summer since at least the 1930s.
Paul Piccirello, 30, is returning for his second summer. Last year he was in charge of up to 200 young people a day at a playground in Bloomingdale Park on Staten Island where he used to play as a child. “It’s too good to be true — doing games with kids,” he said. “Obviously, it’s much more than that, but it’s a lot of fun.”
He chased after them in tag games, led scavenger hunts and made paper airplanes to teach them about aerodynamics. At the end of the day, he would go home exhausted. “Some of the best sleep of my life,” he said. “Tag will do something to the muscles.”
Playground associates — known as “P.A.s” — wear bright yellow T-shirts and are assigned to specific playgrounds for the summer. They generally work from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, with a one-hour lunch break. During heat emergencies or on rainy days, they shift their activities inside to a nearby recreation center.
Park officials said they selected a mix of playgrounds across every borough, based on factors such as whether they serve disadvantaged communities and have a restroom since the associates are out there all day. This year’s sites include playgrounds in Columbus Park in Manhattan, St. Mary’s Park in the Bronx and Maria Hernandez Park in Brooklyn.
The playground program has become a training ground for the Parks Department. “We get to see the future of parks because a lot of us, that’s how we started,” said Sandy Requeno, 36, a recreation supervisor for the program in Manhattan.
As a playground associate in 2014, right out of college, Ms. Requeno used to see the same children and families day after day at Seward Park on the Lower East Side. Today, some of those children have graduated from college. She still checks on them. “They make me feel old,” she said.
Shakerria Henderson-Smith, 32, an actress who is a fan of the television show “Parks and Recreation,” said that she was inspired by Amy Poehler’s character, Leslie Knope, to try to make a difference in her community.
Ms. Henderson-Smith, who is the eldest of seven children, has compiled a dozen pages of ideas to keep children engaged at the Spuyten Duyvil playground in the Bronx.
“Kids give a lot of energy,” she said. “You just have to give it back.”
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