New York City’s Spate of Pull Up Bar Removals

After working a shift at my part-time job and studying all day, I rushed to take a rare break in my week by bike. Kelly Playground, one of the few parks in New York City still featuring a pull-up bar, was the destination. Pull-ups at the park was my weekly escape as a college student sharing a small apartment with three roommates, while combining my academics that would impact my future with a part-time low wage job that pays my half of rent and other expenses. My studies, work, and week all received a much-needed lift from being able to leave the apartment, which was a small, unclean, and nerve-wracking place to live, in exchange for a healthy recreational experience.

When I eventually arrived at the park, I noticed that it was encircled by large gates that were wrapped in metal wires, security cameras, and a sign that showed the park's future layout. The once-excellent pull-up bars were replaced with two benches in this style.

Sadly, I was not surprised by Kelly Playground's pull-up bar write-off; I knew it was going to happen eventually. Over the course of my first three years of college, I have personally observed a large-scale removal of pull-up bars from the city's parks.

I saw pull-up bars taken out of park after park and replaced with seats, or pull-up bars that were so short they were barely wider than a shoulder, or none at all. A number of parks, including Prospect Park, Marine Park, Seth Low Park, and Kolbert Park, were affected by these outdated modernizations.

The city discovered a way to make life even more difficult, as if it weren't difficult enough before.

Pull-up bars cannot be removed using any of the standard justifications offered by the city when implementing a policy that restricts people's quality of life. Unlike the city's decision to remove public restrooms, pull-up bars don't require upkeep and are incredibly simple, one-time installation amenity that you can forget about. They are unable to argue public health dangers because pull-ups are incredibly healthy, in contrast to taxes on alcohol and cigarettes. It is not acceptable to utilize any of the standard catchphrases, such as "Tax the Rich," "Police Brutality," or "Climate Change," to defend attacking our pull-up bars.

The removal of pull-up bars by the city is actually the complete opposite of what the city should be—a free, purely beneficial amenity that promotes social interaction and community engagement, enhances physical and mental health, boosts productivity, and is utilized by people of all genders, races, ethnicities, and socioeconomic backgrounds.

When the city deliberately takes public pull-up bars away from hardworking, low-income taxpayers whose budgets can barely afford the bare necessities, depriving them of the only enjoyable aspect of their stressful lives, the city is effectively expressing their distaste for this class and their refusal to see or hear from them. They are compelled by the city to live in appalling conditions, be entirely dependent on their jobs, and have no time off.

Taxpayers in New York City shouldn't be paying for their own mistreatment. It is absurd that the city, which is receiving tax revenue, is utilising the funds to remove pull-up bars rather than constructing additional pull-up bars and callisthenics parks.

The removal of pull-up bars from the city's map has catastrophic and far-reaching effects. The city can no longer assert that it offers substitutes for alcohol, drugs, and tobacco. They can no longer lament the obesity epidemic. They can no longer claim to be searching for environmentally friendly services, and worst of all, the city has taken hold of the poor, labourers, and students, declaring them to be miserable, demons who must walk with a limp.

It is still possible for the New York City government to make amends. Pull-up bars in the city's parks can be easily reinstalled to address this poor quality-of-life issue, and in exchange for all the difficulty the city caused us, they can add one additional pull-up bar that was not there previously. Since we, the people, are the ones paying for it, it shouldn't be too tough.