PS 40 is a large school on East 19th Street originally completed in 1898 and enlarged with several additions.  The flat roof of one of these additions had been set aside as a play area for elementary school children.  The view from this roof includes some of New York’s most notable tall buildings dating from the first decades of the twentieth century, such as the Con Edison Tower at Union Square, the Met Life Building and the New York Life Buildings at Madison Square Park, and the Chrysler and Empire State Buildings.

The play area was designed shortly after the bombing of the World Trade Center and was intended to create an environment in which the skyline of tall buildings could be made less threatening to small children.

The play equipment was organized as a spine resembling the axis of Manhattan with three miniaturized skyscrapers emerging from the play structure beneath.  These miniature buildings are modeled on the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building and the Woolworth Building, with the Empire State Building play structure being the tallest at 21 feet.  The tops of the buildings were made of powder-coated steel and are connected by bridges, decks, ladders and slides.  Each top is painted a different color, and they are arranged so that the play and real buildings are visible together from different points on the roof.

By these means it was possible to create a miniature Manhattan in which children could be given an intimate and tender way in which to come to terms with the new New York skyline, and be offered a personal sense of belonging in the city.

A second similar playground was created at PS 33 in Chelsea on the West Side of Manhattan. This one was located at grade rather than on the roof.