Benjamin Norman for The New York Times Stainless steel climbing domes in Brooklyn Bridge Park in 2010. They were fenced off and shrouded before their eventual removal.The nonprofit group that runs Brooklyn Bridge Park has agreed to pay $17,500 to a toddler's family, who said she was burned on an overheated stainless steel climbing dome, according to court papers.
The girl, Paula Spolar, who was 1 at the time of the injury, sustained second-degree burns on her hands, her family's lawyer said.
The three silvery domes, made by a German firm that says it produces “extraordinary stylish play equi pment,†drew reports from horrified parents within days of their installation at the Pier 1 play area in March 2010 that when the sun shone on the metal, it heated to skin-scalding temperatures.
At 12:30 p.m. on June 16, 2010, according to a notice of claim filed by the family, Paula was playing at the park's playground when she “sustained severe burns as a result of the scorching hot stainless steel metal climbing domes existing in full attraction thereon.â€
The next day, officials at the park, a sparkling $350 million project sprawled along 85 waterfront acres on the East River, fenced off the domes. A week later, the domes were removed. They were eventually replaced with a little red house and a fairy castle.
The Spolar family originally sued the city, then added the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation, which runs the park, said the family's lawyer, Gary R. Weinberg. The park corporation's insurance covered the cost of th e settlement, Mr. Weinberg said.
Neither the city nor the park corporation immediately returned calls seeking comment on the settlement, which was reported Thursday in The New York Post.
The suit initially sought $1 million and claimed that the burns were permanent, but time has since healed them, Mr. Weinberg said, and the Spolar family simply wanted to resolve the matter quickly.
“Let's just hope this leads to safer playgrounds for our children,†he said.Pa
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