The plebs can pound sand!
An exclusive indoor sandpit has opened up on Manhattan’s monied Upper East Side — so the offspring of New York City’s elite don’t have to play in the rat-infested boxes open to the general public.
Urban Dunes — which bills itself as “NYC’s Only Indoor Sandbox” — offers three “Sandventure” rooms, where kids can play for 90 minutes for the price of $30.
The room-sized sandpits — Dino Land, Golden Beach, and Construction Zone — also have their own themed toys, so no germs can hitchhike on outside toys and infect their immaculately-maintained “natural sand.”
“I hate when they go into the public sandboxes,” said Upper East Side mom Natalie Barzilai.
“I don’t stop them, but I hate it. When I walked in, I really thought about that — this is a great idea. They get to experience it without the weather — and who knows what things are in the park,” she continued.
“I find them unsanitary. It’s the rats,” the mom said, with Jex adding that his wife thinks rodents nest in the pits.
She and Alon Jex surprised their sons, Paz, 6, and Kohav, 3, with a trip to Urban Dunes for the first time on Friday to try something “new in the neighborhood.”
Urban Dunes launched its pay-to-play pits earlier this week on East 91st Street, off Lexington Avenue, as a way to bring the sensory experience to the concrete jungle.
“As parents raising kids in Manhattan, we realized something surprising: there’s almost no place in the entire borough where children can play with real sand – especially in the winter, and definitely not in a clean and safe environment,” Vana Kozlina, the Manager at Urban Dunes, told The Post.
There are an estimated 75 parks throughout the five boroughs with sandboxes, play areas with sand as a safety surface, or a combination of both, according to the Parks Department.
Crews clean and maintain the public pits by regularly raking the top inches of sand, sweeping and removing sand around the drains and outer areas, and leveling the grains.
Sand is also continuously added to maintain a minimum of 6 inches below the top of the sandbox.
Still, many parents aren’t convinced that the public boxes are clean enough for their precious tots.
“We’ve all been there as New York parents: you finally get to a park sandbox and most of the time feel uneasy about the condition. It’s often used as a giant litter box, forcing you to negotiate with your kids to stay way out of it,” Kozlina said.
“Not to mention if your trip to the park or playground is after a rainy day or in March, only to find the sand soaked or frozen. And if we do let our kids play in those sandboxes, twenty sandy minutes later we’re back on the subway, brushing mystery grit out of everything,” the owner added.
To eliminate outdoor dirt and grime, staff rake the sandpits daily and sanitize the toys.
Shoes and socks are also prohibited inside the sandboxes, along with food and drink, according to the Urban Dunes website.
In addition, every guardian is required to sign a waiver before stepping into the sand, promising that their kids are not bringing in any sicknesses — and that Urban Dunes is not responsible for any damages, injuries, or even death.
The hygiene promise appealed to Jane Kim, who doesn’t let her 3-year-old daughter, Remy, set foot in any Parks Department sandpits.
“She always asks to,” said Kim, who lives in Queens but was in the neighborhood to visit the girl’s grandmother.
“Half the time it’s wet, it’s not drained, it’s not maintained, I’ve seen questionable things in there like critters and kids eat in the sandpit — if you have food allergies, that’s an issue too,” she continued.
“I’m kinda grossed out by public sandpits in Central Park, so I thought this is a really cute, clean, contained, smart idea.”
On the other hand, Seah Kim couldn’t care less about letting her daughter, Sulla, 3, play in public sandpits.
Seah Kim, of no relation to Jane Kim, was at Urban Dunes on Friday purely because the 42-degree weather was too biting to take her 4-year-old daughter Sulla outside.
“She loves it, she loves it!” said Seah Kim, a pharmacist who lives in the 70s.
“Of course, it’s not the cleanest, but I don’t think it’s dirty enough to make her sick. I’m good with it,” she continued.
“We always look for indoor kids’ play areas, and I know there are a couple in Brooklyn, but I don’t think there’s any around the Upper East Side.”
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