New York park circles: Cities use borders to help social distance efforts in public parks

Circles painted on the grass at San Francisco's Dolores Park aim to help with social distancing efforts during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Instead of using force to maintain social distancing in public parks, some cities have opted to use basic geometry to slow the spread of COVID-19.

New York City's Domino Park and San Francisco's Mission Dolores Park now have marked circles to encourage proper social distancing.
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The cities installed these circles in response to severe overcrowding. They're spaced six feet apart, following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.

People relax in marked circles for proper social distancing at Domino Park in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn during the coronavirus outbreak, May 17, 2020, in New York.

AP Photo/Kathy Willens

To control overcrowding, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said police have also started limiting how many people can access the parks at a time and warned people they will be allowed to stay only for a limited amount of time.
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Earlier this month, San Francisco Mayor London Breed threatened to close the park after seeing residents breaking stay-at-home orders.

The circles were added after the park, which offers excellent views of the Williamsburg Bridge and Manhattan, became severely overcrowded during a spate of warm weather.

AP Photo/Kathy Willens

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New York, San Francisco use circles to help social distance efforts in parks: VIDEO