Daily News from New York, New York • 589

ALTERNATIVES I ill 1-7 irrnrnnnr i. mi mi i iiiiii mt AW TIT'S" 'r fw-osta-5 1 1 ft I k44 i1 jw" 41 I Jr, 'v of -s Me (5 At these playgrounds, being disabled is no barrier By SALUE HAN fhere aren't too many places where a kid in a wheelchair can go to shoot some hoops and hang out on the jungle gym with the other girls and boys. But in New York City, there are two such special places. In Queens, there's the Playground For All Children, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this summer. And in Manhattan, the Asser Levy Playground, which reopened in October, now welcomes its first summer visitors.

Both places are free public playgrounds run by the city Parks Department The playgrounds boast equipment that's accessible to children of all ages, sizes and abilities, and encourage integrated play and activities for disabled and able-bodied children. Go to these playgrounds and you'll find bright, fire-engine red and royal blue jungle gyms with handrails and broad, flat steps that physically disabled children can climb or crawl across. A child in a wheelchair can pull up to a low platform, ease his or her body across it and come slipping down a slide. You'll also find crowds of kids who come with school groups or with family and friends. Some have behavioral problems or learning or physical disabilities.

They come to the playgrounds for one reason only to have fun. "This playground is the only place where these kids can feel completely independent," says Diane Piscelli, director of the Playground For All Children at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. "There should be more places like this. Everything should be accessible to everyone." Encourages independence Winding around one edge of the 3.5-acre playground is a nature trail with wooden plaques written in English and Braille. All of the paths through the park are wide enough to accommodate two wheelchairs.

There's also a two-level racetrack for wheelchair events. As in most other parks, the swings are one of the most popular attractions at the Playground For All Children. But SMOOTH RIDE: Nineteen-month-okJ Katherine Rudzitis, right, eases down the slide at the Asser Levy Playground in Manhattan while Madeline Grebon, 2, observes. debma oipcso these swings are different Instead of pushing off on two feet the swinging child pulls with his or her hand on a long chain that sets the swing in motion. "It encourages independent movement," Piscelli says.

"Even if they're wheelchair-bound, the children don't need to be pushed. They don't need help." raiGters By PAUL SCHULTZ Daily News Assistant Features Editor Simpler, subtler details also help make the difference for a child who has disabilities. The picnic tables at Playground For All Children and Asser Levy Playground have spaces where a wheelchair can fit easily. They are also built lower so that wheelchair-bound picnickers can reach them more easily. want Asser Levy to be a place where everyone feels welcome and everyone feels special." says Carmen Matias, manager of the Asser Levy Recreation Center and Playground at E.

23d St near the FDR Drive. The Asser Levy Playground was designed as a prototype of how neighborhood parks can be made accessible to everyone. As a model playground, it recently won the Access New York Award from Manhattan Borough President Ruth Messinger. Here, as at the Playground For All Children, mini-obstacle courses and balance beams provide a fun challenge for kids of all abilities. (With proper supervision, they can even be used as physical therapy for disabled children.) The basketball court is paved with rubberized "safety" asphalt and the baskets can be moved up or down in height The Asser Levy Recreation Center and Playground also sponsors a series of free activities through its "Coming Together Through Play" program.

For example, the center's poet-in-residenee will work with neighborhood children of all abilities to produce a poetry book. "It doesn't matter who you are or if you have a disability or are able-bodied," Matias says. "This is a neighbor tack: Go to bed early on Friday night (already packed, of course), get up at 4 or 5 and leave. It's amazing how little traffic there is on the BQE at that hour, by the time the rest of the world is stirring, you'll be having a leisurely breakfast on the Jersey There are a number of other ways to get from here to there with your sanity, all neatly outlined in Trouble-free Travel With Children (Book Peddlers. 1-800-2555379), by Vicky Lansky, the author of ONE OF THE PREMIER JOYS OF parenthood is inching along the ramp to the Triborough Bridge on a broiling hot day with no air conditioner and a red-faced 1-year-old writhing and howling relentlessly in the backseat Or worse, a whiny adolescent complaining about the slow pace.

This is when your mind turns to vasectomies and military school. But it doesn't have to be that way. It's quite possible to travel with kids and keep your cool. And Thorazine doesn't have to figure into the solution. First one of the keys is to travel stomachs are full and their bladders are empty." There are plenty more choice suggestions; here's a few of our faves: Planning: Visit animal parks early in the morning as the animals are more lively then.

Going by car: Use strips of Velcro above a back-side window to attach a shade (fabric, blanket) as needed. Entertaining: Make a surprise package by wrapping several toys and books with lots of string and tape. Let your child select one when things get tense. In addition to chapters on plane, train and bus travel as well as going abroad, Lansky lists addresses and phone numbers for children's museums, medical help services and national park guides. Lansky punctuates her book with comments sent to her by parents over the years, such as this from Doreen Newell of Simpsonville, S.C.: "If my 25 books of parenting advice.

"One of my favorite tips is rotate, rotate, rotate," says Lansky. "Rotate who sits in what seats, rotate the toys, the food and even a s. when other people aren't Instead of leaving on that vacation at 9 a.m. Saturday morning which guarantees you'll be joined by a zillion others why not leave at night? Drink some coffee, stick vour little munchkin in the parents, so they can spell each other." Other Lansky Laws: "Children children fuss when I strap them in, I hood playground for you to come and tho rar sfat and mnm sfsa 'j- behave best best them I'm doing it because I D-pU Or take the ODDOsite 's 'whew their (Rants m.Jli Sews editorial staff I "I 0OTl.