Every once in a while someone has an idea that is so good that we wonder that we had not thought of it ourselves. Such an idea seems to be that of turning the back half of Mary Jane Davies Park into a children's playground. The response from the young parents in the community has been enthusiastic as can be seen by several letters in today's Manhasset Press.

Aside from the obvious enjoyment it would give to children and their parents, practical advantages for the Plandome Road merchants could also ensue. Parents who take children to the playground would, in all probability, stop in to buy a snack or do an errand. When we attended a meeting of Operation Downtown, the Nassau County program to revive local shopping districts, at Hofstra University last year, a city planner said that the goal must be to bring people together, on foot, not driving by in their cars isolated from their neighbors. This project, which would be inexpensive and attractive, seems to us to be most appropriate.

Some people are concerned about possible vandalism, which has already occurred at the bandstand, and it's a legitimate concern. We were horrified on Easter Monday to see the graffiti painted on the back of the post office and of the adjacent office building. Nonetheless, we cannot permit our public facilities to be held hostage to such vandals. We have to try to identify them, punish them and, unfortunately, clean up after them. Maybe if we do something positive for our youngest citizens we will help prevent them from becoming destructive teenagers.