In a Dense District, A Park in Peril.

A FEW weeks ago, a 43-year-old Yorkville resident named Geoffrey Croft was walking through Ruppert Playground, a shady little patch of asphalt near his apartment, when he spotted a team of workers drilling holes in the ground. The sight, he said later, made him sick to his stomach. Mr. Croft realized that the workers were conducting test borings, which probably signaled plans to construct a building on the site. After doing some research, he discovered that back in 1983, the city had sold the site to a private developer, the Related Companies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]