The park in my parent's neighborhood got rid of all the benches

This might not be some nefarious government plan, though.

Just this past weekend, I came across a fairly popular bench on a local bike path that was completely destroyed by someone who had to break it in half.

A few weeks back, another bench was burned up.

And at another local resting area, their (plastic?) picnic table was also defaced and unusable.

A park I grew up near was completely torched one day (all wooden structures), and it took years for metal equipment to go up in its place.

People who vandalize and misuse these fixtures are the reason why they end up being removed 99% of the time. And it's unfair to everyone else.

Hell, we've had entire sheltered bus stops have their glass destroyed, and they just take the whole thing down and don't replace it. As a taxpayer, I can understand not wanting to flip the bill for another thing for someone to destroy, but it still frustrates me that people can't behave.

That picture is a great example. Moynihan train hall is the absolute worst

Out door trash receptacles as well.

Governments? Well, if you assume governments are controlled by wealthy people who don’t want to pay taxes and dislike the poors hanging around, sure.

All those public items cost tax money to maintain, and taxes are evil. Also, you can’t have the poors and rabble lazing about. They need to be making more money for the rich. So no benches or other leisure spaces for you.

Make the rich richer and don’t make them pay for it.

This concerns me greatly. For now we have old grandmas sitting on benches(it is scary to take away benches from them), but they won't last forever.

A picture of Moynihan Train Hall there's other places to sit (almost entirely restaurants) out of shot, and this floor is usually full of crowds moving on/off trains from what I've seen. Maybe a snow delay caused this?

It's like taking certain types of painkillers that gets rid of the pain - you don't feel it anymore, but it is still there hidden from you. The thing causing it is still there as well. We need the anti-inflammatory equivalent of dealing with homelessness.