You could look into seeding poa supina. The drawbacks are it's expensive, and it takes a while to get established. Of course it needs to be mowed periodically which might be an issue in NYC. From what I have read though it does well in shade and can handle a good amount of traffic stress once established.

I second you on the pea gravel. It looks nice for a little bit, but then you get all sorts of dirt and debris in there that you can't remove. And when you decide you want to get rid of it, it is a real bear to remove. I don't know of any groundcover that could handle kids playing, part shade, and the shallow roots of a maple tree. Hopefully someone with more experience will chime in, but I think astro turf or that soft rubber they put on playgrounds these days may be your sturdiest bet. (My first thought was creeping thyme, but I don't think it's all that durable with kids playing. Plus it takes a while to get established, and buying plugs will cost an arm and a leg. Even starting plants from seeds yourself could be a pretty time consuming process just to get enough plants in the ground.) Good luck!

I sell heirloom tomato plants but I am in Big Lake and you are in Rochester. I also sell seeds so you might want to contact me for next year. I specialize in varieties that produce well in MN; many from Russia and other north areas. The choices in smaller tomatoes are not so great as large plants but Stupice, Azoychka, Berkeley Pink Tie Dye, and my own Sweet Brown would be about 4 feet tall.

I thought initially it was about another pothole I reported last year. That one took 6 months to get fixed, but it's only been fixed for a month, so it wouldn't have been so strange to get a notice now. Maybe they'll close that one in 2022.