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Bush Park is bounded by 61st and 64th Streets, Queens Boulevard, and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. In 1936, Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia (1882-1947, mayor 1934-1945) designated this land as parkland; however, construction on the future Brooklyn-Queens Expressway interrupted LaGuardia’s plans. In December 1936, the Regional Plan Association recommended the construction of a link between the Gowanus Parkway and the Triborough Bridge. Read more...
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This playground takes its name from the surrounding neighborhood of Bellerose. This name comes from the achievements of Helen Marsh, an entrepreneur from Massachusetts who built a model community and a railroad station in western Nassau, calling it Bellerose. The neighborhood adopted the same name as it expanded during the building boom of the 1920s, aided by Marsh’s construction of Read more...
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Beach Channel Playground provides recreational facilities to local residents of Rockaway, Queens. The playground name comes from nearby Beach Channel Drive. The name Rockaway was probably derived from the Delaware or Chippewa words for “sandy place.” The peninsula became known as Rockaway after it was colonized by Europeans during the 17th century. The original Canarsie Native American inhabitants sold the Read more...
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Bayside Playground, originally named J.H.S. 180 Playground after the adjoining school, is located in Rockaway, Queens. The name Rockaway was probably derived from the Delaware or Chippewa Native American words for “sandy place,” which was interpreted as “Rockaway’” by the European colonizers of the 17th century. The land constituting Rockaway was owned by a number of prominent families during the Read more...
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Bay Terrace Playground is named for the surrounding neighborhood of the same name. The earliest known inhabitants of Bay Terrace were the Matinecock Native Americans, a tribe of the Algonquin nation. The tribal name Matinecock, meaning “hilly country,” described the surrounding landscape, an area that may have been given to the tribe by the neighboring Lenapes. In 1639, Dutch Governor Read more...
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The Park at Athens Square is named for the capital of modern Greece and the center of ancient Greek civilization. From 594 to 404 BC, literature, science, philosophy, and the arts flourished in Athens. The birthplace of democracy had its golden age during the rule of statesman Pericles (c. 495-429 BC), who made sweeping political reforms and actively supported the Read more...
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According to local lore, this neighborhood was once called Annadale in honor of Anna, the wife of a much-beloved shipbuilder from the area. There is scant information to prove the truth of this tale, but the playground does bear the Annadale name in homage to the story. Though the Annadale name is shared with a community in Staten Island, there Read more...
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American Triangle is a small patch of green nestled between 41st Avenue, 102nd Street, and National Avenue, in the Queens neighborhood of Corona. Originally named National Triangle after the adjacent road, Parks Commissioner Stern renamed the site American Triangle in 1997. The Corona area began as West Flushing in 1854, when a group of speculators from the City of New Read more...
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The earliest playgrounds, called “sand gardens,” appeared in the 1880s on the grounds of settlement houses. Furnished with innovative play equipment like seesaws, and staffed by trained recreation specialists, the playground was designed to be a “healthful influence upon morals and conduct.” As Teddy Roosevelt, President of the Playground Association of America, wrote: “If we would have our citizens contented Read more...
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The City of New York acquired the land that is now Andrews Playground through a number of property transactions. The original playground was one-half acre, and was acquired by condemnation for school purposes in 1900. Two years later, the Board of Education decided that a school was not needed on the site, but it was not until October 28, 1928, Read more...
