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Beattie Triangle, bounded by Broadway to the northeast, Vernon Avenue to the south, and Stuyvesant Avenue to the west, is named in memory of Joseph S. Beattie, who lived at 247 Schenectady Avenue in Brooklyn. Beattie served as a Private in Company G of the 305th Infantry in the United States Army in World War I and died on a Read more...
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The neighborhood of Bath Beach is named for the town of Bath, England, home to an impressive complex of Roman baths. The Romans founded the town in the 1st century AD, and named it Aquae Sulfis – “Hot Springs” – because they found hot springs naturally occurring there. The Romans ascribed medicinal effects to the springs and built baths around Read more...
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This park is named to honor Blake Hobbs (1911–1973), better known to local residents as “The Music Man of East Harlem.” A beloved musician, teacher, and volunteer, Hobbs dedicated his life to fostering the artistic growth of this neighborhood. Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Hobbs graduated from John Hopkins University in 1933 with a degree in math. Back in Pennsylvania, Hobbs Read more...
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This large, unadorned park pays tribute to two generations of New Yorkers whose work, directly and indirectly, helped bring health and recreation amenities to the masses. By the late nineteenth century, New York City’s population had reached 1.4 million, and was growing rapidly. New immigrants were forced into congested tenement districts where overcrowding threatened their health and welfare. Epidemics of Read more...
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This Washington Heights Playground, which stands across the street from the Audubon School, stretches from 169th to 170th Streets on Audubon Avenue. The playground, school and avenue are all named for John James Audubon (1785-1851), legendary observer of nature and illustrator of birds. Born in Les Cayes, Haiti to Captain Jean Audubon, a French naval officer in command of a Read more...
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Annunciation Park is named after the nearby Church of the Annunciation. The annunciation, according to Christian doctrine, was when the angel Gabriel announced to the Virgin Mary that she was pregnant with the Christ child. The church, founded in 1853, originally stood on 131st Street to the east of the Boulevard (the old name for the northern section of Broadway) Read more...
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Alice Wragg Kornegay (1932‑1996) was a pioneering community advocate in East Harlem for more than thirty‑five years. Born in Georgetown, South Carolina, she came to East Harlem to live with cousins at the age of ten, after her parents died. She studied social work at Baruch College, and received a Bachelor of Science degree from Antioch College in Baltimore, Maryland. Read more...
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This small Lower East Side park is one of New York City’s oldest. On August 2, 1824, the Common Council agreed to take a triangular piece of land between Grand, Harman (now East Broadway), and Scammel Streets as a public place. The City acquired the parcel by condemnation the following year for $3158.23. In 1870 all of New York’s public Read more...
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Located on the southeastern corner of Fifth Avenue and East 135th Street, this playground, as well as the adjacent Abraham Lincoln Houses, honors the sixteenth president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865). Born to migratory farmers in the backwoods of Kentucky, Lincoln had less than one year of formal schooling. Still, he was a voracious reader. The Bible, the Read more...
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Over a period of forty years, Abe Lebewohl (1931-1996) transformed his Second Avenue Deli into a New York institution, drawing loyal customers from celebrities, tourists and locals alike with his Jewish culinary delicacies and generous and magnetic spirit. Lebewohl was born in Kulykiv, Ukraine, in 1931. When the Soviets occupied western Ukraine, Abe’s father was arrested and exiled to Siberia, Read more...
