All Parks and Playgrounds in Manhattan

Located south of Willoughby Avenue between Adelphi Street and Clermont Avenue in Brooklyn, this playground is named for Albert Lysander Parham (1914-1990). Mr. Parham generously left Parks $263,700 to fund the extensive renovations made here in 1990. Born on May 11, 1914, Parham was a lifelong Brooklyn resident. He provided additional funding that made possible a community garden in Manhattan Read more...

This facility is named in honor of a man who loved Brooklyn, beneficence, business, and baseball – and not necessarily in that order. Born on Manhattan’s Lower East Side to Russian immigrant parents, Abe Stark (1894-1972) began working at age 11 to help support his family. In 1910, the Starks moved to Brooklyn, where Abe began a 30-year career in Read more...

This playground is named for the surrounding neighborhood, Seaside, along the Atlantic Ocean in Rockaway. The name Rockaway was probably derived from the Delaware or Chippewa words for “sandy place” (lekau akie). The region became known as Rockaway after it was colonized by Europeans during the 17th century. The Canarsie tribe sold the mostly barren land that now comprises Rockaway Read more...

The namesake of this park is James A. Sherry (1889-1955), the Chief Park Administrator under former Parks Commissioner Robert Moses (1889-1981). For 40 years, Robert Moses served as the master builder of the City of New York. He played a primary role in the development of its parks, transportation, and housing. Beginning in 1924, he held a dozen city and Read more...

American author Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) is the namesake of nearby J.H.S. 74, so Parks named this playground after one of his best known books. Hawthorne published The House of the Seven Gables in 1851, just one year after The Scarlet Letter. The author notes in a short preface to the novel that it is “a romance.” Hawthorne wishes his readers Read more...

This park honors Corona community activist Louis F. Simeone (1920-1984). Simeone was raised in Corona, Queens, attending St. Leo’s Parochial School, Laughlin High School, and St. John’s University, earning a degree in accounting. Soon after graduating St. John’s, he opened his own accounting and insurance firm in Corona, the Simeone Agency. Active in many civic organizations, Simeone was a member Read more...

This small sitting park was originally named after Anthony Leo Placella, a native of Long Island City who died in World War I. Placella grew up at 64 Ridge Street, and served in Company F of the 4th Infantry of the United States Army. Placella died of broncho-pneumonia abroad on October 16, 1918, twenty-six days before Armistice and the end Read more...

Sergeant Carl R. Sohncke was a Queens native who was killed in action during World War I. Sergeant Sohncke enlisted in the United States Army on July 20, 1915, and was a member of Company M in the Army’s 28th Infantry regiment. He was killed in France on May 28, 1918, while on reconnaissance. The surrounding neighborhood of Woodside, called Read more...

The cooperative housing community of Rochdale Village is bounded by Baisley Boulevard, Bedell Street, 137th Avenue, and Guy R. Brewer Boulevard. Located in the South Jamaica community, Rochdale Village occupies the former site of the Jamaica Racetrack. The Metropolitan Jockey Club opened the track on April 27, 1903 with fifteen thousand persons in attendance. The one-mile, oval track housed thoroughbred Read more...

Starr Playground was the 501st playground in the Parks system when it opened on Christmas Day, 1947. In the Depression-era 1930s, federal aid through the Works Progress Administration (WPA) enabled the City to greatly expand and improve its play spaces.  Under the strict stewardship of Parks Commissioner Robert Moses (1888-1981), new playgrounds were constructed at an astonishing rate throughout the Read more...