L/CPL Thomas P. Noonan Jr. Playground

The Daily Plant : Thursday, April 16, 2015

Accessible Play Equipment Brought To Sunnyside Playground With Recent Renovation

Photo by Daniel Avila

Lance Corporal Thomas P. Noonan Playground gets upgraded equipment to make the area accessible for kids of all abilities.

On Tuesday morning April 14, NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver FAICP joined Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer, State Senator Michael Gianaris and Chairperson of Community Board 2 Pat O’Brien to reopen Lance Corporal (L/CPL) Thomas P. Noonan Playground after a $2 million renovation, funded by the Council Member. The playground has been upgraded with accessible play equipment that kids of all abilities can enjoy, more swings, a toddler area and a new spray shower. The flagpole has been refurbished with new granite slabs honoring Lance Corporal Noonan.

“We are thrilled to cut the ribbon today on a new and improved Noonan Playground,” said Commissioner Silver. “Just in time for spring, kids of all abilities will be able to enjoy more swings, a separate area for toddlers, and new spray showers. "This play space is sure to be a popular destination in Sunnyside.”

The goal of this project was to create a separate children’s play area, improve safety within the park, and provide definitive circulation for park users. The project also extended the green space within the park, enhanced its main entrance, and addressed drainage issues throughout the site.

An additional $200,000 in funding from Mayor de Blasio is being used to reconstruct the site’s handball and basketball courts, with work expected to begin this fall.

L/CPL Noonan Playground was named after Thomas P. Noonan Jr. because of his heroic actions of rescuing wounded soldiers in the face of harrowing danger during the Vietnam War. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, the Purple Heart, the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal with two bronze starts, and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.

The playground was last renovated in May 2000 when modular play equipment, safety surfacing, a spray shower, a sitting area, new tree and shrub plantings, and a new fence with an eagle medallion were added.

LANDMARKS DAY CELEBRATION

This year marks 50 years since the founding of the NYC Landmarks law. Since being signed into law on April 19, 1965 almost 1,400 individual landmarks, 115 interior landmarks, 10 scenic landmarks, 109 historic districts and 10 historic district extensions have been designated a historic landmark under the law. Amongst NYC Parks over 20 historic landmarks is The Wyckoff House.

The Wyckoff House Museum which became the first of the city’s landmarked structures will have a full day of activities. Commemorating this 50th anniversary of the Landmarks Law there will be colonial crafts, scavenger hunt and you’ll learn how 13 people lived in a one-room house over 350 years. Later in the afternoon, join Senior Tour Docent Lucie Chin to learn about the early Dutch colonial architecture inside the city’s last remaining New Netherland structure.

Sunday, April 19, 2015

Wyckoff Farmhouse Museum (in Fidler-Wyckoff House Park)

5816 Clarendon Road

Hands-On History Family Open House 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Historic House Tour 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

QUOTATION FOR THE DAY

"Most people have never learned that one of the main aims in life is to enjoy it."

Sameul Butler

(1835-1902)