Steinmann Triangle

This text is part of Parks’ Historical Signs Project and can be found posted within the park.

This triangle honors Charles J. Steinmann, who died in World War I. Steinmann grew up at 109 Greenpoint Avenue, in Woodside, and served in Company F of the 321st Infantry Division. He died of pneumonia on November 1, 1918, just ten days before the Armistice.

The town of Newtown purchased most of this land from Abraham Lott on March 21, 1893. It was intended as part of the site for a new public school. On New Year’s Day of 1898, however, the consolidation of the City of New York rendered this city property. The rest of the land, the area in the apex of the triangle, was acquired by the city in 1927.

In late 1927, jurisdiction over this land was given to Parks. It was equipped with a drinking fountain, benches, concrete walks, grass plots, trees, shrubbery, and enclosed by an iron fence. On March 29, 1940, a local law named the park Charles J. Steinmann Square to “pay tribute to one who made the supreme sacrifice in the World War.” In September 1985, Parks renamed it Steinmann Triangle, for geometric accuracy. The triangle is bounded by 55th Street, Roosevelt Avenue, and Skillman Avenue. There is a bus stop on the Roosevelt Avenue side of the triangle, and benches and trees line the intricately designed brick walkways.