O'Brien Oval

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

This oval honors Captain Thomas A. O’Brien (1884- 1918), who grew up nearby at 280 Burnside Avenue. He was killed on October 12, 1918, less than a month before Armistice and the end of the war. On December 1, 1924, the Board of Alderman named this park “to pay tribute to the memory of one who made the supreme sacrifice in the World War”.

On March 10, 1896, the City of New York acquired the land that is now O’Brien Oval for a street by condemnation. Although the Department of Highways never officially conveyed jurisdiction of the property, NYC Parks constructed this site to serve as a traffic median at the intersection of East 176th Street, and Valentine, Webster, Carter, and East Tremont Avenues. Upon opening, the park consisted of a pair of small triangles characterized by grass lawns with trees and shrubs enclosed with pipe rail fencing, concrete benches, a steel flagpole, and a drinking fountain.

This hillside park offers a small oasis in a heavily trafficked intersection and major bus transfer point in the Tremont neighborhood.