Charlie's Place

What was here before?

This was once the site of the Delmonico Farm and more specifically, the driveway to the Delmonico Villa built by John and Peter Delmonico of restaurant fame. After Peter’s death in 1860, the lands were sold off. The house fell into disrepair and by the 1880s had become a tenement before it was demolished in 1889 to make way for new development.

How did this site become a playground?

The playground originally opened in 1957 as a Jointly Operated Playground (JOP) serving P.S. 148 and the local community. Beginning in 1938, the Board of Education agreed to provide land next to schools where the Parks Department could build and maintain playgrounds that could be used by the school during the day and the public on evenings and weekends.

To create a larger playground, Delmonico Place was closed, and the homes along the street were bought by the City and demolished.

When P.S. 148 closed in 1985, joint operation of the playground ended, and the park was closed as well. The school building was later reopened as the Blueberry School, a state-run secondary school for students with special needs. In 1991 the Board of Education regained administrative responsibilities of the property and created the Brooklyn Transition Center, 373 K.

The playground was reopened, in conjunction with the Broadway Triangle Urban Renewal Area, in part to provide play space for the children at the Beginning with Children School, which is located just northwest of the playground and opened in 1992.

In 2022, the basketball and handball courts were upgraded, and new ornamental planting beds were added to the landscape.

Who is this playground named for?

Charles Lubin (1903-1988) was an entrepreneur in the bakery business. Lubin entered the bakery business with his brother-in-law in Chicago in 1935 and founded Sara Lee in 1949, naming the company after his daughter. Lubin believed he could provide quality baked goods to a mass market, and, in 1953, had developed a method that allowed desserts to be baked, frozen, and reheated in the same foil pan. Consolidated Foods Corporation bought SaraLee in 1956 and retained Lubin as CEO. With a good understanding of the changing business world, he turned to television advertising in 1960 and introduced computers into his revolutionary new production plant in 1964. Lubin retired in 1965.

Mr. Lubin’s daughter, Sara Lee Schupf, contributed to this park and the Beginning with Children Foundation, attracted by the innovative educational ideas of Joseph and Carol Reich, the creators of the foundation that operates the school.