Doughboy Park

NYC PARKS CELEBRATES NEW BLUESTONE PLAZA IN DOUGHBOY PARK

NYC Parks Queens Borough Commissioner Michael Dockett today joined Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer to cut the ribbon on a newly reconstructed $1.8 million plaza and seating area in Woodside’s Doughboy Plaza. The project also provided new stair access to the upper dog run area at Doughboy Park.
“Woodside’s Doughboy Park now has a brand new bluestone plaza, making it a worthy space to recognize and honor all of the soldiers who gave their lives in service to their country,” said Queens Borough Parks Commissioner Michael Dockett. “We are thrilled that this project was completed in time for the community to enjoy it over the fall season, and we’re grateful to Council Member Van Bramer for his support on this transformative project.”
Work involved the reconstruction of the existing memorial wall, which included re-setting the 9-11 Memorial Plaque, and the installation of new granite veneer facing and bluestone coping. The plaza was re-paved with new bluestone pavement and includes new benches to provide ample seating. The flagpole was reconstructed and the WWI memorial stone tablets were relocated within a planting bed around the Doughboy statue. The landscape beds were planted with new trees, shrubs and groundcovers.
Construction began in September 2020, and was completed in September 2021. The project was funded by Council Member Van Bramer.
Doughboy Park was assigned to NYC Parks in 1957, and the new park opened the following year. Originally a children’s play area for students from nearby P.S. 11, the site was transformed into a sitting area for adults, in keeping with the dignity of the park’s doughboy monument. The Returning Soldier, and later dubbed The Woodside Doughboy, the poignant monument by Burt Johnson was erected by the Woodside Community Council in remembrance of the local men and women who served in World War I. Although the park was named in 1971, the bronze and granite monument has stood on the site since 1923. Before the statue was erected, local soldiers gathered here at the “mustering ground” before departing to fight in World War I. The Woodside Doughboy is one of eight such statues erected in New York City’s parks.