Fox Playground

This playground honors Brooklyn native David A. Fox (1951-1971). Fox grew up in the Glenwood Houses of the Flatbush neighborhood and was educated at Public School 251 and Samuel J. Tilden High School, which he attended for three years before transferring to Canarsie High School.  He was a Boy Scout, camp counselor, and member of the Knights of Pythias, a fraternal organization devoted to friendship, charity, and good will.  After briefly attending college in Wisconsin, Fox died of leukemia on February 22, 1971.  Under a local law introduced by three term City Councilman Theodore Silverman, and signed by Mayor John V. Lindsay on December 22, 1971, the playground was named in Fox’s honor.

This site in the Flatlands neighborhood, bounded on the east and west by East 55th and East 54th Streets, and on the north and south by Avenues H and I, was acquired by the City (along with the adjacent P.S. 251, Paedergat Public School) on April 26, 1950.  It has been jointly operated by NYC Parks and the Department of Education since it opened to the public on May 24, 1954. The playground offers fun for all age groups, providing passive and creative recreation opportunities, court games, an outdoor mini-pool, splash pads, and colorful science education-themed schoolyard games painted atop the asphalt paving.

Fox Playground was renovated in 1997 in a project that included new tennis and basketball courts, fencing, a handicapped accessible water fountain, two seating areas, trees, and vibrant animal-themed art with a fox motif.