Grant Park

What was here before?

Once Lenape territory known as Ranaqua, this area was settled by sea captain Jonas Bronck (1600-1643) for whom this borough is named. In the 1670s, Richard Morris bought 500 acres of the original Bronck lands to build the grand Morris family estate which encompassed much of the South Bronx.

How did this site become a park?

This park was created as part of the construction of the new Yankee Stadium, which opened in 2009. The loss of parkland at Macombs Dam Park required compensation by constructing replacement parkland in the Bronx. At the time, the site of Grant Park was comprised of sixteen city-owned vacant lots, which were assigned to NYC Parks in 1995 and named Grant Park in 1998.

NYC Parks completed a two-phase reconstruction project in 2006 with an upgraded playground, basketball court, and the Dred Scott Bird Sanctuary. In 2013, NYC Parks applied to have Grant Avenue removed, which divided the park in two, in order to expand and have adequate space to construct additional sports fields.

In 2020, the park was renovated to include new swings, play equipment and shrubbery, renovations to the basketball court, and spray showers.

Who is this park named for?

This park was named for Grant Avenue, after Ulysses S. Grant, one of many Bronx streets named after Union Civil War generals during an era of urban expansion as a tribute to their win. Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885) was the 18th President of the United States and served two terms from 1869 to 1877. A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Grant was a brilliant strategist who won repeated victories in the West before President Lincoln appointed him commander in chief of the Union army during the Civil War. In April 1865, Grant’s Union army closed in on Robert E. Lee’s Confederate troops, ending the Civil War and uniting the Country.

General Grant went on to become the General of the Army in 1866 and Secretary of War in 1867. He retired to New York City in 1884 and died in July 1885. Grant’s Tomb is a National Memorial on Riverside Drive at West 122nd Street and is the largest mausoleum in the United States.