Josephine Caminiti Playground

102 St. bet. Corona Ave. and Alstyne Ave.

Queens

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

This playground is named for adjacent Alstyne Street; the reason for the street naming is unfortunately obscure. Before this parkland was renamed by Commissioner Stern, it was called Corona Playground, after the surrounding neighborhood of Corona.

Playgrounds emerged as crucial public facilities as population grew and the increasing demand for housing led to ever-dwindling recreational open spaces. From 1865 to 1895, New York City's population more than doubled. Thousands of new immigrants moved into already overcrowded tenement districts; most of these were families with children, many of whom worked long hours in factories. With the enactment of the first child labor laws at the turn of the 20th century, leading reformers in New York City lobbied for the creation of a new kind of small park for children -- the playground.

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