Parkside Playground

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

What was here before?
This land was part of the former estate of Lorillard Spencer (1860–1912), a descendant of Pierre Abraham Lorillard (1742–1776), a French Huguenot merchant who started a prosperous tobacco company in 1760. The estate made up a large portion of this area and Bronx Park. The family built the landmarked snuff mill that still stands in the New York Botanical Gardens. After Lorillard Spencer’s death, his descendants partitioned the land into over 1,000 lots for sale in 1917 to benefit the family and the New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue.

This parcel remained largely undeveloped, but by 1940, a two-story brick building housing a garage and car service center stood on this property, like several such businesses on the block.

How did this site become a playground?
The city acquired this property through condemnation for the construction of the Parkside Houses complex, which surrounds this playground. The New York City Housing Authority transferred this small parcel to Parks in 1948 to create a playground for the community. The complex was completed in 1950, and the playground opened a year later with eight handball and four basketball courts, a public restroom, a wading pool, a sand pit, and play equipment.

In 1999, the playground was renovated; four handball courts were refurbished, the basketball courts were resurfaced, new play equipment was installed, and a small concrete frog was added. In 2024 green infrastructure to capture stormwater was added.

Who is this playground named for?
The name of Parkside Playground and the adjacent housing complex references the park’s proximity to Bronx Park, one of the largest parks in New York City. Bronx Park includes the New York Botanical Gardens, the Bronx Zoo, and Ranaqua, NYC Parks’ Bronx headquarters.