Playground Sixty Two LXII

Located between 62nd Avenue and 62nd Road along Yellowstone Boulevard, Playground Sixty-Two serves the students and community of P.S. 220 in Rego Park, Queens. The Board of Estimate approved the site for school and park purposes on February 11, 1954, and a joint-operation agreement was made later that year. The park opened on May 8, 1957. Originally known as P.S. 220 Playground, the park was renamed 62nd Road Playground by Parks in 1987, and Playground Sixty-Two in 1997, for the adjacent avenue and road.

Originally, street names in Queens were chosen by the community. There was no borough-wide street classification system. Twenty-two streets had the name Washington, and twenty-five were named Clinton. In 1898, after the consolidation of New York City, an effort began to organize names. In 1911, it was decided that the roadways would be numbered, with avenues, roads, and drives running east-west and streets, lanes, and places running north-south.

This playground is in Rego Park, a name derived from the Real Good Construction Company, which developed the neighborhood in the 1920s. Before the area was developed, it was farmland owned by Chinese immigrants. These Chinese farmers grew produce strictly for sale in Chinatown. In the 1920s, the Rego Construction Company bought out the farmers and built one-family row houses, multi-family houses, and apartment buildings. The area was named by developers Henry Schloh and Charles I. Hausmann in 1923.

Playground Sixty-Two is composed of two fenced sections with facilities that benefit the community and students of P.S. 220. One section holds swings for tots and youth, play equipment with safety surfacing, benches, a public restroom, and a flagpole with a yardarm. The other is an open asphalt playground with basketball hoops, a baseball diamond with dugout benches, and a drinking fountain.