Seeley Park

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

Nearby Seeley Street was laid out in the 1850s as part of the village of Windsor Terrace. Though the street first appears on Brooklyn maps in 1867, the origin of its name is uncertain.

Seeley park, located on the west side of the Prospect Expressway between Seeley and Vanderbilt Streets, is one of ten parks created in connection with the construction of the Prospect Expressway. Built between 1953 and 1962 to link central Brooklyn with I-278 and the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, the Prospect Expressway extends southwest from the Gowanus Expressway at Third Avenue, and runs between Prospect Park and Greenwood Cemetery, ending at the intersection of Fort Hamilton and Ocean Parkways. The City acquired this site in 1953 as part of 2.3 miles in land condemnations.

Parks was given jurisdiction over this land in 1980. Today, Seeley Park features play equipment with safety surfacing, game tables, and benches. In 1989, a park renovation included the installation of new fences, sidewalks, benches, game tables, concrete and asphalt pavements. Several plants were also added to the park, such as Planted ivy (Hedera helix), Autumn glory hawthorn (Crategus oxycahtha), Yoshino cherry trees (Pruhus yedoehsis), Golden weeping willows (Salix alba “tristis” syn), Niobe weeping willows (Salix niobe), and Bradford callery pear trees (Pyrus calleryaha).