Sheepshead Playground

What was here before?
The Canarsee, Sheepshead Bay’s original inhabitants, lived here before European settlers arrived in nearby Gravesend in 1643. This area developed into a small fishing community before it became known as a waterfront destination in the 19th century. 

This property neighbored the Sheepshead Bay Race Track, founded by the Coney Island Jockey Club in 1879 and opened a year later. The Sheepshead Speedway replaced the track when the Jockey Club disbanded in 1915. The famous automobile track was demolished in 1919 and replaced with housing.

How did this site become a playground?
This undeveloped property was acquired by the city in 1948 and the P.S. 52 Playground opened in 1951 in tandem with the school. This playground is a Jointly Operated Playground (JOP) serving P.S. 52 (Sheepshead Bay School) and the local community. Beginning in 1938, the Board of Education (now the Department of Education) agreed to provide land next to schools where NYC Parks could build and maintain playgrounds that could be used by the school during the day and by the public when school is not in session. The site was later named Sheepshead Playground.

It was temporarily named Zebra Playground (in honor of Avenue Z) in 2000 following a renovation that added new play equipment, picnic benches, trees, handball walls, basketball courts, swings, and a spray shower ornamented with colorful fish. The name was short-lived, however, and the playground name was reverted to Sheepshead Playground a couple decades later. 

Who is this playground named for?
Sheepshead Bay takes its name from the Sheepshead, a silvery, black-banded fish native to the Atlantic coast from Nova Scotia to the Gulf of Mexico. The scrappers of the sea, these aquatic creatures are known for attacking and killing much larger fish than themselves. As early as 1844, the first hotel in the area, built by Benjamin Freeman, was called “The Sheepshead.”