William F. Passannante Ballfield

The Daily Plant : Thursday, August 29, 2002

BARBECUING AND LABOR DAY—A PERFECT MATCH

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. And it’s also a day of backyard barbecues and town parades. New York City parks offer plenty of spots to do just that:

Bronx

Crotona Park- Crotona Park East and Charlotte St.
Orchard Beach- North and South Lawn
Pelham Bay Park- Bruckner Blvd. and Wilkinson Ave.
Van Cortlandt Park- Allen Shandler Recreation Area, Jerome Ave., south of East 233rd St.
Brooklyn
Manhattan Beach- Northeast of Promenade, Oriental Blvd and Hastings St.
Prospect Park
Surrounding picnic house (Park West and 5th St., east side of Park Dr.)
South of Bandshell, off 9th St.
Nethermead Area, South Lawn at Wollman Rink

Manhattan
East River Park- East 10th St. and FDR Dr.
Highbridge Park- 177th and Amsterdam Ave.
Inwood Hill Park- Dyckman Field at Hudson River and Dyckman St.
Riverside Park- West 145th St. and Riverside Dr.
St. Nicholas Park- St. Nicholas Terrace at St. Nicholas Avenue and West 128th Street
Ward’s Island- East River and Hell Gate

Queens
Alley Athletic Field- Union Turnpike and Winchester Blvd.
Alley Pond Park- Winchester Blvd. and Grand Central Pkwy.
Brookville Park- Brookville Blvd. and South Conduit Ave.
Cunningham Park- Union Turnpike and Francis Lewis Blvd.
Flushing Meadows-Corona Park- off Lake West and off Lake
East Forest Park- Woodhaven Blvd. and Forest Park Dr.
Springfield Playground- 147th Ave. and Springfield Blvd.

Staten Island
Cloves Lake Park- Clove Rd. and Victory Blvd.
Willowbrook Park- Richmond Ave. and Eaton Place.
Wolfe's Pond Park- Cornelia Ave. and Luten Ave.
Midland Beach- Midland Ave. and Lincoln Ave.

PARKS FACTS

Ever wonder what the largest park in New York City is? Think it’s Central Park? Guess again. Below is the list of the 10 largest parks in New York City.

1. Pelham Bay Park, Bronx 2,765 acres
2. Greenbelt, Staten Island 1,778 acres
3. Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens 1,255 acres
4. Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx 1,146 acres
5. Central Park, Manhattan 843 acres
6. Freshkills Park, Staten Island 813 acres
7. Marine Park, Brooklyn 798 acres
8. Bronx Park, Bronx 718 acres
9. Alley Pond Park, Queens 655 acres
10. Franklin D. Roosevelt Boardwalk, Staten Island 638 acres

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO IN THE PLANT

(Thursday, September 7, 1989)

The summer of ’36 was so hot that Parks built 10 new public swimming pools before it was over.. A half century later, the City has begun to rebuild one of the biggest, the 100-by-246-foot Thomas Jefferson Pool in East Harlem.

Parks broke ground for the $9 million reconstruction of the facility, located at 113th Street and First Avenue, on Thursday, August 31. Originally dedicated on June 25, 1936 by Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia and Park Commissioner Robert Moses, Thomas Jefferson Pool was the second of the new swimming pools constructed by the Parks Department that summer with Works Progress Administration (WPA) funds.

"Let us then suppose the Mind to be, as we say, white Paper,
void of all Characters, without any Ideas; How comes it to be furnished...?
To this I answer, in one word, From Experience:
In that, all our Knowledge
is founded; and from that it ultimately derives it self."

John Locke
(August 29, 1632–1704)