NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF PARKS PRESS RELEASES, JANUARY-AUGUST 1940
http://home2.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/41941940_press_releases_part1.pdf
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Corrected by Frank da Cruz, July 2014.
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Paragraphs reformatted by recombining hyphenated words and filling to 78 cols.
Some tabular material has been reformatted to fit withing 78 columns.
Duplicate entries omitted.
Tabs converted to spaces.
Coding: ISO 8859-1 (for cent signs and fractions).
Note: This archive contains two groups of documents with two tables of
contents. The first covers January-June, the second July-September.
Search Terms relevant to New Deal:
Work Projects [30]
Works Projects [4]
Works Progress [0]
WPA [9]
W.P.A. [3]
W. P. A. [1]
P.W.A. [2]
P. W. A. [3]
federal loan [2]
relief workers [3]
relief labor [3]
New Deal projects in this archive (listed in the order of the archive):
17 Jun 1940 Queens Reconstruction of Grover Cleveland Park.
7 Jun 1940 Brooklyn Reopening of City Park[1][2]
6 Jun 1940 Manhattan Reconstruction of Chelsea Park
3 Jun 1940 Manhattan New outdoor swimming pool in John Jay Park
19 May 1940 Manhattan New outdoor swimming pool on West 60th Street
19 May 1940 Bronx Extension to Orchard Beach bathhouse
19 May 1940 Bronx Extension to Orchard Beach parking lot and access road
16 May 1940 Manhattan Opening of Baruch Playground and Public Bath
4 May 1940 Brooklyn Reconstruction of William E. Kelly Memorial Park
27 Apr 1940 Bronx New park on University Avenue and 170th Street [3]
25 Apr 1940 Queens Opening of Francis Lewis Park
4 Apr 1940 Manhattan New playground at Clinton, Water, and Cherry streets[4]
4 Apr 1940 Manhattan New playground at 34th Street and East River [5]
4 Apr 1940 Manhattan New Yorkville playground, 101st St and 3rd Ave [6]
16 Mar 1940 (all) Restoration of trees damaged in storm of March 4th.
15 Jan 1940 Manhattan New playground at 141st Street and Hamilton Place [7]
15 Jan 1940 Bronx New playground at 136th Street and Alexander Ave [8]
26 Sep 1940 Brooklyn Reconstructed Borough Hall Park
14 Sep 1940 Bronx Three new marginal playgrounds in Claremont Park
26 Aug 1940 Brooklyn New playground at Stuyvesant Avenue & Marion Street[9]
10 Aug 1940 Brooklyn Reconstructed Bushwick Playground [10]
1 Aug 1940 Manhattan Reconstruction of Jasper Oval (no longer exists)
1 Aug 1940 Brooklyn New skating rink and bicycle track in Red Hook.
1 Aug 1940 Brooklyn Reconstruction of West side of Sunset Park.
27 Jul 1940 Brooklyn Reconstruction New Lots Playground.
19 Jul 1940 Manhattan Renovation of swimming pool at 5 Rutgers Place.
11 Jul 1940 Brooklyn Reconstruction of north section Lincoln Terrace Park.
11 Jul 1940 Brooklyn New bicycle trails [11]
11 Jul 1940 Queens New bicycle trails [11]
6 Jul 1940 Manhattan Reconstruction of Annunciation Playground
Notes:
[1] Now called Commodore Barry Park.
[2] It doesn't say it was a WPA project, but why else would the NY Work
Projects Administrator be present at the ceremony?
[3] Now called Highbridge Park (not to be confused with the one in Manhattan)
[4] I believe this is the present Cherry Clinton Playground.
[5] No longer exists
[6] I believe this is the present Sunshine Playground.
[7] Now called Alexander Hamilton Playground.
[8] Today's Lozada Playground.
[9] I believe this is the present Fulton Park.
[10] Can't find it - all the street names have changed.
[11] See last paragraph of list attached to announcement
(begin archive)
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Index January - June
1940
1/3/40 #1 Ice skating Carnival on Conservatory Lake, Jan. 7, 2p.m.
1/5/40 2 Bids open for Coney Island improvements
1/15/40 3 Mayor to open two playgrounds: Alexander Ave.
and Hamilton Place, Jan. 16, 3*30 pm
1/16/40 4 Bids open for Belt Parkway seawall
1/17/40 5 30th millionth car crosses Henry Hudson Bridge
1/20/40 6 Finals for ice skating carnival, Jan. 21, 2 pm
1/25/40 7 Loss of 50 year-old pelican; gain of 3 new ones
2/1/40 8 Bids open for section of Cross Bay Blvd., Queens
2/1/40 9 Openings of three playgrounds during Feb.
2/1/40 10 Bronx Operetta Orchestral Clubs to give three
performances of Straus's "The Chocolate Soldier"
2/7/40 11 Bids open for landscaping Belt Parkway, whore section
2/8/40 12 Bids for additional work in City Hall Park
2/12/40 13 Completion of six recreational swimming pools
2/15/40 14 Free skiing instruction by NY Ski Council and Norway Ski Club
2/19/40 15 Bids for 3 contracts for lighting Belt Parkway
2/26/40 16 More bids for lighting Belt Parkway
3/1/40 17 Opening celebrations of five playgrounds
3/1/40 18 Bids for new police station on Belt Parkway
3/3/40 19 Work on 79th St. boat basin to be completed Apr. 1
3/1/40 20 Six indoor swimming pools in Manhattan reconstructed
by Works Projects Admin.
3/15/40 21 Exhibition basketball game between Murray Team
and East Boston Team on Mar. 16
3/15/40 22 Seasonal permits for golf, tennis, etc. available
on sale Mar. 21
3/16/40 23 Restoration of trees damaged by Mar. 4 ice storm
cost $20,000 from special emergency funds
3/21/40 24 Annual Easter Flower Show at Prospect Park
Greenhouse on Mar. 22, 10 am
3/25/40 25 Bids on lighting section of Belt Parkway
4/l/40 26 Bids on lighting section of Belt Parkway
4/2/40 27 Completion of work on bath and gymnasium building
at Cherry and Oliver Sts.
4/4/40 28 Three playgrounds opened on Apr. 3: Clinton St.;
24th St. and East River Drive; Yorkville
4/9/40 29 Request for Commission to buy wedge of land in
Cunningham Park under threat of development
4/9/40 30 Two playgrounds reconstructed: Ennis Park East
and South, Brooklyn
4/9/40 31 Bids on additional planting on Major Deegan Blvd.
4/13/40 32 Closing of recreation areas on Apr. 14
4/13/40 33 Anniversary celebrations of six playgrounds in Apr.
4/13/40 34 Bids for lighting on Shore Parkway
4/13/40 35 Baseball season opens Apr. 13, times listed
4/15/40 36 Bids on three maintenance buildings, Belt Parkway
4/15/40 37 Two buffalo calves born in Central Park Zoo
4/17/40 38 Bids for fence on Belt Parkway, Whitestone intersctn,
4/19/40 39 Opening of nine municipal golf courses
4/19/40 40 Finals of One Act Play Contest and locations
4/25/40 4l Dedication of Francis Lewis Park, Apr. 26
4/26/40 42 Opening of Pitch Putt Golf Course, Apr. 27
4/27/40 43 Opening of park on Univ. Ave. and W. 170th St.
5/l/40 44 Bids on three contracts for lighting Belt Parkway
5/3/40 45 Final game of roller hockey tournament May 5
5/4/40 46 Bids for electric service at Marine Park, Flatbush
5/4/40 47 Reconstruction of William E. Kelly Playground
5/4/40 48 Anniversary celebrations for May listed
5/7/40 49 Re decay of tulips shipped from Holland
5/7/40 50 Reopening of Jeannette Park on May 8
5/8/40 51 Opening of Tavern-on-the Green on May 9
5/15/40 52 Whitewash and calcimine will not repel insects
5/15/40 53 Newbold Morris Trophy for golf championship
5/17/40 54 Dedication of Baruch Park on May 17
5/17/40 55 Finals for handball and tennis tournament, May 18, 19
5/17/40 56 Program for dedication of Baruch playground
5/22/40 57 Bids for paving Belt Parkway
5/26/40 58 Reconstruction on Coney Island boardwalk, opens May 26
5/27/40 59 Barbershop quartet contest on June 27
5/27/40 60 Bids for lighting new Belt Parkway
5/29/40 61 Two new baseball diamonds in St. Mary's park
5/29/40 62 New outdoor swimming pool at 232 West 60th St.
6/3/40 63 Outdoor swimming pool in N.S. corner Jay Park
6/4/40 64 Eleven playgrounds open in June
6/6/40 65 City-wide tournaments
6/6/40 66 Ceremonies for reconstructed Chelsea Park
6/6/40 67 Third Annual Learn to Swim Campaign
6/7/40 68 Reconstructed city park ceremonies
6/7/40 69 Program for reopening of City Park
6/11/40 70 Robert Moses letter to Naomi Landy
6/11/40 71 All City Highschool symphonic band
6/12/40 72 Bids open on East River Park
6/13/40 73 Patriotic programs to commemorate Flag Day
6/14/40 74 Bids to light Belt Parkway
6/14/40 75 Prospect and Central Park Zoo population increases
6/15/40 76 Improvement of Tallman's Island
6/17/40 77 Grover Cleveland Park reopens
6/17/40 78 Bids to repair three bridges
6/17/40 79 Bids for construction of Belt Parkway
6/18/40 80 Finals of Barter Shop Quartet
6/18/40 81 Bids to reconstruct W. Drive in Central Park
6/21/40 82 "Magic Review" for children
6/21/40 83 Bids for electrical facilities on W. Drive in Central Park
6/21/40 84 Girls dance festival on the Sheep Meadow
6/21/40 85 Musicians Union Local 802 concert program
6/21/40 86 Softball league, Brooklyn Edison/Long Island Press
6/25/40 87 Associated Glee Clubs summer concert series
6/25/40 88 Bids for lighting of Belt Parkway
6/25/40 89 Bids to repave access roadway to Henry Hudson Parkway
6/27/40 90 Barber Shop Quartet contest
6/27/40 91 Exercises at opening of Belt Parkway System
6/28/40 92 Bestaurant opens on upper level of Jacob Riis Park
6/28/40 93 Punchball tournament for girls
6/28/40 94 Installation of illuminated signs on Belt Parkway
6/30/40 95 Learn to swim campaign
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Sunday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 June 30, 1940
The second annual "Learn to Swim" campaign sponsored by the
Department of Parks in their sixteen outdoor pools from Saturday, June 3rd,
terminated on Saturday, June 22nd.
This campaign, instituted not alone to promote the use of the
City swimming pools in preference to the polluted waters which bound the
City, but to stimulate general interest in swimming and to teach as many as
possible how to swim, ended with 635 adults registered for the instruction,
and 12,242 children accepting the opportunities afforded. Seventy schools
cooperated in the campaign; 21,723 lessons were given.
The Department announces that as a result of the free
instructions 1,390 persons who heretofore were not able to swim have now
overcome this inability. Special classes were held during this intensive
"Learn to Swim" campaign and were so successful, regularly conducted
swimming classes are scheduled for children and adults at all Park
Department pools during the entire swimming season.
Among the recreational organizations which enlisted their
assistance in the promotion of this campaign at the Park Department pools
were the Police Athletic League, the Children's Aid Society, the Y.M.H.A.,
the Y.M.C.A., the Bronx House, the Red Hook Community Center, the Boys Club,
the East Side Settlement House, and the Jones Memorial. The Board of
Education also rendered active participation.
As a result, the Park Department feels that during the ensuing
summer there should be a decrease in local drownings, as well as an increase
of city health and general welfare.
According to available statistics, about 6,000 persons are
drowned annually in New York City. Drownings occupy the prominent position
of third place in the accidental death toll of the nation.
During July and August when the peak of the swimming season is
reached, drownings and automobile accidents are about on a par in the number
of fatalities due to accidental sources. It has been estimated that 50% of
the drownings occur in rivers and that half of all drowning victims were
unable to swim.
Park Department swimming pools are listed below:
MANHATTAN
Hamilton Fish Pool - East Houston and Sheriff Streets
Colonial Pool - Bradhurst Avenue, W. 145th to 147th Streets
Highbridge Pool - Amsterdam Avenue and 173rd Street
Thomas Jefferson Pool -111th to 114th Streets and First Avenue
23rd Street Pool - 23rd Street and Sast River Drive
Carmine Street Pool - Clarkson Street and 7th Avenue
60th Street Pool - 60th Street between Amsterdam and 11th Avenues
John Jay Pool - 78th Street and East River Drive
BROOKLYN:
Sunset Pool - 7th Avenue and 43rd Street
McCarren Pool - Driggs Avenue and Lorimer Street
Red Hook Pool - Clinton, Bay and Henry Streets
Betsy Head Pool - Hopkinson, Dumont and Livonia Streets
BRONX:
Crotona Pool - 173rd Street and Fulton Avenue
QUEENS:
Astoria Pool - 19th Street and 23rd Drive
RICHMOND:
Faber Pool - Faber Street between Richmond Terrace and Kill Van Kull
Tompkinsville Pool - Arrietta Street at Pier No. 6
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Firday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 June 28, 1940
Bids were received by the Department of Parks at the Arsenal
Building in Central Park on a contract for furnishing and installing
illuminated signs at various points along the new Belt Parkway, Kings,
Queens and Nassau Counties,
The work under this contract consists of locating approved
types of fabricated signs which will be lighted during the night to guide
motorists to important traffic arteries crossing the new parkway.
The following bids were received for the work;
1. H. Z. Altberg, Inc. $40,850.00
1716 Broadway, New York City
2. Jandous Electric Equipment Co. 42,900.00
210 East 40th Street, New York City
3. E. J. Electric Installation Co. 46,000.00
235 East 42 Street, New York City
*****
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Firday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 June 28, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that the final game of the Park
Department punchball tournament for girls up to 16 years of age will take
place on Saturday, June 29, at East River Park, 6 Street and East River
Drive at 2:00 P.M., when the winning teams of Manhattan and Brooklyn will
compete for the city championship.
During the month of June, 525 girls participated in playground and
inter-district punchball contests throughout the five boroughs; in the
inter-borough competitions, Manhattan defeated Bronx and Richmond, and
Brooklyn defeated Queens.
Gold medals will be awarded to the members of the winning team in
Saturday's game and silver medals to the losers.
* * * * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Firday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 June 28, 1940
The Department of Parks announces the opening of the restaurant on
the upper level of the bath house at Jacob Riis Park, Rockaway, Queens, on
Saturday, June 29th, 1940 at 11:30 A.M.
Cafeteria facilities have been provided and a varied menu features
wholesome foods and beverages.
Free outdoor dancing on the mall will commence at 8 P.M. on June
29th.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Firday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 June 28, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that 18 quartets have
qualified for the finals of the Sixth Annual American Ballad competition,
popularly known as the "Barber Shop Quartet" contest which will be held at
the Mall, Central Park, Thursday, June 27, at 8:30 P.M.
The finalists qualified through the various borough
eliminations, conducted during the week of June 16, in which a total of 90
quartets competed before thousands of enthusiastic spectators. Owing to the
unusually large number of entries in the preliminaries, one quartet was
selected out of each five contestants, with the result that 18 quartets were
chosen and they will appear on the Mall, Central Park, for the finals on
Thursday evening.
Every quartet will render songs that were popular among the
habitues of the old tonsorial parlors in the early part of the present
century such as: "Let Me Call You Sweetheart"; "Dear Old Girl"; "Mandy Lee";
"Meet Me Tonight in Dreamland"; "Sweet Adeline", and a host of other medleys
usually found in the repertoire of the old barber shop harmonizers.
Many of the quartets, anxious to avoid the slightest trace of
an anachronism in their performance, will bring the fullness of the past
down to the present, by being groomed and dressed in attire befitting the
gay nineties - top hats, brown derbies, frock coats, ascot ties, peg-top
trousers, handlebar mustaches, etc. Quartets which represent city
departments, such as Police and Sanitation, will be dressed in the uniforms
which were worn by. employees of those departments at the turn of the 19th
century. Still others, will wear costumes indicative of the title the
quartet assumes in the contest: the "University Four" will wear caps and
gowns; the "Hawley Tonsorial Twitter- bugs" will wear barber coats and
aprons; the "New York Central Railroad Four" will be attired in the overalls
and visored caps of locomotive engineers.
Appropriate prizes will be awarded to the winners.
As an added attraction to this year's contest, the 1st and
2nd place winners will be eligible to enter the National Barber Shop
competition which will be held during the period, July 22-26, at the New
York World's Fair.
The judges for the finals on June 27 are as follows: Mayor
LaGuardia, Hon. Alfred E. Smith, Park Commissioner Robert Moses, James
F. Evans, Director of State Parks, Geoffrey 0»Hara, famous baritone, and
Dr. Sigmund Spaeth, musical composer and author.
The Park Department Band will give a concert prior to the
contest from 7:00 to 8:00 P.M. It will also render a few selections at
various intervals during the performance.
Community singing will precede and follow the evening's
program and Dr. Sigmund Spaeth has consented to act as leader.
Municipal Broadcasting Station WNYC, will broadcast the
entertainment from 9:00 to 10:00 P.M.
The names of the quartets, and the boroughs they represent,
follow:
NAME OF QUARTET BOROUGH
Weissglass Dairy Singing Milkmen Richmond
Four Jacks of Harmony Queens
Crosby Crooners Bronx
Victory Four Brooklyn
Belmont Balladiers Manhattan
Sanitation Glee Club Quartet Brooklyn
The Avalon Four Manhattan
Garber Bros. Quartet Richmond
St. Mary's Horseshoers Bronx
Hawley's Tonsorial Twitterbugs Manhattan
The Four Tune Hunters Bronx
Ridgewood Clippers Queens
Four Mullalys Bronx
The New York Central Railroad Four Bronx
New York City Police Department Quartet Brooklyn
Gas House Boys Manhattan
University Four Brooklyn
Harmonyms Bronx
* * * * * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Thursday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 June 27, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that exercises in connection
with the opening of the Belt Parkway System in Brooklyn and Queens will take
place on Saturday, June 29.
Besides Commissioner Moses who will preside, Mayor LaGuardia,
John M. Carmody, Federal Works Administrator, Colonel Maurice E. Gilmore,
Regional Director, Federal Public Works Administration, Newbold Morris,
President of the City Council, Stanley M. Isaacs, President of the Borough
of Manhattan, James J. Lyons, President of the Borough of the Bronx, George
U. Harvey, President of the Borough of Queens, and John Cashmore, President
of the Borough of Brooklyn, will participate in the exercises.
The ceremonies dedicating the Parkway to public use will start
at 11 A.M. and take place opposite Owl's Head Park at the head of The
Narrows, and just north of 68 Street, Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. After the
speaking ceremonies which will be broadcast by WOV, WLTH, WMCA, WOR, AND
WNYC, and the official tape cutting, there will be a motor parade over the
entire length of the new parkway. The motor procession will start at 12
noon and will pass the following points at the time listed:
Dyker Beach - 12:05 P.M.
Bensonhurst 12:08 P.M.
Sheepshead Bay - 12:15 P.M.
Canarsie - 12:25 P.M.
Cross Bay Boulevard - 12:32 P.M.
Laurel ton - 12:4-5 P.M.
Hempstead Avenue - 12:50 P.M.
Crocheron Park - 1:00 P.M.
Fort Totten - 1:04 P.M.
and at the intersection of the Whitestone Parkway at
1:10 P.M., where the Parade will end and the motorists
disperse.
Each entrance to the parkway will be officially opened to the
public after the motor parade passes and motorists desiring to do so may
enter the parkway then, and join in the parade. Motorists participating in
the parade may leave the parkway at any exit to return to their homes,
branch off on Southern and Northern State Parkways to Jones Beach, to points
on eastern Long Island, or they may proceed to the Triborough Bridge, the
World's Fair, and Brooklyn, by way of the Whitestone, Grand Central, and
Interborough Parkways.
Excepting one section from Coney Island Avenue to Marine Park,
at the foot of Emmons Avenue, the 34.9 mile Belt Parkway will be
completed. Work in connection with this 2.04 mile missing link has started
with the acquisition of property. It is being constructed by the Triborough
Bridge Authority and is expected to be completed by the summer of
1941. Certain landscaping and playground improvements along the Belt Parkway
are not yet completed, but will be constructed during the remainder of the
year.
Rights of way for the Belt Parkway were acquired by the City of
New York. The cost of construction, excepting the Emmons Avenue link and
some landscaping and incidental features, amounted to $28,000,000. Of this
sum $12,000,000. represents a grant from the Federal Public Works
Administration, and $16,000,000. was supplied by the City on the basis of a
city-wide and borough assessment. The P.W.A. grant called for completion
within 18 months after start of work. Regional P.W.A. Director Gilmore today
reported to Administrator Carmody that the project is ready ahead of the
deadline set by Congress.
The Belt Parkway is in the true sense a narrow shoestring
park. In circling the outskirts of Brooklyn and Queens, it skirts 26 park
areas, totaling 3,550 acres, providing all types of recreation for all age
groups. It provides non-stop connections with the Northern and Southern
State Parkways, making the north and south shores of Long Island readily
accessible to City residents, and connects directly with the Westchester and
Connecticut highway and parkway systems, by way of the Bronx-Whitestone
Bridge.
The Parkway will be more than paid for by the increased
valuation of adjacent property and by the conversion of idle and reclaimed
waste land into properly integrated sub-divisions, thereby relieving the
pressure on other parts of the City.
The opening of this new Parkway is one more milestone in a
number of limited related objectives comprising the Belt Parkway System.
There still remains the Express Highway connection between Owl's Head Park
and the Brooklyn end of the proposed Battery Tunnel. This essential link
will be built by the Triborough Bridge Authority and work will start on July
1st of this year. The Battery Tunnel is to be built by the New York City
Tunnel Authority with federal loan and city funds. Negotiations have been
under way for some time for federal funds, and it is expected that final
arrangements will be made soon.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Tuesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 June 25, 1940
Bids were received yesterday by the Department of Parks at the
Arsenal Building in Central Park on a contract for repaving the southbound
access roadway to the Henry Hudson Parkway at 72nd Street and Riverside
Drive, Borough of Manhattan. The work under this contract consists of
resurfacing the roadway with a natural rock asphalt.
The bids received for the work were as follows:
1. Stutz Contracting Company $3,685.00
3356 Fenton Avenue, Bronx, N.Y.
2. John Oakhill & Company, Inc. 4,125.00
101 Park Avenue, New York City
* * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Tuesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 June 25, 1940
Bids were received yesterday by the Department of Parks at the
Arsenal Building in Central Park on the last of the lighting contracts to be
let in connection with the construction of the Belt Parkway.
The work under this contract includes the area between Brigham
Street and the Plumb Beach Channel Bridge, in the Borough of Queens, and
consists of the installation of all necessary subsurface conduit, service
boxes and houses, high and low tension cables, lighting standards,
luminaires and necessary accessories to provide a complete lighting system
for the contract area.
The three low bidders for the work were:
1. Charles Michaels $49,832.00
116 Nassau Street, Brooklyn, N. Y*
2. Jandous Electric Equipment Co. 56,400.00
210 East 40 Street, New York City
3. L. A. Feldman 57,100.00
1015 East 31 Street, Brooklyn, N.Y.
* * * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Tuesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 June 25, 1940
The Department of Parks announces tnat arrangements have been
made with the Associated Glee Clubs of Greater New York for a series of
choral concerts to be given, during the summer months, at the Mall, Central
Park, and at the Music Grove in Forest Park, Queens, and in Prospect Park,
Brooklyn.
The series will consist of eight concerts and each one will be
given by various groups affiliated with the Associated Glee Clubs.
Community singing of familiar songs, under the direction of well known
leaders, will follow every performance.
On Wednesday, June 26th, at 8:30 P, M«, the opening choral
concert will be held at the Music Grove, Prospect Park, Flatbush Avenue and
Bnpire Boulevard, Brooklyn, with the members of the Nautilus Glee Club of
Brooklyn participating. J. E. Powers, Leader of Park Department Band, will
direct the community singing.
At Forest Park Music Grove, Main Drive near Woodhaven Boulevard,
Thursday, June 27th, at 9:15 P. M., the second concert will be given by the
Union Men's Glee Club of Richmond Hill.
The other six concerts are scheduled as follows:
Brooklyn - Prospect Park (Music Grove) Flatbush Avenue and Empire Boulevard
July 10 and July 17 - 9:15 P. M.
Manhattan - Central Park (Mall) 71 Street and Center Drive
August 28, September 4, 11 and 18 - 8:30 P.M.
* * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Monday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 June 24, 1940
The Brooklyn Edison Soft Ball League and the Long Island Press
Soft Ball League inaugurate their season on Monday, June 24th at Jacob Riis
Park, Rockaway, Queens. At 6 P.M. there will be a parade of all the teams
of both leagues headed by the Park Department Band. Before the game both
teams will salute the flag.
All the officials of the Brooklyn Edison Company have been
requested to attend this opening and the majority have indicated their
intention of being present. Employees of the Brooklyn Edison Company are
being excused from work at 4:30 P.M. to enable them to attend the opening
game of the league.
The first game, scheduled for 6:30 P.M., will be the Secretaries
vs. the Property Protection Division of the Brooklyn Edison League. The
second game, scheduled for 7 P.M., will be the Bellaire Civics vs. Regal
Sports of the Long Island Press League.
The teams of both leagues will be in complete uniform.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Monday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 June 24, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that the Associated Musicians
of Greater New York, Local 802, will give a series of 20 concerts at
designated locations under Park Department jurisdiction during the months of
June, July and August.
While the Department of Parks selected the areas most suitable
for these musical performances and supervises all the physical arrangements,
the concerts are sponsored by the Associated Musicians of Greater New York,
Local 802, Mayor La Guardia and the Friedsam Foundation.
The complete concert schedule is attached.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
CITY OF NEW YORK
SCHEDULE OF CONCERTS
Sponsored By
The Associated Musicians of Greater New York, Local 802
Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia
Friedsam Foundation
**
DATE LOCATION
June 25, 1940 Sunset Playground, 7 Avenue & 43 Street, Brooklyn
June 27, 1940 Crotona Play Center, 173 Street & Fulton Avenue, Bronx
July 2, 1940 Highbridge Play Center, Amsterdam Avenue & 173 Street,
Manhattan
July 4, 1940 East River Park, Stanton Street & East River, Manhattan
July 9, 1940 Red Hook Play Center, Clinton, Bay & Henry Streets, Brooklyn
July 11, 1940 Astoria Play Center, Barclay Street & 24 Drive, Queens
July 16, 1940 Roosevelt Playground, Delancey & Rivington Streets, Chrystie
& Forsythe Streets. Manhattan
July 18, 1940 Van Cortlandt Park Recreation Center, 242 St. & Broadway, Bronx
Juiy 23, 1940 Anawanda Park, Grandview Avenue & Stanhope Street, Queens
July 25, 1940 Williamsbridge Playground, 208 St. & Bainbridge Avenue, Bronx
July 30, 1940 Fort Greene Playground, Myrtle Av. & St. Edwards St., Brooklyn
August 1, 1940 Chelsea Park, 28 Street I 9 Avenue, Manhattan
August 6, 1940 McCarren Play Center, Nassau Avenue & Loriner Street, Brooklyn
August 8, 1940 Thomas Jefferson Play Center, 114 Street & 1 Avenue, Manhattan
August 13, 1940 St. Mary's Park East, Trinity Avenue & 146 Street, Bronx
August 15, 1940 Liberty Avenue & 173 Street Playground, Queens
August 20, 1940 Neptune Avenue & West 25 Street Playground, Brooklyn
August 22, 1940 Lincoln Terrace Playground, Buffalo & Rochester Aves, Brooklyn
August 27, 1940 Silver Lake Park, Victory Boulevard & Forest Avenue, Richmond
August 29, 1940 Colonial Park, 148 Street & Bradhurst Avenue, Manhattan
All Concerts are scheduled to begin at 8:30 P, M. at the above locations.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Friday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 June 21, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that approximately 450
girls of Park Department playgrounds in the five boroughs, ranging from 8 to
16 years of age, will participate in the Sixth Annual Dance festival
scheduled to take place on the Sheep Meadow, Central Park, 66th Street and
West Drive, Saturday, June 22nd, at 2:00 P. M.
This Dance Festival is one of the outstanding features of the
recreational program prepared for the children of Park Department playgrounds.
Thousands of spectators attend the dance exhibition annually and such a high
standard of terpsichorean ability has been established that the girls are
eager to perpetuate the enviable reputation attained in past performances.
For the past five weeks, the children have attended
regularly the various instruction classes conducted in designated
playgrounds of the five boroughs, where they have been taught intricate
dance steps, which require poise, grace and rhythmic coordination to bring
about that precision in execution so necessary in group dancing.
In addition, each member of the dancing class is given
instructions in the art of making costumes which will be worn by the
performers. These costumes play an important part in the estimate of the
judges since the appearance of the costume will add to or dotract from the
dancing perforscaace.
On the Sheep Meadow next Saturday, there will be 14 groups
in all which were chosen as the result of elimination contests conducted
within each borough. Ten of the units, two from each borough, will
demonstrate Folk B?,ncing, characteristic of various nations, and the
remaining five will perform classical numbers.
Due to the fact that the steps in different folk dances
vary in difficulty, it was decided to classify the folk dances into "Junior"
and "Senior", with each borough being represented by one group in each of
the two classifications. The five classical or interpretive dances, on the
other hand, will include girls of all ages, with each borough, being
represented by one unit.
Plaques will be awarded to the best dancing group in the
classical division and in the Junior and Senior Divisions of the folk
dances.
The following have consented to act as judges: Louis H. Chalif,
Director of the Chalif School of Dancing; Miss Gabrielle Sorrenson, Dean,
the Savage School for Physical Education; Miss Agnese M. Roy of the
Albertina Rasch Studios and Miss Frances Holsten, Instructor of Physical
Education at Hunter College.
The Park Department Band will render a few selections prior to
the opening dance and at various intervals during the course of the
performance.
* * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Friday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 June 21, 1940
Bids were opened today by the Department of Parks at the Arsenal
Building on a contract for the electrical facilities in connection with the
resurfacing of the West Drive in Central Park, between 71st and 86th
Streets, Borough of Manhattan.
The work under this contract consists of the installation of the
necessaiy underground conduit cable and splicing boxes, lampposts and
luminaires.
The three low bidders for the work were:
1. Penner Electric Company $15,000.00
200 West 72 Street
New York City
2. Jandous Electric Equipment Co., Inc. 16,350.00
210 last 40 Street
New York City
3. Charles Michaels, Inc. 16,742.00
116 Nassau Street
Brooklyn, N. Y.
* * * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Friday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 June 21, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that a "Magic Review" will be
given by boys and girls, who have been attending classes for amateur
magicians at designated playgrounds of the five boroughs, at Mullaly Park
Recreation Building, 165th Street and Jerome Avenue, Bronx, on Saturday,
June 22nd at 8:30 P.M.
The program will include a variety of optical illusions, such
as the "Floating Lady", "The Dancing Ghost" and "Vanishing Tables", together
with a host of other tricks, usually contained in the repertoire of
prestidigitators. Ventriloquism, Shadow Puppetry and the Black Art will also
form part of the evening's entertainment.
Judging by past performances of the young magicians of Park
playgrounds, the show on Saturday evening is expected to draw a large
attendance.
* * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Tuesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 June 18, 1940
Bids were received today by the Department of Parks at the
Arsenal Building on a contract for reconstructing a portion of the West
Drive in Central Park from 86th Street to 71st Street, Borough of Manhattan.
The work under this contract consists of the removal of the
existing asphalt pavement and replacement with a three lane concrete surface
and includes land- scaping of the adjoining areas. Added to the section now
approaching completion north of 86th Street, the West Drive from 71st to
110th Streets will be entirely realigned and rebuilt. In the near future
the entire West Drive t o 59th Street will be resurfaced.
The three low bidders for the work were:
1. Petracca & Banko $111,660.50
69-19 Queens Boulevard, Winfield, L. I.
2. J. Leopold & Company 119,539.25
60 East 42 Street, New York City
3. Harlem Contracting Company 119,873.00
44 Exchange Place, New York City
* * * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Tuesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 June 18, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that 35 quartets will
participate in the Manhattan finals of the Barber Shop Quartet Contest at the
Mall, Central Park, 71st Street and Center Drive, Tuesday, June 18th, at 8:30
P.M.
These quartets represent a wide variety of organizations such
as hotels, department stores, glee clubs, public utilities, radio
corporations, civil service employees, of both the City and Federal
governments, and various social and civic groups.
Some of the outstanding harmonizers who will compete in the
Manhattan finals tomorrow evening on the Mall, Central Park, are "Hawley's
Harmonizing "Aircutters", composed of four leading local radio announcers
including Mark Hawley, Ben Grauer and George Hicks of NBC and John
B. Gambling; the singing waiters from the Belmont-Plaza Hotel; the Messenger
Boys Quartet from the Western Union Telegraph Company and the Barbers of
Barbizon, on which William Guggenheim, 71 year old copper magnate, sings a
lead tenor.
Other Manhattan entries comprise the followingj R. H. Macy's
Gondoliers; New York Post Office Quartet; the Philharmonic Glee Club; the
Philip Morris Quartet and two quartets representing ushers and page boys
from Radio City Music Hall.
Owing to the unprecedented number of entries in this sixth
annual Barber Shop Quartet Contest, there will be one quartet selected out
of each five contestants and they will qualify for the New York City Finals
on June 27th at the Mall, Central Park, at "wbioh the other borough winners
will vie for the City championship. The successful quartets on June 27th
will represent New York City in the National Contest at the New York World's
Fair, running from July 22 to 26.
The judges of the Manhattan finals of the Barber Shop Quartet
Contest at the Mall, Central Park, on June 18th, will include the following:
J. Edward Powers, Leader, Park Department Band; W. Sarle Andrews, former
General Superin- tendent, Department of Parks; John Downing, Supervisor of
Recreation, Department of Parks; Allyn R. Jennings, General Superintendent
of Parks, and Geoffrey O'Hara, a well known composer.
The Park Department Band will provide the music for the
evening's entertainment.
* * * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Monday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 June 17, 1940
Bids were opened today by the Department of Parks at the
Arsenal Building on two contracts in connection wiih the construction of the
new Belt Parkway.
The first of these contracts was for repairing and repainting
the large P. W. A. signs located at various points along the Parkway. These
signs Were erected over a year ago and will now be renewed.
The second contract i s for the demolition of existing
buildings, docks, piling and other miscellaneous Structures in the area of
Spring Creek adjoining Sheridan P^ceei in the Borough of Queens.
The three low bidders on the above lettings were:
REPAIR OF P. W. A. SIGNS
1. B. Slavin, 1703 Union Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. $897.80
2. S. G. Sterne & Co., 609 West 43 Street, N.Y.C. 380.75
3. M, Barash, 2132 Ocean Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y. 886.00
DEMOLITION WORK
1. Macon Demolition Co., 25 Avenue A, N. Y. C. $2400.00
2. Avon Wrecking Co., Inc. 130 W. 42 St., N.Y.C, 2700.00
3. Lew Morris Demolition Co., Inc. 42-50 22nd St. 3330.00
Long Island City
* * * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Monday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 June 17, 1940
Bids were received today by the Department of Parks at the Arsenal
Building for the repair of three bridges located in Central Park at 86th
Street and the Transverse Road, 77th Street and the East Drive, and at the
72nd Street Lake leading to the wooded area known as the Rambles.
The work consists of replacing wood decking, pointing and repairing
stone work and painting and cleaning where required.
The low bidder for the work on these bridges was James T. Mullins,
31 Victory Boulevard, Staten Island, New York,for $4,380.00.
* * * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Monday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 June 17, 1940
The Department of Parks announces the reopening, without
ceremonies, of the reconstructed Grover Cleveland Park, Grandview Avenue and
Stanhope Street, Queens, on Tuesday, June 18.
This five-acre park has been redesigned and reconstructed to
provide a wider all year round usage. Approximately three-quarters of the
area is set aside for active recreation. There is now a completely equipped
separate small pre-school children's playground, a wading pool which can be
used for basketball, and three paddle tennis courts, a volleyball court, and
three shuffleboard courts for older children.
For adults, there is a large bituminous-surfaced area
containing two basketball courts with removable goal posts so as to provide
room for two softball diamonds. This area will also be used for roller
skating and ice skating during winter months when sub-freezing temperatures
permit. There are also two double handball courts.
The balance of the park has been set aside for passive
recreation with broad bench-lined walks and fenced-in lawns. The entire
park has been landscaped with trees and shrubbery. The old comfort station
has been re-installed to provide up to date sanitary facilities.
The reopening of this park designed by the Park Department and
built by the Work Projects Administration makes a total of 331 new or
reconstructed recreational areas completed by the Park Department since
January 1, 1934.
* * * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Saturday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 June 15, 1940
On Saturday, June 15, the Department of Parks will take
over by permit from the Department of Public Works the westerly
portion of Tollman's Island in the College Point section of Queens.
This 12 acre waterfront park overlooking the East River and
informally landscaped with wide walks and broad sloping lawns will be opened
to the public without ceremonies on the above date. The area, cooled by
river breezes, will be operated primarily as a passive recreation park and
offers an excellent view of the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge spanning the river
from Whitestone, Queens, to Ferry Point, The Bronx. As rapidly as possible,
within available funds, benches of a permanent type will be installed along
the walks.
Although this new facility is adjacent to the Talltnan's Island
Sewage Disposal Plant, there are no objectionable odors. Residents of this
community can reach the park and parking area by way of 127th Street.
The improvement, for which the design waa made and the contract let
by the Deportment of Sanitation, was completed by the new Department of
Public Works. The property occupied by this park development was acquired as
part of the site for the Disposal Plant, but will be used as a park for
several years until it is required for the expansion of the plant to take
care of future development of the surrounding section of the borough.
* * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Friday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 June 14, 1940
The Department of Parks announces recent additions to both the
Prospect Park Zoo in Brooklyn, and the Central Park Zoo, Manhattan.
At the Prospect Park Zoo, four Lion cubs were born on June 1,
the parents being "Helen" and "Rex". Two Tiger cubs were born on June 7, the
mother's name ia "Queenie" and the father's "Tammany". The mother refused to
nurse these Tiger cubs and they are being reared by bottle by the Zoo
attendants. On June 11, one Fallow Deer was born, the mother being "Elsie"
and the father, "Spike". Photographs of these additions may be taken on
June 14, from 1 P. M. to 4 P. M.
At the Central Park Zoo, there are two new Sea Lion pups, one
brought into the world on June 8 by "Splashy" the mother, and the other on
June 12 by "Water Lily". The father in each case is "Barker". Photographs
of these new Sea Lion pups may be taken at any time. Both of these mothers
bore young last year and the year old pups can be seen swimming around and
imitating the actions of the older seals.
* * * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Friday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 June 14, 1940
Bids were received today by the Department of Parks at the
Arsenal Building on.the contract for lighting a portion of the new Belt
Parkway, between the Mill Basin Bridge in Brooklyn and 114th Street, Queens.
The work under this contract consists of the installation of
the necessary underground service boxes> manholes, conduit, cable for both
high and low voltage, transformer and control equipment, the construction of
four service houses, lighting standards and luminaires between the limits
designated and includes completion of the lighting on the bridges spanning
the Parkway at various points within the line of the work.
The three low bidders for the work were the following:
1. Martin Epstein & Co. $248,210.00
955 Lafayette Avenue
Brooklyn, N. Y.
2. Watson Flagg Engineering Co. 249,000.00
140 Cedar Street
New York City
3. Jandous Electric 254,900.00
210 East 40 Street
New York City
* * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Thursday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 June 13, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that special patriotic
programs have been prepared for the children of Park Department playgrounds
in commemoration of "Flag Day", Friday, June 14th.
While the programs will include a variety of arsi/ities for all
age groups such as kindergarten games, track and field meets, novelty races,
baseball and softball games, tributes to the flag, as the nation's symbol,
will predominate the ceremonies.
Besides the customary flag raising and flag lowering
exercises which precede and follow the day's activities, there will be
community and solo singing of the national anthem and other patriotic songs,
pledges of allegiance, talks by prominent local citizens on the significance
of the American flag and what it stands for, musical selections by fife and
drum corps, and recitations, by playground children, of well known
compositions bearing on patriotism.
"Flag Day" will be celebrated on the Mall, Central Park, 71
Street and Center Drive, Friday, June 14th, at 8{30 P. M. by a concert to be
given by the Bronx Playgrounds Operetta and Orchestral Clubs of the Park
Department.
This combined musical and vocal unit is composed of 60 boys
and girls who have made numerous appearances in many of the famous Gilbert
and Sullivan Operettas at the World's Fair last year and also at the Mall,
Central Park, and at Forest Park, Queens. They have likewise given excerpts
of these operettas, together with musical selections of famous composers,
over the Municipal Broadcasting Station, WNYC.
The St. Mary's Horseshoers Quartet, 1939 winner of the Park
Department Barber Shop Quartet Contest, will add to the program on the Mall,
Friday night, by rendering a few ballads, popular among the barbershop
harmonizers of the Gay Nineties.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Wednesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 June 12, 1940
Bids were received today by the Department of Parks at the
Arsenal Building for six contracts covering the construction of the
southerly extension of Bast River Park from Grand to Montgomery Streets.
This addition comprising 18 acres, added to the northerly
section now complete and opened to the public from Grand to 12th Streets
will provide 51 acres of fully developed recreational areas for the lower
east side including the Vladeck Housing project now under construction at
the southerly end of the proposed park.
The work under these contracts consists of the construction
of a section of the park west of the East River Drive. This unit will
contain a wading pool, comfort station and other facilities for children. A
landscaped mall will pass through this section and will serve as an approach
to the proposed pedestrian bridge over the East River Drive.
The bridge will lead to the rear of a large amphitheatre
seating approximately 2,500 persons to be constructed under one of the
contracts. Ramps from the bridge will lead pedestrians to the main park
play areas.
Facing the amphitheatre will be constructed a large
recreation building, one face of which will consist of a circular stage and
bandshell. The building will contain a large recreation hall, toilet
facilities, club rooms, storage and service rooms and dressing rooms to be
used in connection with stage presentations.
To the north of the building will be two large baseball
diamonds and to the south, courts for handball, basketball, paddle tennis,
shuffleboard and badminton. A paved promenade overlooking the Skst River
will extend along the entire river frontage of the park. The entire area
will be landscaped.
The three low bidders for each phase of the work were as follows:
General Construction of recreation building, comfort station, amphitheatre,
pedestrian bridge and incidental grading:
1. Lawrence J. Rice $247,777,00
372 Burns Street, Forest Hills, L. I.
2. John Rosenblum, Inc. 252,954,00
104 Fifth Avenue, New York City
3. Hudson Contracting Company, Inc, 259,000.00
307 Fifth Avenue, New York City
General Park Development:
1. Craven Construction Corporation $303,975.34
511 Kent Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y.
2. Frank Mascali & Sons, Inc. 308,690.50
4634 Third Avenue, Bronx, N. Y.
3. Millman & Hazzaro 376,422.00
124 Livingston Street, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Electrical work for recreation building, comfort station, floodlighting and
park lighting:
1. Jandous Electric Equipment Company $ 29,550.00
210 East 40 Street, New York City
2. Hoffman & Elias, Inc. 33,226.00
254 West 31 Street, New York City
3. Supreme Electric Equipment Company 33,404,00
27-35 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City
Plumbing work for recreation building and comfort station:
1. Jarcho Brothers $ 7,244.00
304 East 45 Street, New York City
2. Goldschmid & Foley 7,433.00
110 West 40 Street, New York City
3. George J. Kay 7,895.00
1560 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Heating work for recreation building and comfort station:
1. Jarcho Brothers $ 8,548.00
304 East 45 Street, New York City
2. Edward Kiss, Inc 8,733.00
207 East 43 Street, New York City
3. Harry Stockman & Brothers 9,315,00
348 Brook Avenue, The Bronx, N. Y.
Planting, and Seeding:
1. John Gozo $ 22,738.00
1625 West 6th Street, Brooklyn, N. Y.
2. General Landscape Corporation 26,831.35
Chrysler. Building, New York City
3. Roman landscape Contracting Company 27,403.20
551 Fifth Avenue, New York City
* * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Tuesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 June 11, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that the All City High
School Symphonic Band of the Board of Education of New York City will give
its sixth and final concert of the academic year on the Mall, Central Park,
71st Street and Center Drive, Wednesday, June 12th at 8:30 P. M.
This band is composed of 100 boys and girls drawn from 75
high school bands throughout the five boroughs. Each member is chosen as the
result of auditions conducted by George H. Gartlan, Director of Music, Board
of Education, City of New York.
Five public concerts have been given by the band during this
year, one in each of the boroughs, for the purpose of promoting further
interest in the development of instrumental music among the boys and girls
of secondary schools.
Wednesday's concert on the Mall, with Albert A. Becker, as
conductor, will open with the Star Spangled Banner and will include
selections and marches of well known composers. The program follows:
1. Star Spangled Banner
2. March - Laurentian Laurendeau
3. Overture - Stradella Flotow
4. a) Adagio - from Organ Sonata Mendelssohn
b) Marche Gothique Salome-Zeiner
Arranged for band and conducted by Mr. Edward J. A. Zeiner
5. Children's March Goldman
INTERMISSION
6. On the Mall Goldman
7. Waltz - Gold and Silver Lehar
8. a) Pizzicato Polka Strauss
b) The Whistler and His Dog Pryor
9. The Spirit of Pageantry Fletcher
10. America
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Tuesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 June 11, 1940
COPY
Miss Naomi Landy
79 Perry Street
New York City
Dear Naomi:
This will acknowledge your petition asking for playgrounds in
Washington Square.
As your address is the only one which appears on the petition, I
cannot send copies of this letter to the other signers and must ask you to
convey this information to them.
I am in complete sympathy with your request that Washington Square
be made into a playground. Of course, there must be a place for other people
too, such as grownups who want to sit on benches, and walk, and for all the
various kinds of people who have rights in this square. I think, however,
that the children come first.
The trouble is that our plans were blocked by stupid and selfish
people in the neighborhood who don't want to give you a place to play, but
insist on keeping Washington Square as it was years ago with lawns and grass
and the kind of landscaping which goes with big estates or small villages.
These people want the square to be quiet and artistic and they object to the
noise of children playing and to other activities which we proposed.
Under these circumstances we moved our relief men and material to
other crowded parts of the city where playgrounds are badly needed and where
the surrounding people welcome them and don't put obstacles in our way.
We have no funds now to carry out our original program. It may be
that next year we can provide some additional play facilities without all
the other trimmings which were part of our plan. We shall see what can be
done, but I am not very hopeful about it now.
It seems a shame that you should suffer because of some stuffy,
arrogant and selfish people living around the square. Some day these people
will move away and then the neighborhood will be better off.
Very truly yours,
/s/ ROBERT M0SES
Commissioner
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PROGRAM
REOPENING OF CITY PARK
FLUSHING AVENUE AND NAVY STREET, BROOKLYN
JUNE 7, 1940
4 P. M.
* * * * *
Band Selections
Robert Moses, Commissioner of Parks, Chairman
John Cashmore, Borough President of Brooklyn
Colonel Brehon Somervell, New York City Work Projects Administrator
Mayor La Guardia
National Anthem
Flag Raising
Recreational Activities
Inspection of Park
Band Selections
* * * * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Thursday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 June 6, 1940
The Third Annual Learn to Swim Campaign started June 3rd in
the outdoor Park Department swimming pools and will continue until June 22.
The Board of Education is cooperating in this intensive drive to make all
the City's boys and girls at home in the water. School principals are
invited to send their children to the pools in groups in charge of teachers
for the swimming instruction.
The Park Department staff has been teaching children for
years and find that most of them not being afraid of the water are able to
start swimming lessons at once. By the fifth lesson in many cases even the
youngest tots are ready for swimming. By the end of the swimming season some
of these youngsters are ready to enter novice events in the pool
competition.
The safety factor in the Leam to Swim Campaign is being
emphasized this year since available statistics indicate that about 6000
persons are drowned annually in the United States and approximately 400 in
New York City. It has been estimated that fifty percent of the drownings
occur in rivers and that half of all drowning victims were unable to
swim. During the Learn to Swim Campaign sponsored last year by the Park
Department about 5000 children and adults registered for swimming
lessons. The response this year, it is estimated, will be a great deal
heavier. The Park Department pools will continue to hold classes for
swimmers of all ages during the entire swimming season.
Following is a list of the pools available for persons of age
to register for swimming instruction during the Learn to Swim Campaign.
MANHATTAN
Hamilton Fish Pool - East Houston and Sheriff Streets
Colonial Pool - Bradhurst Avenue West 145th to 147th Streets
Highbridge Pool - Amsterdam Avenue and 173rd Street
Thomas Jefferson Pool - 111th to 114th Streets and first Avenue
Floating Pool - 93rd Street and Riverside Drive
23rd Street Pool - 23rd Street and Avenue "A"
Carmine Street Pool - 83 Carmine Street
John Jay Pool - 78th Street & East River
BROOKLYN
Sunset Pool - 7th Avenue and 43rd Street
McCarren Pool - Nassau Avenue and Lorimer Street
Red Hook Pool - Clinton, Bay and Henry Streets
Botsy Head Pool - Hopkinson, Dumont and Livonia Streets
BRONX
Crotona Pool - 173rd Street and Fulton Avenue
QUEENS
Astoria Pool - Barclay Street & 24th Drive
RICHMOND
Faber Pool - Faber Street betwoen Richmond
Terrace and Kill Van Kull
Torapkinsville Pool - - Arrietta Street at Pier No, 6
* * * * * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Thursday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 June 6, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that ceremonies in connection
with the opening of the reconstructed Chelsea Park bounded by Ninth and
Tenth Avenues and 27th and 38th Streets, Manhattan, will be held on
Thursday, June 6th at 8 P.M.
Besides Mayor LaGuardia, Dr. John L. Elliott of the Hudson
Guild, Borough President of Manhattan Stanley M. Isaacs and Colonel Brehon
B. Somervell, New York City Work Projects Administrator will participate as
speakers. Park Commissioner Robert Moses will preside as Chairman, following
the speaking program various neighborhood groups will take part in a pageant
depicting the growth of the Chelsea district.
This city block area was originally acquired by the City in
October 1906 and first opened as a public playground in December 1910,
Although it was rehabilitated in the early part of this administration, its
improper design made it inefficient to operate and rather difficult to
maintain.
The new development includes an asphalt surface of the westerly
400 feet of the park which is graded so that it can be floodod for
ice-skating when sub-freezing temperatures permit. In season it will be used
for roller skating, roller hockey, softball, basketball and other group
games which can be played on a hard surface. No longer will the children be
required to roller skate and play in the adjacent heavily trafficked
boundary streets where they are subject to possible fatal injuries. The
westerly area is floodlightod so those roquired to work during daylight
hours can procure much needed recreation after working hours.
There are three basketball courts, three handball courts, two
horseshoe pitching courts and a skittle court. There is also a completely
equipped children's playground with a large wading pool and a brick comfort
station. The easterly portion of the park surrounding the Health Center
Building, erected and opened to the public in 1937, on the roof of which is
a public playground, has been redesigned as a sitting area.
Eventually, it is hoped that the old inadequate school structure
of Public School 33, located within the aroa will be abandoned, its valuable
area added to Chelsea Park, and a now larger and modern structure put up in
connection with a housing development in the Chelsea district.
The reconstructed Hudson Park, Clarkson and Hudson Streets,
Manhattan, will reopen, without ceremony, on the same date.
This area which formerly contained an earth-surfaced baseball
diamond unusable after rain storms and recurrent periods of freeze and thaw,
has been redesigned to provide recreational facilities for all age groups
all year round. There is now a Softball diamond with concrete bleachers for
spectators, a basketball court for juniors, and a basketball court for
seniors, six double handball courts, and a boccie court. The entire play
area has been asphalt-surfaced so that it can be used for roller skating and
ice skating during the winter months when sub-freezing temperatures permit.
It will also bo floodlighted so that those who have to work during daylight
hours may got much needed recreation after working hours.
The reopening of these two improvements designed by the Park
Department and constructed by the Work Projects Administration, makes a
total of 329 new or reconstructed recreational areas completed by the Park
Department since January 1, 1934.
* * * * * * * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Thursday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 June 6, 1940
The Department of Parks announces the summer activities program of
tournaments, exhibitions, contests, athletic meets, festivals and special
events including concerts and social dances, which will be conducted in parks,
playgrounds, and swimming pools under the jurisdiction of the Park Department
during the year 1940.
There will be city-wide tournaments in the following activities:
Activity Age Group Finals - Approximate Date
Field Hockey Girls - 16 years and under June
Twilight Baseball Boys and young men - 16 years and over June and July
Punchball Girls - 16 years and under June 15th
Horseshoe Pitching Boys and young" men past 17 years July 6th
(Singles & Doubles)
Softball Boys - 16 years and under August
Boys - 17 to 21 years
Men - 21 years and over
Baseball Boys - 16 years and under August
Jacks Girls - 14 years and under August 28th
Checkers Boys and girls - 16 years and under August
Men - 50 years of age and over
(There will be a "Youth vs Age" contest between
the winners of the 2 divisions.)
Chess Boys - 16 years and under August
Men - 50 years of age and over
(There will be a "Youth vs Age" contest between
the winners of the 2 divisions.)
Athletic meets, during the month of June and July, will be held
in the various borough playgrounds for boys and girls between the ages of 12
and 19 years; city-wide track and field championships will take place at the
new Park Department athletic field located at East River Park, East River
Drive and 6th Street, on Saturday, July 13th, at 2:00 P.M.
Swimming meets will be conducted, during the summer months, at
the 16 various outdoor swimming pools operated by the Department of Parks,
These meets will be both intra and inter-pool in scope and will consist of
individual events, fancy diving and relays.
The annual Park Department "Learn to Swim" campaign, in
cooperation with various civic, health, educational and recreational
agencies, will be held in all pools, as in previous years.
Vocal, musical and dancing capabilities of playground children
are fostered, encouraged and developed in the following special contests
which terminate in finals for the city championships:
Contest Age Group Finals - Approximate Date
Amateur Singing Boys and Girls - 8 to 12 years August 25th
" " " 13 to 16 "
Musical Instruments Boys and Girls - 8 to 12 " August 25th
" " " 13 to 16 "
(This contest will include all
types of musical instruments.)
Harmonica Boys and girls - 15 years and under
" " " 16 to 18 years
" " " over 18 years
(There will be a special division for
Harmonica Bands.)
Folk Dancing Girls under 12 years June 22nd
Girls - 12 to 14 years
Girls - 14 to 16 years
(Each borough will present 3 dances;
2 Folk and 1 classical.)
An amateur photography contest, depicting "Youth and Age in our
City Parks and Playgrounds", will be conducted for both children and adults,
beginning May 15th and running through September 20, 1940. All pictures,
submitted by the contestants, must represent scones in parks, parkways,
pools, beaches, or playgrounds under the jurisdiction of the Department of
Parks during the year 1940.
The entrants are classified according to the following age groups:
Class A - Children - 16 years of age and undor
Class B - Adults - 17 years and over
Rules governing the contest are:
1. Children's pictures may be of any size print and need not be
enlarged, but must be mounted; pictures of competitors in the adult division
must be 8" x 10" prints and mounted in stiff paper or cardboard.
2. The name, address, and group classification, A or B, should
be clearly written on the reverse side of each picture*
3. The Department of Parks shall have the right to reproduce any
picture for park purposes.
4. Negatives must be available immediately upon request.
5. Contestants may submit no more than 5 pictures.
6. Pictures must show spring or summer activities only.
7. The decision of the judges shall be final in all cases.
8. Prizes will be awarded to the 3 contestants in each age group,
who submit the best pictures. No competitor is eligible to win
more than one prize.
Those desirous of entering the contest are requested to submit
their photographs between May 15th and September 20th to the Park Department
Borough Director of the borough in which the contestant resides.
The names and addresses of the horough directors, to whom all
communications should be forwarded regarding this and other contests, are
listed at the end of this release.
A model airplane contest for boys 18 years of age and under will
take place in the various boroughs during the month of July. In the model
yacht and airplane contests, it is not usual for the home-made yacht or
airplane to bo declared the winner.
Kite flying is permitted at the following Park Department areas:
Manhattan - Randall's Island, play lawn, north of Triborough Bridge
Sheep Meadow, Central Park, 66th Street and West Drive
Brooklyn - Marine Park, Avenue U and Gerritsen Avenue
Prospect Park, Long Meadow, east of Tennis House (nearest entrance
at 9th Street and Prospect Park West)
Canarsie Park, Seaview Avenue and East 93rd Street
Rod Hook Recreation Conter, Bay and Court Streets
Owls Head Park, Shore Road and 68th Street
Queens - Alley Pond Park, picnic area, east of parking field - Winchester
Boulevard and Grand Central Parkway, Queens Village
Kissena Park, between the baseball diamond and upper parking field,
Rose and Oak Avenues, Flushing
Cunningham Park, at athletic field - 185th St. & Union Tpk Hollis
Juniper Valley Park, on high bank near the athletic field - Dry
Harbor Road and 62nd Avonuo, Middle Village.
Bronx - Van Cortlandt Park, area north of Henry Hudson Parkway, adjacent
to Broadway and 254th Street
Richmond - Willowbrook Park, Richmond and Rockland Avenues
Demonstrations in the art of magic will be given by boys and
girls of Park playgrounds on the Mall, Central Park, on Sunday, July 21st.
Shadowgraphy, juggling, ventriloquism, paper tearing, mind reading, chalk
talk, rag pictures and all sorts of novel tricks and stunts will be included
in the program.
Any amateur magician may compete in the contest in ona of the
following age groups:
Class A - 9 years of age and under
Class B - 10 to 14 years
Class G - 15 to 18 years
Class D - 19 years of age and over
The finals of the city's sixth annual barber shop quartet
contest will be held under the supervision of the Park Departraent, at the
Mall, Central Park, on Thursday, June 27th, at 8:30 P.M.; the borough
eliminations aro scheduled as follows:
Mannhattan - Mall, Central Park - Tuesday, June 18th
Brooklyn - Music Grove, Prospect Park - Friday, June 21st
Queens - Music Grove, Forest Park - Thursday, June 20th
Bronx - Mullaly Park Playground, 163rd Street and Jerome Avenue -
Tuesday, June 18th
Hichmond - McDonald Playground, Forest and Myrtle Avenues -
Wednesday, June 19th
The National Championship in barber shop quartet harmony will
take place at the New York World's Fair during the week of July 22nd to
26th. Any quartet from New York City, desirous of entering the National
Contest, must qualify by passing through the borough eliminations.
Applications must bo filed not later than one week prior to the date of
eliminations with the Park Director of the borough in which the quartet
desiros to participates
Special programs will be prepared by oach playground director in
commemoration of the following holidays:
June 14th - Flag Day
July 4th - Independence Day
September 2nd - Labor Day
There are various rules and regulations regarding Park
Department tournaments and contests, some of which are:
Only competitors who are amateurs shall be eligible to compete
in any of the recreational activities, tournaments and contests conducted by
the Department of Parks.
The winning of a city championship in any contest or tournament
will be determined only after intra-playground; inter-playground;
inter-district and inter-borough eliminations.
Prizes will consist of a gold medal, Park insignia and
sweatshirt for the winners of the city championships. Those winning second
place will be awarded silver medals and the borough winners will be awarded
bronze medals.
Certificates of award will be presented to winners of
intra-playground contests and tournaments.
While latitude has been given to all age groups in this
recreation program from the standpoint of active participation in sports and
contests, the Department of Parks realizing that there are thousands of
citizens, young and old, who desire periods of passive recreation, have made
arrangements for a number of concerts which will take place during the
months of June, July and August.
The 1940 concert schedule includes four additional locations
over 1939; East River Drivo Park, Manhattan, and Schmul Playground, Clove
Lakes Park and South Beach Boardwalk in the Borough of Richmond.
The season's concert schedule is attached.
The outdoor social dancing season of the Park Department will
commenco the first week in June and the New York City W.P.A. Music Project
will provide tho music.
The schedule includes 15 locations; this represents an increase
of 6 areas over 1938 and 3 over 1939. The new onos aro: Red Hook Pool,
Brooklyn; Tompkinsville Pool and South Beach Boardwalk, Richmond.
The 1940 dancing echedulo is attached.
The names and addrossos of the borough directors follow:
Manhattan - Philip J. Cruiso, Arsenal Building, 64th Street and 5th Avenue,
Brooklyn - Richard C. Jenkins, Litchfield Mansion, Prospect Park West and
5th Street, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Queens - James J. Mallon, the Ovorlook, Union Turnpike and Park Lane,
Forest Park, Kew Gardens, L.I. N.Y.
Bronx - George L. Quiglsy, Bronx Park East & Birchall Avenue, Bronx Park
Bronx, New York
Richmond - A. M, Andorson, Clove Lakos Park, Clovo Road, west of Victory
Boulevard, Richmond, N. Y.
Attach.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
CITY OF NEW YORK
PUBLIC CONCERTS
MANHATTAN
Mall, Central Park
Goldman Band Concerts - Mon., Wed., Fri., and Sun. at 8:30 P.M
June 19th to August 18th
Naumburg Memorial Concerts - May 30th, July 4th, 31st, and Labor
Day Sept. 2nd at 8:15 P.M.
Amateur City Symphony - June 25th, 29th, July 6th, 13th, 20th
27th at 8:30 P.M.
WPA Federal Music Project - June 2nd, 7th, 9th, and 16th only and
Concerts Every Saturday beginning Aug. 3rd
East River Drive Park
WPA Federal Music Project - Thursdays at 8:30 P.M. beginning June 6th
BROOKLYN
Music Grove, Prospect Park
Goldman Band Concerts - Tues., Thurs., and Sat. at 8:30 P.M.
June 20th to August 17th
Amateur City Symphony - July 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th, at 3:00 P.M.
WPA Federal Music Project - Fridays beginning June 21st
Tues. and Sat. June 4th, 8th, 11th,
15th, 18th only
Sundays'beginning August 4th
QUEENS
Forest Park Music Grove
WPA Federal Music Project - Sun., Tues., Fri. at 8:©0
Beginning June 2nd
King Park. Jamaica
WPA Federal Music Project - Saturdays at 8:30 P.M.
BRONX Beginning June 8th
Poe Park
WPA Federal Music Project - Mondays beginning June 3rd
Schmul Playground - Alternate Tuesdays beginning June 4th
South Beach Boardwalk - Alternate Tuesdays beginning June 11th
(Pavillion at Sand Lane)
Clove Lakes Park - Wednesdays beginning June 5th
All concerts wil] take place at 8:30 P.M. unless otherwise stated.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
CITY OF NEW YORK
PUBLIC DANCES - 1940
MANHATTAN
Tuesdays - Mall, Central Park, 72nd Street and Central Park
Colonial Park, Bradhurst Avenue and 148th Street
Thursdays - Mall, Central Park, 72nd Street and Central Park
Fridays - Roosovelt Playground, Chrystie and Forsytho Street
Riverside Park, 106th Street and Riverside Drive
BROOKLYN
Mondays - Prospect Park Picnic House
Wednesdays - La Guardia Playground, South 4th Street & Roebling Street
Fridays - Red Hook Pool, Dwight, Richard and Pioneer Streets
(Alternate weeks beginning June 14th)
QUEENS
Mondays - Jackson Heights Playground, 84th Street and 25th Avenue
Thursdays - Victory Field, Forest Park
Fridays - Astoria Pool, Ditmars Blvd., 19th Street, 25th Avenue
(Alternate weeks starting June 7th)
BRONX
Wednesdays - Van Cortlandt Park, 242nd and Broadway
RICHMOND
Tuesdays - South Beach Boardwalk on Roadway at Sand Lane
(Alternate weeks starting June 4th)
Tuesdays - Tompkinsville Pool, Arrietta Street at Pier #6
(Alternates weeks starting June 11th)
Wednesdays - McDonald Playground, Forest Avenue near Broadway
*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
OUTDOOR DANCING SEASON STARTS WEEK OF JUNE 2nd.
DANCES ARE AT 8:30 P.M.
*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#* 5/16/40
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Tuesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 June 4, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that special programs of
recreational activities have been prepared for the boys and girls of 11 Park
Department playgrounds during the month of June in conmemoration of their
official opening to the public.
These anniversary celebrations will include horseshoe pitching
contests, checker and jacks contests, handball tournaments, paddle tennis
matches, track and field meets, Softball and baseball games and gymnastic
demonstrations.
The programs will also feature such activities as solo and
community singing of patriotic songs, recitations, concerts by playground
children's bands, tap dancing exhibitions, doll and carriage parade and
group games.
The June schedule for playground birthday celebrations is as
follows:
Borough Playground and Location Opened Time
Manhattan Carl Schurz Park Playground, East 84th June 22, 1935 2:00 P.M.
St. and last End Avenue
106th Street and Lexington Avenue June 12, 1936 3:30 P.M.
Louis Cuvillier Park Playground, East June 4, 1937 3:30 P.M.
River and 125th Street
West 130th Street and 5th Avenue June 12, 1937 3:30 P.M.
Riverside Park Playground, 96th St. June 14, 1938 3:30 P.M.
and Riverside Drive
Brooklyn Schermerhora Street and 3rd Avenue June 5, 1935 2:00 P.M.
Gerrittsen and Seba Avenues June 26, 1936 3:30 P.M.
Bay Parkway Playground, Avenue P & June 26, 1936 10:00 A.M.
Bay Parkway
Avenue L and East 18th Street June 11, 1937 3:30 P.M.
Bushwick Park Playground, June 26, 1937 4:00 P.M.
Knickerbocker and Putnam Avenues
Bronx St. James Park Playground, Jerome June 9, 1935 2:00 P.M.
Avenue and East 191st Street
* * * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Monday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 June 3, 1940
On Monday, June 3, at 4 P.M., the Department of Parks will open
without ceremony, the new outdoor swimming pool in the northwesterly corner
of John Jay Park, adjacent to and overlooking the East River at East 78
Street, Manhattan.
This new pool, 50' x 145' while not as large as some of the
other pools around the City, is as modern in every respect. The water is
filtered, purified and re-circulated. Under-water lighting for night use is
provided; and there is a large promenade around the pool. This pool has the
advantage of a pleasant setting of large shade trees, all of which had been
growing at the site before the start of construction and were retained on
two sides of the pool.
The old recreation and comfort station building is being
remodeled to provide adequate dressing room and shower facilities for the
use of the pool, and comfort station facilities and a recreation room will
be retained for those using the general park area. Pending the completion of
the bathhouse, temporary dressing facilities have been provided.
This pool will be operated the same as the other 15 outdoor
swimming pools which were reopened on Wednesday, May 29. On weekdays and
Saturdays from 10 A.M. to 12:30 P.M., there will be a free period for
children under 14 years of age, during which hours no adults will be
admitted to the pool area. However, after 1 P.M. on weekdays, and all day
Sundays and Holidays, until the permanent bathhouse is completed, there is a
5¢ charge for children under 14 years of age and a 10¢ charge for
older children and adults. Upon the completion of the permanent dressing
room facilities, the rates will bo increased to 10¢ and 20¢, As at the
other swimming pools, group swimming, diving tournaments, inter-pool
contests, water shows, life saving, and first-aid classes, will be part of
the aquatic program.
Work in connection with this improvement was designed by the
Department of Parks and performed by the Work Projects Administration.
* * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Wednesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 May 29, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that the new outdoor swimming
pool located at 232 West 60 Street, Manhattan, will be completed and opened
to the public without ceremony, on Wednesday, May 29, at 10 A.M.
This new modern outdoor swimming pool, 70' x 100', with a
separate wading pool, 80' x 50', for small children, will provide much
needed bathing facilities that have long been denied to the residents of the
surrounding neighborhood, and for which there has been an increased demand.
The adjacent bath building, transferred from the Borough President of
Manhattan under the new City Charter, had been completely renovated to
provide increased recreational facilities and was opened to the public on
June 10, 1939.
The work in connection with the improvement was planned by the
Department of Parks and performed with relief labor under the Work
Projects Administration.
At the same day and time, the other 14 outdoor swimming pools
under the jurisdiction of the Department of Parks will reopen. Pools are
located as follows:
MANHATTAN:
Hamilton Pish Pool - East Houston and Sheriff Streets
Colonial Pool - Bradhurst Avenue W. 145 to 147th Streets
Highbridge Pool - Amsterdam Avenue and 173 Street
Thomas Jefferson Pool - 111th to 114th Streets and First Avenue
23rd Street Pool - 23rd Street and East River Drive
Carmine Street Pool - Clarkson Street and Seventh Avenue
60th Street Pool - 60th Street bet. Amsterdam and 11th Avenue
BROOKLYN:
Sunset Pool - 7th Avenue and 43rd Street
McCarren Pool - Driggs Avenue and Lorimer Street
Red Hook Pool - Clinton, Bay and Henry Streets
Betsy Head Pool - Hopkinson, Dumont and Livonia Streets
BRONX:
Crotona Pool - 173rd Street and Fulton Avenue
QUEENS:
Astoria Pool - 19th Street and 23rd Drive
RICHMOND:
Faber Pool - Faber Street between Richmond Terrace and
Kill Van Kull
Tompkinsville Pool - Arrietta Street at Pier No. 6
During the fall, winter and spring, the pools have been operated
as free play centers. Various facilities such as handball, volley-ball,
paddle tennis,etc., were provided and used by approximately 2,465,707
children and adults. On April 14 they were closed as play centers and the
areas cleaned, painted and put in readiness for the swimming season.
From May 29th to June 28th the pools will open at 10 a.m., and
close at 6 p.m., and from June 29th until the termination of the season,
they will open at 10 a.m., and close at 10 p.m. When the heat is oppressive
and there is a public demand, the pools will ranain open later than 10 p.m.
If the evening hours are cold or if there is rain, they will close at an
early hour, depending upon the patronage. On week days and Saturdays from
10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. there will be a free period for children under 14
years of age, during which hours no adults will be admitted to the pool
area. After 1 p.m. on week days and all day Sundays and Holidays, there is
a 10¢ charge for children under 14 years of age and a 20¢ charge for
older children and adults. Group swimming, diving tournaments, inter-pool
contests, water shows, water-ball tournaments, life saving and first aid
classes will be part of the aquatic program.
Orchard Beach, Pelham Bay Park, The Bronx, Jacob Riis Park Beach
and Rockaway Beach in the Rockaway peninsula, Queens, Coney Island Beach,
Brooklyn, and South Beach and Wolfe's Pond Park Beach, in Staten Island,
will also open officially for bathers on Wednesday, May 29th. There are
bath house accommodations at Jacob Riis Park and Orchard Beach.
At Orchard Beach, an extension has been added to the bathhouse so
as to provide 844 new lockers for men and 1084 new lockers for women, with,
a total acconmodation of 7,796 lockers for bathhouse patrons. Parking space
is provided for 6,000 cars. This year the parking space and beach will be
more accessible to motorists because of the completion of a one mile long
traffic relief road from the terminus of Hutchinson River Parkway at Bartow
Station to the beach proper. This new four-lane road, two lanes each in
opposite directions, separated by a mall, provides direct access to the
beach without mingling with commercial traffic. The road was designed by
the Park Department and the work performed by the Work Projects
Administration.
At Jacob Riis Park, there are parking accommodations for 14,000
cars and bathhouse accommodations for 10,000 patrons.
Parking at both beaches will be 25¢ per car with bathhouse
fees 15¢ for children's lockers, and 25¢ for adults' lockors. At
Jacob Riis Park, 50¢ per person is charged for a dressing room.
Recreation areas will be available to the public at Jacob Riis
Park and Orchard Beach, which will provide shuffle board, paddle tennis and
handball. The charge for the use of these facilities will be 10¢ per
person per half hour. Besides these game areas at Jacob Riis Park, there is
also an 18 hole pitch and putt golf course. A charge of 50¢ is made for
each round of golf played which includes clubs and balls. In addition to
these game areas at the beaches a special schedule of events is planned for
Jacob Riis Park. There will be calisthenics on the beach each day at 12
noon and at 3 p.m.; push-ball game on the beach a t 12:45 p.m. There will
be social dancing on the Mall each night except Sunday at 3:30 p.m. All
these activities are free and the patrons of the beach will be invited to
join in the fun. Similar activities have been planned for Orchard Beach.
Beginning Monday evening, June 24th, there will be 4 regular
scheduled league soft-ball games at the Jacob Riis Park floodlighted ball
field. Bleachers have been provided for 1,000 persons and this sport is
expected to prove a very popular night feature.
Beach chairs and umbrellas may be rented at both Orchard Beach
and Jacob Riis Park at a nominal charge and beach shops are provided where
bathing accessories may be purchased.
* * * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Wednesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 May 29, 1940
ST. MARY'S PARK - BRONX
The Department of Parks announces that on Thursday, May 30, at
1 P.M., the two new baseball diamonds in St. Mary's Park on Jackson Avenue
and St. Mary's Street, The Bronx, will open with a game between the
Gouverneur Morris Post Baseball Club vs. the McAlarney's Mariners.
The opening of these ball fields marks the completion of the
development begun in 1938, of the easterly section of the park as a large
recreational area. Besides the two full size baseball diamonds, there are a
small children's playground and several new horseshoe pitching courts. The
old tennis courts have been regraded and resurfaced. A broad tree-shaded
mall extends north and south from St. Mary's Street to Trinity Avenue. Walks
have been realigned, and resurfaced, and a new comfort station constructed.
The old facilities in this park were entirely inadequate and
baseball had been played on a rough, unfinished diamond. The new diamonds
are equal to the best in the entire city and the field so laid out that
football may be played in season.
The money for the construction of this improvement was
obtained by an arrangement with the Department of Education whereby certain
lands in Macombs Dam Park were transferred to that department by the
Department of Parks.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Monday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 May 27, 1940
Bids were opened today by the Park Department at the Arsenal
Building on the contract for lighting a portion of the new Belt Parkway,
between Fort Hamilton and Coney Island Avenue, Borough of Brooklyn.
The work under this contract consists of installation of all
the necessary underground conduit, pull boxes and cable, and the erection of
twin and single arm lampposts, including luminaires to provide a complete
lighting system for the parkway between the limits designated.
The three low bidders for the above work were as follows:
1. Arc Electrical Construction Co., Inc $139,300.00
739 Second Avenue, New York City
2. Martin Epstein Company 139,700.00
955 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y.
3. Watson Ilagg Engineering Company 144,761,00
140 Cedar Street, New York City
* * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Monday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 May 27, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that to date over
seventy-five barber shop quartets have registered for the borough
eliminations to determine those who will compete in the city-wide contest
which will be held on The Mall in Central Park on June 27. Owing to the
unprecedented number of entries, which are far and above those in former
years, the Park Department has announced that, out of each five borough
contestants, there will be one quartet picked for the finals. The winning
quartets in the final contest will represent the City at the National
Championship of the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of
Barber-Shop Quartet Singing in America, Inc. which will be held at the
World's Fair, July 22 - 26 inclusive. This national event is attracting many
of the finest quartets throughout the country, and local headquarters have
received entries from points as far distant as Honolulu, Seattle and San
Francisco, from where Governor Culbert L. Olson is sending the champion,
California quartet which will be picked at the San Francisco World's Fair,
The harmonizers who will vie for the handsome prizes
offered at the sixth annual city championship represent men drawn from every
walk of life, who have entered as quartets from commercial, industrial,
social and civic organizations.
In Manhattan, interesting entries include "Hawley's
Harmonizing 'Aircutters", composed of four leading local radio announcers
who boast of a collective audience on the ether of thirty million persons.
They are led by Mark Hawley and include Ben Grauer and George Hicks of MBC
and John B. Gambling. A sweet-voiced quartet of singing waiters from the
Belmont-Plaza Hotel are also assiduously training for the Manhattan
tryouts. A group of messenger boys from the Western Union Telegraph
Company,' regularly employed to sing "Happy Birthday" greetings, are
brushing up on their grandfathers' ballads. Other Manhattan entries include
R.H. Macy's Gondoliers, and the Barbers of Barbizon, on which William
Guggenheim, 71-year old copper magnate, sings a lead tenor.
In Brooklyn, a quartet of the heavy hitting Dodgers
Baseball Club is ready with their theme song: "Take Me Out to the Ball
Game," while in the northernmost borough a group known as the Bronx Umpires
boast that they will call the Dodgers out if they meet in the city-wide
finals. Also in the Bronx, the "St. Mary's Horseshoers", last year's
city-wide champions, have a large following who are wagering that they will
repeat.
In their home borough, the Brooklyn Dodgers are being seriously
challenged by the "Bay Parkway Bounders", the "Bensonhurst Bathhouse Boys"
and a quartet from the Police Department Glee Club which is being entered
under the sobriquet of the "Prospect Park Sparrow Cops."
In Queens, Jimmy Lynch, who daily risks his neck at the Goodrich
Exhibit at the World's Fair, has entered a quartet of dare-devil drivers,
known as "Jimmy Lynch's Death Dodgers", but a choral organization with
considerable experience in church choirs known as the "Ridgewood Clippers"
think they can take the measure of the speed demons.
In Richmond, the "Garber Quartette," comiposed of two insurance
men, an engineer and a federal post office superintendent, who, as amateurs,
have been heard on many local radio programs, have as their leading
contender a quartette from Schmul Park, who are being coached by Louis
Schmul, local innkeeper and donor of the City Park which bears his name.
The New York City Chapter of the Society for the Preservation
and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America, Inc., of which
Mayor LaGuardia is President, Alfred E. Smith and Robert Moses,
Vice-Presidents, and Dr. Sigmund Spaeth, Delegate-at-Large, and among whose
36 members are William R. Boyd, American Petroleum Institute; Harvey
D. Gibson, Chairman of the Board of the World's Fair; George P.Ren,
President of the Stock Exchange; Gene Tunney and Owen D. Young, expects to
attend the city-wide finals in a body.
* * * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Sunday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 May 26, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that the reconstructed
boardwalk at Coney Island will be opened to the public on Sunday, May 26th.
This section of the boardwalk extends from Stillwell Avenue to Ocean
Parkway, a distance of approximately 3,800 feet. The new location of the
boardwalk is approximately 300 feet inshore from the old one. Work was
started on this operation on January 15, 1940 and was completed in the
record-breaking time of four months.
The construction methods used were unusual and created a
great deal of interest in the construction industry. The amount of money
appropriated by the Board of Estimate would have permitted the construction
of a new boardwalk approximately 1,800 feet long. The department, realizing
that such an improvement would in no way meet the requirements for increased
usage, planned the job so that it was possible to salvage the major portion
of the old structure that was built by the Brooklyn Borough President's
office in 1920.
The concrete pile bents consisting of four piles and a
concrete girder were removed from their old location in one piece and reset
on the new line. The timber floor beam sections were also removed without
dismantling and a new surface deck was installed.
Despite the inclement weather during the last winter, the
Contractor, the Arthur A. Johnson Corporation-Necaro Co. Inc., pushed the
work to its completion before the opening of the summer season at Coney
Island. 210,000 yards of white sand was imported from Ambrose Channel and
deposited on the beach in front of this new section of walk. This operation
has made an additional 24 acres of beach available to the bathers.
Surf Avenue has been realigned at its easterly end and
Seaside Park has been partly reconstructed. In order to accomplish this
realignment of the boardwalk it was necessary to demolish a number of the
old ramshackle structures adjacent to it. Already new buildings of more
attractive design are being built by the property owners. The antiquated
Municipal Bathhouse was in the line of the new walk and about three-quarters
of it was demolished. The balance, which will be used as a Park
headquarters this summer, will be torn down next winter and the
reconstruction of the beach completed in accordance with the plan outlined
by the Park Commissioner in a report made to the Mayor last fall.
* * * * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Wednesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 May 22, 1940
Bids were received today by the Department of Parks, on a contract for
doing miscellaneous paving along the new Belt Parkway, between the
Bronx-Whitestone intersection and Grand Central Parkway, Borough of Queens.
The work under this contract consists of placing miscellaneous fill,
grading, drainage, paving and other incidental work required to clean up the
area within the contract limits.
The three low bidders on the work were as follows:
1. Frank Mascali & Sons, Inc. 4634 Third Ave. $26,555.
2. Tully & DiNapoli, Inc. 30-11 12 St.,LIC 34,115.
3. Slattery Contracting Co. 72-02 51st Ave. 38,725.
Winfield, L.I.N.Y.
* * * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
CITY OF NEW YORK
PROGRAM FOR THE
DEDICATION OF BARUCH PLAYGROUND AND PUBLIC BATH
RIVINGTON STREET & BARUCH PLACE, MANHATTAN
FRIDAY, MAY 17, 1940 - 4:00 P.M.
* * * * * * * * *
Band Selections
Robert Moses, Commissioner of Parks, Chairman
Dr. John L. Rice, Commissioner of Health
Borough President Stanley M. Isaacs
Colonel Brehon Somervell, New York City Work Projects Administrator
Mayor La Guardia
National Anthem - led by Glee Club of P.S. Mo. 110
Flag Raising
Glee Club - "God Bless America" - accompanied by Park Department Band
Band selections
Inspection of Playground and Baths
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Friday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 May 17, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that the finals of both the
handball and paddle tennis tournaments will take place next Saturday and
Sunday, May 18th and 19th, at North Meadow, Central Park, 100th Street and
West Drive, according to the following schedule:
Handball - Singles and Doubles - Boys and Men
Junior Division - Boys, 16 years of age and under
Saturday, May 18th, at 11:00 A.M.
Intermediate Division - Boys 17 to 21 years
Saturday, May 18th, at 2:30 P.M.
Senior Division - Men 21 years of age and over
Sunday, May 19th, at 11:00 A.M.
Paddle Tennis - Singles and Doubles - Boys and Girls
Junior Division - 13 to 15 years of age
Senior Division - 16 to 18 years of age
Junior & Senior (Girls) - Saturday, May 18th, 11:00 A.M.
Junior & Senior (Boys) - Saturday, May 18th, 2:00 P.M.
Since the latter part of April hundreds of boys, girls and men
have participated in Park Department playground and district eliminations to
select the best qualified handball and paddle tennis players for the
inter-borough competitions! each borough is permitted to enter only one
representative or team in each of the various divisions of the two
tournaments for the finals this week-end.
Gold and silver medals will be awarded to the winner and
runner-up in each division of both contests.
In the event of rain, the same schedule will hold for the
following week-end, May 25th and 26th.
* * * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Thursday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 May 16, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that on Friday, May 17, at 4
P.M. dedication exercises will take place in connection with the opening of
the new Baruch Park and the reconstructed Public Jath Building at Rivington
Street and Baruch Place, Manhattan.
Besides Mayor LaGuardia, Dr. John L. Rice, Commissioner of
Health, Stanley M. Isaacs, Borough President of Manhattan, and Colonel
Brehon Somervell, New York City Work Projects Administrator, will
participate as speakers. Park Commissioner Robert Moses will preside as
Chairman.
The old public bath building erected some years ago was named
after Dr. Simon Baruch who pioneered in establishing health and bath
facilities in the City. This structure was hemmed in on both sides by
tenements and it was impossible in the rehabilitation program already under
way to provide adequate light and air for the structure, or to provide any
open space adjacent to it. Mr. Bernard Baruch generously offered #85,000 to
acquire the adjacent property so as to improve greatly the conveniences of
the building and provide a proper setting for it.
The reconstructed bath building has been provided with
additional windows, ventilation, light, and enlarged, recreation, gymnasium,
bathing and swimming facilities.
The playground contains, besides a sand pit and shower basin,
a brick comfort station, and a landscaped sitting area with quiet game
tables for adults, in the center of which is a memorial flagpole bearing
a plaque reading:
BARUCH PARK
A GIFT TO THE CITY
BY
BERNARD M. BARUCH
ON THE OCCASION OF THE
RECONSTRUCTION OF THE
BATH ORIGINALLY NAMED IN HONOR OF
HIS FATHER
SIMON BARUCH, M.D.
1940
The opening of these facilities designed by the Park
Department and built by the W. P. A. makes a total of 326 new or
reconstructed recreational areas completed by the Park Department since
January 1, 1934. At that time there were 119 playgrounds in the five
boroughs and at present, there are 404.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Thursday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 May 15, 1940-Afternoon paper
and Thursday
May 16, 1940-morning paper
At 4 P.M., Wednesday, May 15, Council President Morris presented
Park Commissioner Robert Moses with a handsome solid silver cup, to be known
as the Newbold Morris Trophy, twenty inches in height, on which the names of
the next sixty annual winners of the New York City Golf Championship will be
inscribed. In addition, each annual winner will be presented with a
six-inch replica of the larger trophy, also in solid silver, which he will
retain. The ceremonies were held at Split Rock Golf House in Pelham Bay
Park, The Bronx. Max B. Keasche, President of the Metropolitan Golf
Association, Jess Sweetser, Bobby Jones and Frank Strafaci attended, as well
as the golf and sports editors of the metropolitan dailies and evening
papers.
The rules of competition for the city golf championship are as
follows:
1. On and after Saturday, May 18, to and including Sunday, August
18, any New York City resident desiring to compete for the New
York City Amateur Golf Championship and i t s prize, the Newbold
Morris Trophy, may submit to the Park Supervisor of the course
the three lowest gross scores which he has made during that
period on one of the ten Municipal Golf Courses. These must be
verified by the three companion golfers in his foursome.
2. The Supervisor will, not later than Monday, August 19, select the
32 lowest gross scores which have been so submitted for the
season and enter them as qualified to participate in the course
championship.
3. On Sunday, August 25, these 32 qualified premier players will
compete for the course championship and for the right to be
included in a team-of-eight which will represent their
respective course in the city-wide course championship. In a
sense this is a preliminary qualifying round. Trophies will be
awarded by the Department of Parks to the individual course
champions.
4. The teams-of-eight which will have been selected through the
lowest gross score method, with ties being decided by play-off,
will compete on Sunday, September 1, at Clearview Golf Course
for the city-wide course championship. This championship will
be decided upo the basis of 18-hole medal play with the teaa
having the lowest total gross score being declared the declared
the champion. The medalist, the individual who has turned in
the lowest gross score for the day, will receive the Park
Department qualifying medal. The winning team will receive a
city-wide, team trophy also presented by the Park Department.
This latter trophy will remain permanently on display in the
club house of the course represented by the team.
5. From this team play the 16 lowest gross scorers will be selected
as qualified to participate in the finals. Ties will be decided
by play-off.
6. On Saturday, September 14, the 16 lowest gross scorers will begin
match play to determine the trophy winner, with tournament
positions decided by drawing lots. These rounds and the rounds
played on Sunday, September 15, will be 18 holes.
7. The semi-finals and the finals, played on Saturday, September 21
and Sunday, September 22, will be 36-hole matches. These
matches will be played at the Dyker Beach Golf Course.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Wednesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 May 15, 1940
Painting Street Trees
Many property owners who have street trees in front of their
property are under the impression that if the trunks of the trees are
covered with whitewash, paint, calcimine, etc., this will prevent insect
attacks on these trees. There is no foundation for this impression and it
has been proved a waste of time and money. There are very few injurious
insect pests which do not fly during some stage of their existence. Those
that do not fly, like the female white-marked Tussock Moth, cause plenty of
damage in the caterpillar stage from which they emerge from previous egg
masses deposited most anywhere on the branches of trees. Whitewash,
calcimine and paint not only do not prevent insect attacks but are injurious
to clothes and give an unsightly appearance to the tree when the materials
are wearing off.
* * * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Wednesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 May 8, 1940
The Department of Parks announces the seasonal reopening
of the Tavern-On-The-Green on Thursday, May 9th.
The Tavern, formerly the old Central Park Sheepfold,
located on the west side of Central Park opposite 67th Street, has been
redecorated into a modern, charming, popularly priced restaurant.
Savarins Management, Inc., operators of restaurants in the
Waldorf-Astoria, the Equitable Building, the New York Life Building, and
Pennsylvania Railroad Stations in New York, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh,
will operate the Tavern again this year.
Luncheon will be from 85¢, dinner from $1.35, or a la
carte, and one may enjoy afternoon tea in pleasant surroundings
for as little as 35¢.
After 9 P. M. a minimum charge of $1.00, which will include
foods and beverages, will be charged.
There will be outdoor dining and dancing on the terrace
nightly from 7 P. M. to closing, featuring the music of Michael Zarin.
Special facilities are available for private parties.
**************
May 6, 1940
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Tuesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 May 7, 1940
The Department of Parks announces the reopening on Wednesday, May
8, of the reconstructed Jeannette Park on the lower east side of Manhattan
at South Street and Coenties Slip.
This small park opposite the Seamen's Church Institute, has long
been a haven for retired seamen as well as those awaiting the sailing of
their ships.
Two handball, 4 shuffleboard, 2 paddle tennis, and 4 horseshoe
pitching courts have been provided as well as a new modernized brick comfort
station. Games tables for those who desire to play checkers, chess and
other quiet games have also been included in the development. Numerous
benches under shade trees have been installed for those seeking passive
recreation.
The reopening of this area designed by the Park Department and
built by the Work Projects Administration makes a total of 325 new or
reconstructed recreational areas completed by the Park Department since
January 1, 1934.
* * * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Tuesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 May 7, 1940
STATEMENT TO THE PRESS BY THE PARK COMMISSIONER
WITH REFERENCE TO TULIP WEEK
There has been some speculation on the part of the public as
to the destruction of the tulips generously donated to the City by the
Netherlands Government.
Several factors contributed to the decay of these
plantings. In the first place, the shipment from Holland was delayed because
of the war and causes incident to it. This necessitated storage under
adverse conditions to a date very late in the fall. The shipping of the
bulbs was further delayed on account of negotiations to bring them in duty
free. When the bulbs finally arrived in New York it was just before the
ground froze. Subsequently there was a very hard winter, followed by heavy
rain in the early spring. Most of the bulbs were planted on newly filled
land in the reconstructed Riverside Park.
These circumstances are all unusual and all contributed to
the decay of the plantings. It seems to me to be quite futile to waste time
in discussing just what effect each factor had in the final determination
that most of the bulbs would have to be destroyed.
The important thing is that the Netherlands Government made
a very generous gift at a time of great stress, and that this government is
prepared to renew the gift next year, it war conditions permit. I have
therefore requested the Netherlands Authorities to designate three persons
to confer with an equal number appointed by the Park Department, to make all
arrangements for the shipping, planting, and display of a million bulbs next
year in the best possible locations in the city park system.
Under these circumstances the enjoyment of this gift by the
public is simply postponed, and there will be sufficient time to insure
complete success next year.
/s/ ROBERT MOSES
Commissioner
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Saturday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 May 4, 1940
PLAYGROUND BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS
The Department of Parks announces that special programs of
recreational activities have been prepared for the boys and girls of 13 Park
Department playgrounds during the month of May in commemoration of their
official opening to the public.
These anniversary celebrations will include roller skating
races, roller hockey contests, track and field events.
Barber shop quartet and community singing, one act plays, group
games, solo dancing exhibitions, recitations and salute to the flag will
also form part of the programs.
The May schedule for playground birthday celebrations is as
follows:
Time of
Borough Playground & Location Opened Celebration
Manhattan Downing & Carmine Sts. May 29, 1935 3:30 P.M.
Rumsey Playground, 71 St. May 17, 1937 3:30 P.M.
& last Drive, Central Park
West 45th Street between 9th May 17, 1937 3:30 P.M.
& 10th Avenues
McCaffrey Playground, 43 St. May 26, 1938 2:30 P.M.
between 8th & 9th Avenues
Brooklyn New Utrecht Avenue & 70 St. May 24, 1935 3:30 P.M.
Mt. Prospect Playground, May 25, 1939 2:30 P.M.
Eastern Parkway near
Platbush Avenue
Marine Park, Fillmore Ave. May 27, 1939 3:30 P.M.
& Stuart Street
Tompkins Park Playground, May 4, 1936 2:00 P.M.
Tompkins & Lafayette Aves.
Queens Astoria Health Center, 31st May 29, 1938 3:30 P.M.
Ave. and 14 Street, Astoria
Bronx 166th Street & Morris Ave. May 29, 1937 3:30 P.M.
Goble Place & Macombs Road May 7, 1938 3:30 P.M.
East 167th Street & Stebbins May 14, 1938 3:30 P.M.
Avenue
Richmond Lincoln & Midland Aves., May 15, 1938 3:30 P.M.
Midland Beach
* * * * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Saturday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 May 4, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that the reconstruction
of the William E. Kelly Memorial Park Playground at East 14 Street
and Avenue S, Brooklyn, has been completed and that the area will be
reopened to the public on Saturday, May 4.
The 3 acre play area formerly surfaced with clay and screenings
is now covered with bituminous materials so that the playground will be
usable throughout the year. It has been re-designed to provide a wider and
more extensive recreational usage, particularly for the adolescent and
adult. There are now three separate units; one containing 7 tennis courts,
and another containing two softball diamonds. Both of these units, when
sub-freezing temperatures permit, can be flooded and used for ice-skating, A
third unit contains 5 paddle tennis, 5 shuffleboard, 4 handball, and 4
horseshoe pitching courts; also a basketball, a volleyball, and a badminton
court. There is also a games table area and a brick comfort station. A
fenced-in planting area borders the playground and separates the three
units.
The reopening of this area designed by the Park Department and
built by the Work Projects Administration, makes a total of 324 new or
reconstructed playgrounds completed by the Park Department since January 1,
1934.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Saturday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 May 4, 1940
Bids were received Friday, May 3, 1940, by the Department of Parks
at the Arsenal on the contract for the installation of electrical service in
the Police and Service Buildings at Marine Park adjacent to Flatbush Avenue
and the Belt Parkway and for the Service Building in Brookville Park at
Brookville Boulevard adjoining Southern Parkway.
The buildings when completed will provide service facilities and
police quarters in connection with the maintenance and policing of the new
Belt Parkway.
The bids received for the work were the following:
1. Berry ELeetric Company
890 Utica Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y. $25,932.
2. Arc Electric Construction Co.
739 Second Avenue, New York City 26,285.
3. Duxin Electric Company
124-05 101st Avenue, Richmond Hill, L.I. 28,999.
* * * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Friday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 May 3, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that the final game of
the Park Department roller hockey tournament for boys up to 19 years of age
will take place on Sunday, May 5th, at Roosevelt Playground, Chrystie and
Forsyth Streets, Manhattan, at 2;00 P.M., when the champion teams of
Brooklyn and Queens will compete for the city champion- ship.
During the month of April, 525 boys participated in
playground and inter-district roller hockey contests throughout the five
boroughs; in the inter-borough competitions, Queens defeated Richmond and
Manhattan, while Brooklyn defeated the Bronx.
Gold medals will be awarded to the members of
the winning team in Sunday's game and silver medals to the
runners-up.
* * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Wednesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 May 1, 1940
Bids were received today by the Department of Parks at
the Arsenal Building on three contracts in connection with the construction
of the new Belt Parkway, as follows: For lighting a section of the Belt
(Shore) Parkway from Owl's Head Park to Fort Hamilton; For lighting the
intersection of Cross Island parkway and Grand Central Parkway; For
construction and installation of traffic counting equipment at various
controlling points along the Belt Parkway.
The work from Owl's Head to Fort Hamilton includes the
placing of underground facilities, lamp posts and luminaires to provide a
complete lighting system on this portion of the Parkway; at the Grand
Central Parkway intersection, the work consists of the installation of
additional lighting facilities and alterations to the existing system; the
traffic counting units placed at certain designated points will provide an
accurate record of cars using the parkway, periods of peak load and traffic
concentration.
The following are the three lowest bidders on each of the
contracts:
1. FOR LIGHTING FROM OWL'S HEAD PARK TO FORT HAMILTON:
Arc Electric Equipment Co. $66,660.00
739 Second Avenue, New York City
Charles Michaels, Inc. 68,822.00
116 Nassau Street, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Watson Flagg Engineering Co. 70,000.00
140 Cedar Street, New York City
2. FOR LIGHTING THE INTERSECTION OF CROSS ISLAND AND GRAND CENTRAL
PARKWAYS:
Penner Electric Company $15,445.00
200 West 72 Street, New York City
Supreme Electric Equipment Co. 16,411.25
27-35 Jackson Ave., Long Island City, N.Y.
Public Improvements, Inc. 16,606.00
409 East 17th Street, New York City
3. FOR INSTALLATION OF A TRAFFIC COUNTING SYSTEM:
Edward Zwicker Corporation $23,201.00
415 Lexington Avenue, New York City
Taller & Cooper 28,451.00
930 Newark Avenue, Jersey City, N. J.
T. Frederick Jackson, Inc. 44,761.00
25 West 43 Street, New York City
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Saturday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 April 27, 1940
The Department of Parks announces the opening of a small park on
the west side of University Avenue opposite West 170 Street, The Bronx. The
park was opened to the public on Friday, April 26, 1940.
This area, part of the "Old Croton Aqueduct", was acquired by the
Park Department by transfer from the Department of Water Supply, Gas and
Electricity.
It has been developed as a sitting park with numerous benches and
landscaped with shade trees. There is also a sand pit in which small
children may dig and play.
The design was prepared by the Park Department and the work
performed by the Work Projects Administration.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Friday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 April 26, 1940
The Department of Parks announces the opening of the Pitch
Putt Golf Course at Jacob 3iis Park for this season on Saturday, April
27th. A charge of 50¢ a round is made to play on this course.
The games areas, including shuffle board, paddle tennis and
hand ball courts, will be open for use on Saturday, May 25th. A charge of
10¢ per half hour, per person, is made. During the winter these games
areas are free to the public.
There will be no charge made for parking at Jacob Riis
Park or Orchard Beach until May 25th.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Thursday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 April 25, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that exercises in connection
with the dedication of Francis Lewis Park, Third Avenue and 147 Street,
Whitestone, Queens, will take place on Friday, April 26, at 3:30 P.M.
Mayor LaGuardia, Borough President Harvey of Queens, Charles
U. Powell, Engineer in charge of the Queens Topographical Bureau, and Major
Edmond H. Leavey, Deputy Work Projects Administrator, will participate as
speakers.
Mrs, Ralph Stoddard, Regent of the Matinecock Chapter of the
D.A.R., will present a bronze memorial plaque and a flag to the City; Mrs.
Guy Forbes, great-great granddaughter of Francis Lewis, a signer of the
Declaration of Independence and after whom the Park was named, will unveil
the plaque. Park Commissioner Moses will act as chairman.
This ten acre park, fronting on the East River and acquired
in part to provide the Queens terminus of the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge, has
been developed mostly as a sitting park with winding paths and broad sloping
lawns landscaped with trees and shrubbery. A playground with a brick comfort
station, wading pool, handball courts, see-saws, slides, swings and a sand
pit has been provided to care for the recreation needs of the neighborhood
children.
Also, Whitestone Playground, between 15 Avenue and 20 Avenue
and adjacent to the Whitestone Parkway, will be opened to the public at the
above time. Two-thirds of this new 21 acre playground was formerly property of
the Department of Water Supply, Gas and Electricity, and was known as the
Whitestone Pumping Station. The abutting balance was acquired in connection
with the acquisition of the Whitestone Parkway.
Here recreation facilities nave been provided for all age
groups. There are three separate children's completely equipped
playgrounds, handball, horseshoe pitching, shuffleboard and basketball
courts, a full-sized hard ball and a soft ball diamond as well as a football
and soccer field. There is also a large open play area which can be flooded
and used for ice skating when sub-freezing temperatures permit.
The opening of these two areas designed by the Park
Department and built by the Work Projects Administration makes a total of
323 new or reconstructed playgrounds completed by the Park Department since
January 1, 1934. At that time there were 119 playgrounds in the five
boroughs and at present there are 403.
* * * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Friday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 April 19, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that the finals of the
annual One Act Play Contest for boys and girls of Park Department
playgrounds will take place Saturday, April 20th, at 2:00 P.M. at Mullaly
Park. Recreation Building, 165 Street and Jerome Avenue, The Bronx.
825 children ranging in age from 6 to 16 years took part in
81 plays during the eliminations held in each of the five boroughs. The
following plays, one from each borough, were selected for the finals:
"The Princess Marries the Page" - Roosevelt Playground, Manhattan
"The Princess Chooses" - Tompkins Park Playground, Brooklyn
"Queen Puff Puff" - O'Connell Playground, Queens
"The Magic Sword" - Mullaly Park Playground, Bronx
"Holly and Hilary11 - McDonald Playground, Richmond
The persons who have consented to act as judges at the finals
on April 20th are Mrs. Mabel Hobbs, author and dramatic teacher; Mr. Clark
Fredickson, Drama Consultant, National Recreation Association, and Miss
Nancy Ktmberley, Neighborhood Playhouse, Inc.
Plaques will be awarded to the playgrounds presenting the three
best plays.
*****
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Friday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 April 19, 1940
OPENING OF GOLF COURSES
The Department of Parks announces the opening of nine of the ten
municipal golf courses on Saturday morning, April 20th. The club houses
with restaurants, locker and shower accommodations and other facilities will
be open at the same time for the use of the public. The locations of these
nine golf courses are as follows:
Brooklyn - Dyker Beach Golf Course - 86th Street
and 7th Avenue.
Bronx - Van Cortlandt Golf Course - 242nd Street and
Broadway, Van Cortlandt Park.
Mosholu Golf Course - Jerome Avenue and
Holley Lane at Woodlawn.
Pelham Golf Course - Shore Road, North of
Hutchinson River Parkway, Pelham Bay Park.
Queens - Clearview Golf Course - 23rd Avenue and
Willets Point Boulevard, Bayside.
Kissena Golf Course - North Hempstead Turnpike
and Fresh Meadow Road in Flushing.
Forest Park Golf Course - Park Lane South and
Forest Parkway in Forest Park.
Richmond - Silver Lake Golf Course - Silver Lake Park on
Victory Boulevard and Park Road*
LaTourette Golf Course - Forest Hill Road and
London Road,
Fees for permits will be the same as last year. A $5.00 permit
will entitle the holder to play on week days and on week ends and holidays
an additional charge of 50¢ will be made. The daily fee from Monday to
Friday will be 75¢ and $1.00 on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. To date
2630 golf permits have been sold.
The cost of a season locker is $5.00 and a daily locker fee is
Reservations may be made for starting times on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays
for $1.00 per foursome, at the following borough offices:
Brooklyn: Litchfield Mansion, Prospect Park West and 5th Street.
Queens: The Overlook, Union Turnpike and Park Lane, Forest Park,
Kew Gardens, Long Island
Bronx; Bronx Park last and Birchall Avenue, Bronx Park
Richmond: Clove Lakes Park, Clove Road, West of Victory Boulevard,
Split Rock Golf Course will not be opened until Saturday, May 4th,
because of the dangerous condition of hanging and broken tree limbs caused
by the sleet storm in March.
Due to the construction of a new approach to the Henry Hudson
Parkway it will be necessary to close holes No, 4 to 8 inclusive at the Van
Cortlandt Park Golf Course. For this season this course will be played as a
thirteen hole layout.
None of the clay surfaced tennis courts in the City have as yet
been opened due to recent rains. Work is now in progress on all of them. A
few courts will be ready before the week end if there is no further rain.
The balance will be open as completed during the coming week.
* * * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Wednesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 April 17, 1940
Bids were opened today by the Park Department at the Arsenal
Building on four contracts for the fabrication and installation of chain
link and wrought iron fencing where required along the Belt Parkway from
Owl's Head Park to its terminus at the Whitestone Intersection.
The work under these contracts consists of the removal and
storage of existing timber railings and the construction of 6 foot and 8
foot chain link fencing and gates along the marginal lines of the Belt
Parkway, particularly where service roads parallel the Parkway, and for
construction of a wrought iron picket fence along the Belt (Southern)
Parkway where it joins Belt (Laurelton) Parkway.
The purpose of the fencing is to protect the general public
against entering on the Parkway and to preserve the planted and seeded lawn
areas against vandalism.
The three lowest bidders on each of the contracts were the
following:
WROUGHT IRON FENCES - SOUTHERN PARKWAY
1. Seaboard Steel Products Corporation $10,644.50
205 East 42 Street, New York City
2. Anchor Post Fence Company 11,343.50
9 East 38 Street, New York City
3. Vulcan Steel Products Company 12,042.50
232 Varat Street, Brooklyn
CHAIN LINK FENCE-BRIGHAM STREET TO CROSS BAY BOULEVARD AND CROSS BAY
BOULEVARD TO NORTH CONDUIT AVENUE
1. Ross Galvanizing Works $23,530.00
395 Kent Avenue, Brooklyn
2. Anchor Post Fence Company 24,590.00
9 East 38 Street, New York City
3. Seaboard Steel Products Corporation 29,780.00
205 East 42 Street, New York City
CROSS ISLAND PARKSWAY FROM NORTH CONDUIT AVENUE TO WHITESTONE BRIDGE
1. Ross Galvanizing Works $41,030.00
395 Kent Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y.
2. Anchor Post Fence Company 43,970.00
9 East 38 Street, New York City
3. Seaboard Steel Products Corporation 49,865.00
205 East 42 Street, New York City
SHORE PARKWAY FROM FORT HAMILTON TO OCEAN PARKWAY
1. Ross Galvanizing Works $26,442.75
395 Kent Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y.
2. Anchor Post Fence Company 29,066.25
9 East 38 Street, New York City
3. Seaboard Steel Products Corporation 32,546.25
205 East 42 Street, New York City
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Copy of Release phoned in to City News, Mon. April 15, 1940
at 5:36 P.M.
Two buffalo calves were born in Central Park Zoo, one a male born
April 7, the other a female born April 15.
Mother of the first calf was 10 year old. Bessie. Mother of the
2nd was 13 year old Mary. The father in each case was 6 year old Wild Bill.
The same parens have produced offspring for the past three years.
Photographs may ba taken isasediately.
* * * * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Monday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 April 15, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that bids were
received today at the Arsenal, for the construction of three buildings to be
used in connection with the policing, maintenance and operation of the Belt
Parkway.
Two of these buildings, one in Brookville Park,
Laurelton, and the other on the Flatbush Avenue side of Uarine Park,
Brooklyn, will be used as service and maintenance buildings by the
Department of Parks, The other structure, which will be built adjacent to
the service building at Flatbush Avenue so as to form a compact group, will
be used by the Police Department as headquarters for their Parkway Polioe.
The Police station will also serve as headquarters for the patrolmen
assigned to this and other Park areas adjacent to the Parkway.
All buildings will be brick, fireproof structures
designed to conform with the requirements of structures in Parks, The group
of the buildings in Marine Park will be especially attractive. This
construction is another step in the improvement of the Brooklyn Marine Park
which will eventually be one of the most completely developed recreational
areas in the City Park system. This is a good example of the proper
coordination between various city departments in the planning of the
development of new areas.
The three low bidders on the contracts were as follows:
FOR GENERAL CONSTRUCTION OF BUILDINGS
1. Lawrence J. Rice
372 Burns Street, Forest Hills, N.Y.C, $188,897.50
2. Graves Quinn Corp.
Grand Central Terminal, N.Y.C. 195,455,00
3. Dover Construction Co.
81 Greene Street, N.Y.C. 199,800,00
FOR PLUMBING FACILITIES
1. Astrove Plumbing & Heating Corp. $27,006.00
553 @est 25th Street, N,Y. C.
2. Randal Kay 28,699.00
210 East 40th Street, N.Y.C.
3. George J. Kay 28,760.00
1960 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y.
FOR HEATING FACILITIES
1. Jarcho Brothers 20,472.00
304 East 45th Street
2. Hayes Heating Company 20,569,00
308 West 20th Street, N.Y.C.
3. Jacobs Engineering Corporation 21,062.00
103 Park Avenue, N.Y.C.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Saturday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 April 13, 1940
OFFICIAL OPENING OF BASEBALL SEASON
The Department of Parks announces that the baseball season
will officially open in all the boroughs on Saturday, April 13th.
In the Borough of Queens, the initial game of the season
will be played on that day between the Glendale Braves and the Woodhaven
Lancers at Victory Field, Myrtle Avenue and Woodhaven Boulevard, Woodhaven,
Long Island at 3;00 P.M. "Pop" Snyder of Jamaica, well known to Queens fans
for his interest in baseball, will throw out the first ball.
Flag raising ceremonies will precede the game and the Park
Department Band will provide music.
All teams intending to use Park Department diamonds, baseball
or softball, are required to obtain a permit which may be procured by writing
to the director of the borough in which they wish to play. A stamped
self-addressed envelope must be enclosed with each application which should
supply the following information: Name of team, name of manager or captain,
average age of players, whether team is uniformed or not, month, day and time
for which permit is desired, and name of the park.
Permits are issued on a monthly basis for alternate
Saturdays or Sundays, or, if a week-day, for one day each week. The
designated playing periods areas follows:
9:00 A.M. to 11:00 A.M.
11:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M.
1:00 P.M. to 3:30 P.M.
3:30 P.M. to 6:00 P.M.
6:00 P.M. to dark
The names and addresses of the various borough directors
are as follows:
Manhattan: Philip J. Cruise
Arsenal Building
64 Street and Fifth Avenue
New York City
Brooklyn: Richard C. Jenkins
Litchfield Mansion
Prospect Park West and 5th Street
Prospect Park, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Queens: James J. Mallen
The Overlook
Union Turnpike and Park Lane
Forest Park, Kew Gardens, L.I.
Bronx: George L. Quigley
Bronx Park East & Birchall Avenue
Bronx Park, The Bronx
Richmond; Andrew M. Anderson
Clove Lakes Park
Clove Road, West of Victory Boulevard
Richmond, N. Y.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Saturday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 April 13, 1940
Bids were opened today by the Department of Parks at the
Arsenal Building for installation of a public lighting system on Shore
Parkway and its intersection with Fort Hamilton Parkway, Borough of
Brooklyn.
The work under this contract comprises a part of the
Belt Parkway lighting system and consists of installation of underground
conduits, cable, lighting standards, luminaires and other incidental work.
The three low bidders for the work were:
1. Aro Electric Equipment Company $13,492,35
150 East 41 Street, New York City
2. Supreme Electric Equipment Company 13,889,05
27-35 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City
3. Public Improvements, Inc. 14,463.30
200 West 72nd Street, New York City
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Saturday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 April 13, 1940
PLAYGROUND BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS
The Department of Parks announces that special programs of
recreational activities have been prepared for the boys and girls of six
Park Department playgrounds during the month of April in commemoration of
their official opening to the public.
These anniversary celebrations will include tumbling
contests, roller skating races, roller hockey contests, track and field
events.
Tap dance exhibition, community and solo singing, one act
plays, whistling solos, group games, luartet singing and talent shows will
also form part of the programs.
The April schedule for playground birthday celebrations is as
follows:
Borough
Playground & Location Opened Time of Celebration
Manhattan
Riverside Drive & 102nd Street April 17, 1939 April 20-2:00 P.M.
J . Hood Wright Playground April 17, 1935 April 20-2:00 P.M.
W. 173 St. & I t . Washington Ave.
Brooklyn
Lafayette & Marcy Avenues April 15, 1938 4:00 P.M.
Lynch Street & Lee Avenue April 20, 1938 2:30 P.M.
Queens
Van Wyck Playground April 16, 1937 4:00 P.M.
134 Street & 11th Avenue
Richmond
Schmul Playground April 20, 1939 1:30 P.M.-5:00 P.M.
Wilde Avenue, Travis
* * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Saturday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 April 13, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that the Winter and
Spring use of the play centers, opened September 16, 1939, will terminate
Sunday evening, April 14, so that these areas can be cleaned, painted and
generally prepared for the coming swimming season. 1,137,723 children and
adults have made free use of the play centers since the close of last year's
swimming season.
In the pool area, handball, shuffleboard, paddle tennis,
basketball, volleyball and various group games were played. Inter-pool and
inter-borough eliminations were held during the Fall, Winter and Spring
season in shuffleboard, paddle tennis, table tennis and oheckers. City-wide
championships were held at Astoria Recreation Center in Queens and at
McCarren Recreation Center in Brooklyn. Teams and leagues were organized
and conducted regularly scheduled tournaments in these sports throughout the
season. During the winter when the weather was too cold, activities Were
moved into the buildings where facilities were provided for ping pong,
checkers, quoits and other group games.
The following were the winners in the competitions held
at McCarren and Astoria Recreation Centers:
Five Borough Ping Pong Championships - McCarren Pool
February 22, 1940
Junior Boys Singles Junior Boys Doubles
1st - V. Perry - Crotona 1st - Karon-Karon - Betsy Head
2nd - N. Goldstein - McCarren 2nd - Perry - Eisenberg - Crotona
Junior Girls Singles Junior Girls Doubles
1st - F. Blomquist - Sunset 1st - Garrett - Blomquist - Sunset
2nd - S. Torshis - Highbridge 2nd - Bedmar - Sheehan - Astoria
Intermediate Boys Singles Intermediate Boys Doubles
1st - J. Somael - Betsy Head 1st - Somael - Katzowitz - Betsy Head
2nd - S. Xatzowitz - Betsy Head 2nd - Fenster-Fellner - McCarren
Intermediate Girls Singles Intermediate Girls Doubles
1st - E, Feren - Sunset 1st - DiSimone - Harris - Tom Jeff,
2nd - M. Kee - Sunset 2nd - Feren - Kee - Sunset
Senior Boys Singles Senior Boys Doubles
1st - I. Reisfeld - Crotona 1st - Reisfeld - Alberts - Crotona
2nd - N» Epstein - Betsy Head 2nd - Boyus-Epstein - Betsy Head
Senior Girls Singles Senior Girls Doubles
1st - Sheinhart - Astoria 1st - Kardosz - Fletcher - HcGarren
2nd - Fletcher - McCarren 2nd - Lannie - Felts - Sunset
Checker Championships
Junior Boys Junior
1st - J. Anastos - Astoria 1st - J. Fusco - Tom Jeff.
2nd - J. DiSiervi - Tom Jeff. 2nd - E.-Lipton - Betsy Head
Intermediate Boys Intermediate Girls
1st - McElroy - Astoria 1st - E. Feren - Sunset
2nd - Lasker - Betsy Head 2nd - Driscoll - HcCarren
Senior Boys Senior Girls
1st - R. Wiener - Astoria 1st - L. lannie-Sunset
2nd - L. Dishongh - Sunset 2nd - G. Felts - Sunset
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
City Wide Paddle Tennis and Shuffleboard
Championships Held at Astoria Pool on
November 25, 1939
Summaries
Paddle Tennis:
Jr. Girls Singles - Won by D. Tsal - Astoria
Second - A. Bedmar - Astoria
Int. Girls Singles- Won by B. Jenkins - Thomas Jefferson
Second - G. Eptaminitis - Astoria
Sr. Girls Singles - Won by R. Schreiber - Hamilton Fish
Second - L. Boden - Astoria
Jr. Boys Singles - Won by J. Abramowitz - Hamilton Fish
Second - J. Greenberg - Betsy Head
Int. Boys Singles - Won by J. McElroy - Astoria
Second - H« DePietro - Astoria
Sr. Boys Singles - Won by P. Lillis - Thomas Jefferson
Second - F. Randazzo - Thomas Jefferson
Jr. Girls Doubles - Won by Bedmar and Tsal - Astoria
Second - Epstein and Araton - Hamilton Fish
Int. Girls Doubles- Won by Boden and Eptaminitis - Astoria
Second - Feren and Kee - Sunset
Sr. Girls Doubles - Won by Schreiber and Sigman - Hamilton Fish
Second - Kordasz and Fletcher - McCarren
Jr. Boys Doubles - Won by Abramowitz and Fox - Hamilton Fish
Second - Greenberg and Kravitz - Betsy Head
Int. Boys Doubles - Won by Berardi & Jemmott - Thomas Jefferson
Second - Apfel and Schreck - Sunset
Sr. Boys Doubles - Won by Randazzo and Smith - Thomas Jefferson
Second - McCarthy and Ketson - Astoria
Shuffleboard:
Jr. Girls - Won by E. Blomquist - Sunset
Second - L. Miller - McCarren
Int. Girls - Won by E. Feren - Sunset
Second - P. Swartz - McCarren
Sr. Girls - Won by L, Boden - Astoria
Second - H. Jackson - Thomas Jefferson
Jr. Boys - Won by S. Apfel - Sunset
Second - M. Simon - Sunset
Int. Boys - Won by H. DePietro - Astoria
Second - E. Ankuta - Betsy Head
Sr. Boys - Won by J, Piskor ~ McCarren
Second - A. Bertolini - Astoria
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Tuesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 April 9, 1940
Bids were opened today by the Department of Parks on contract
to provide additional planting for the slopes along the Major William
F. Deegan Boulevard, the westerly approach to the Triborough Bridge, between
Cypress Avenue and East 140th Street at the Grand Concourse and Exterior
Street in the borough of the Bronx.
The three low bidders are as follows}
1. General Landscape Corporation $ 9,679.30
Chrysler Building, New York City
2. Riverside Landscape Company 11,830.00
374 Lexington Avenue, New York City
3. Grant Park Construction Company 12,022.50
65 Prospect Avenue, Hewlett, L.I,
* * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Tuesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 April 9, 1940
The Department of parks announces that two playgrounds in
Brooklyn redesigned and reconstructed to provide more intensive usage will
be reopened to the public today.
The [ILLEGIBLE - Eunis?] Park playground located between
11th Street and 12th Street east of 2nd Avenue includes a small children's
area with a sand pit, shower basin, swings, slides and a comfort station.
Included in this area are benches for mothers and custodians of children.
There is also for older children a larger rectangular area containing play
apparatus and a basket and volley b a l l court* This area may be flooded
for ice skating during periods of sub-freezing temperature.
At Commercial and Dupont Streets in Greenpoint the
playground is split by Conmercial Street. The southerly portion has been
developed for small children and besides being completely equipped with
swings, see-saws, slides, a sand pit, benches and comfort station contains a
wading and volley ball court. The northerly portion formerly New York State
Terminal property has been developed for older children. Besides a large
roller skating area which can be utied for ice skating in season it contains
2 handball courts, 4 horse shoe pitching courts, 3 shuffleboard courts and a
soft ball diamond.
The opening of these two reconstructed areas, designed, by
the Park Department and built by the Works Projects Administration makes a
total of 321 new or reconstructed playgrounds completed by the Park
Deartmant since January 1, 1934.
* * *
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CITY OF NEW YORK
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK
COPY
April 6, 1940 FOR RELEASE:
TUESDAY MORNING, April 9, 1940
Board of Estimate
Municipal Building
New York City
Gentlemen:
On this week's calendar you have a request from the Park
Department to acquire immediatel a wedge of privately-owned land in the
middle of Cunningham Park.
This matter has been brought to the attnetion of the governing
bodies of the city repeatedly since 1934. I pointed out that the omission of
this piece of land at the time the park was acquired by a previous
administration could not be accounted for on any reasonable basis and that I
was reluctantly forced to the conclusion tha the object of leaving it in
private hands was to permit the owner to sub-divide it and build a number of
small houses in the very center of one of the most important new large parks
of the city.
Apparently on the theory that the city had plenty of park land in
this area the warnings of the Park Department were unheeded. Now precisely
the emergency we had anticipated has arisen, that is, a real estate
developer has filed maps for the sub-division of this wedge and demands that
he be allowed to go ahead with the construction of small houses. The
Planning Commission, the Director of Real Estate and the Commissioner of
Housing and Buildings have stated unequivocally that it would be nothing
short of a crime to permit this development to go on and that the property
should immediately be acquired by the city.
A glance at the map and illustrations attached will show precisely
the situation if title in this land is not promptly vested in the city. The
total assessed value of the property in question is $74,500 and there is no
reason to suppose that the award in condemnation would be much greater.
It does not seem credible that the city, in order to save so small
an amount, will permit the fine trees on this land to be cut down, the top
soil sold off and a plot in the very center of the park cut up for small
houses.
There are other reasons which need not be stressed here in
addition to the obvious ones why the city should act promptly. One of them
is the missing section of Francis Lewis Boulevard, the main north and south
mixed traffic route to the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge, which must pass through
this part of the park. The real estate developer has indicated that he will
dedicate a piece of right of way for the purpose but this makes no sense in
view of the fact that we do not even know whether an overpass on the new
boulevard will be required at this point and how much right of way is
required and where the access points will be if this boulevard is properly
constructed and landscaped according to proper park standards. I am sure
from long experience that the developer cannot possibly afford to dedicate
an adequate right of way.
Let me add that this particular request represents no extravagant
enthusiasm or whim of the park officials. We simply inherited from a
previous administration an outrageous condition which this administration
should remedy.
Very truly yours,
(signature)
Commissioner
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Thursday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 April 4, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that it opened to the public
three playgrounds in the Borough of Manhattan on Wednesday, April 3, 1940.
Two of these are new and one reconstructed.
The new playground at Clinton Street between Cherry and Water
Streets was built on property surrendered by the Board of Education. The .4
of an acre playground contains four paddle tennis and four handball courts,
a combination basketball and volley ball court and a brick comfort station.
It is designed for children of adolescent age.
At 34th Street and the East River Drive, the playground, also
new, was built on idle City property. The .9 of an acre area is for small
children with facilities consisting of a wading pool, sand-pit, swings,
see-saws and a comfort station. This playground is directly north of the
old reconstructed bath building at 23rd Street and Avenue A. This outdoor
area further augments the previous inadequate outdoor facilities to which
outdoor swimming and diving pools had been added end opened to the public on
May 27, 1939.
The reconstructed Yorkville playground, an area of .8 of an acre,
located at 101st Street east of Third Avenue, has been redesigned to provide
a wider use of the area. It now has a play space for small children located
on the west side of the playground with a wading pool, a sand-pit,
kindergarten swings, see-saws and other play apparatus. The balance of the
area contains one basketball court and two handball courts for older
children. The old antiquated comfort station has been com- pletely rebuilt.
The opening of these three areas, designed by the Park
Department and built by the Work Projects Administration, makes a total of
319 new or reconstructed playgrounds completed by the Park Department since
1934. At that time there were 119 playgrounds in the five boroughs and at
present there are 401.
* * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Tuesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 April 2, 1940
The Department of Parks announced today that reconstruction
of the thirty-two year old bath and gymnasium building at Cherry and Oliver
Streets, Manhattan has been completed and the building has been reopened to
public use.
Facilities available include two gymnasiums with
accompanying locker and shower accommodations and public cleansing
baths. There is no charge for the use of any of these facilities. The hours
of operation are from 7:00 A.M. to 10 P.M. daily.
In addition to reconstructing the interior of the building,
the exterior has been cleaned and repaired, and additional property has been
acquired along the north side to furnish light and air,as well as to provide
a small sitting park for mothers of the neighborhood.
Of nine public baths, swimming pool and gymnasium buildings
transferred to the Park Department from the Borough President under the
terms of the new Charter, this is the seventh which has been completed by
the WPA in accordance with plans furnished by the Park Department, and
opened to the public with modernized accommodations.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
114 40-N
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Monday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 April 1, 1940
Bids were received today by the Department of Parks at the
Arsenal Building for lighting a section of the new Belt (Southern) Parlcway
between 114th Street and 158th Street, Borough of Queens.
The work under this contract consists of the installation of
underground conduits, light poles and luminaires and cable connections
between the limits stated.
The three lowest bidders for the work are as follows:
1. Martin Epstein & Company $69,888.00
955 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y.
2. Watson Flagg Engineering Company 71,000.00
140 Cedar Street, New York City
3. Charles Michaels 72,773.00
116 Nassau Street, Brooklyn, N.Y.
* * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Monday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 March 25, 1940
Bids were received today by the Department of Parks at the
Arsenal Building for lighting a section of the Belt Parkway now under
construction from Owl's Head Park to the Bronx-Whitestone Parkway.
The work under this contract consists of installation of
underground conduits, light poles and fixtures from the Plumb Beach Channel
Bridge to the Flatbush Avenue intersection.
The three lowest bidders on the work were:
1. Martin Epstein & Company $42,415.
955 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn
2. Arc Electric Co. 4?,445.
739 Second Avenue, New York City
3. Charles Michaels 44,808.
116 Nassau Street, New York City
* * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Thursday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 March 21, 1940
The Park Department announces the opening of the Annual Easter
Flower Show at the Greenhouse in Prospect Park (Prospect Park West and 7th
Street, Brooklyn) on Good Friday, March 22nd, at 10:00 A.M. The show will
be open to the public each day thereafter for three weeks from 10 A.M. to
4:00 P.M.
The exhibit this year is one of the finest of these annual
shows. More than 300 varieties of flowers are represented by 5,000
specimens, The main feature of the show is a huge cross 25 feet high made up
of 4,000 pure white Bermuda lilies edged with beautiful light pink azaleas
and banked with Genistas, Shower of Gold Plant; and pink Rhododendrons at
the base of the cross.
Leading to the steps of the cross is a path of grass with a
garden of azaleas in over 100 varieties.
As a background for the central motive, the walls of the
Greenhouse are banked with a colorful display of flowers in great varieties,
among which Cinerarias, Calceolarias, Sweet Peas, Snapdragons, Lilacs,
Flowering Crabapples predominate.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Saturday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 March 16, 1940
The New York City Park Department reports the start of
restoration of trees damaged in various parks by the devastating wind and
ice storm of March 4th, during which more damage was done to park property
than during the hurricane of 1938.
The storm started March 3rd and continued during the morning of
March 4th and early afternoon. Most of the damage was done on March 4th at
which time the ice covering even the smallest twigs was 2½ inches in
diameter. Of the larger trees, the elms, lindens and planes suffered most
severely, and, of the intermediate trees, the birches sustained the greatest
loss.
The areas most affected were Pelham Bay, Crotona, Van Cortlandt
and Bronx Parks and Bronx River, Mosholu and Pelham Parkways in The Bronx,
and Central, Port Tryon and Morningside Parks in Manhattan.
Immediately following the storm, park forces were hampered by
the ice and could only remove dangerous limbs easily reached from emergency
ladder trucks or from the ground, in order to open highways and walks. All
Civil Service personnel operated on a double shift through Monday, March 4th
and Tuesday, March 5th, on which day 146 WPA Climbers and Pruners assigned
to the various boroughs were hurriedly transferred into The Bronx by Colonel
Brehon Somervell, Work Projects Administrator.
During the period from March 4th to March 9th there was a total
of 322 regular Civil Service and 402 relief workers of all classifications
employed. This force removed 325 trees damaged beyond repair or felled by
the wind and ice and 4,612 broken limbs, which were dangerous to pedestrians
and autoists. 2,062 loads of tree branches, trunks and stumps were removed
to dumps where they were burned immediately in order to prevent possible
spread of disease and injurious insects.
Because of the wide extent of the damage, 100 men who competed
in a recent written examination held by the Municipal Civil Service
Commission for Climbers and Pruners reported to work on Monday, March
11th. Special emergency funds for these men to the extent of $20,000. were
appropriated by the Board of Estimate to pay this emergency provisional
force. These men brought the total number of climbers and pruners, including
relief workers working in The Bronx, to 312, This force will continue
pruning approximately 95,000 trees on streets, parkways and in parks. At the
present rate of progress, it will take a minimum of six months for this
sized force to complete the work and assure the necessary attention to
prevent decay and spread of injurious insects.
* * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Friday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 March 15, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that seasonal
permits for golf, tennis and various other facilities will go on sale
Thursday, March 21st. The price of these permits is the same as last year. A
seasonal golf permit is sold for $5. and is good on week days,and on
Saturdays Sundays and holidays with an additional charge of $.50. A
seasonal tennis permit costs $3. These permits may
be procured in person or by mail, by applying at the various Borough Offices
located as follows:
Manhattan:
Arsenal Building
64 Street and 5th Avenue
Brooklyn:
Litohfield Mansion
Prospect Park West and 5th Street
Prospect Park
Queens:
The Overlook
Union Turnpike and Park Lane
Forest Park, Kew Gardens, L. I.
Bronx:
Bronx Park East and Birchall Avenue
Bronx Park
Riohmond:
Clove Lakes Park
Clove Road, T7est of Victory Boulevard
Due to the uncertainty of Spring weather, definite
dates for the opening of the golf courses and clay tennis courts cannot be
set at this time. If weather conditions are favorable it is expected that
the clay courts will open April 13th and the golf courses April 20th.
All hard surface tennis courts in the City will be
open for play on March 18th, with the exception of those in The Bronx. Due
to considerable damage to fencing by the recent ice storm, it will not be
possible to open up these courts until the necessary repairs are made. From
March 18th to March 31st no permits will be necessary to play on the hard
surface tennis courts, but after April 1st permits will be required at all
tennis courts.
Tennis courts are located as follows:
Park Location Type and No. Courts
Hard Clay Grass
Manhattan:
Central Park 93rd Street and West Drive 16 14
Riverside Park W. 161 Street and Riverside Drive 2
Ft. Washington Park W. 172nd Street and Riverside Dr. 13
Harlem Housing Plgd. W. 150th Street and 7th Avenue 8
East River Park Stanton Street, Rivington Street
and East River Drive 12
Randall's Island East of Triborough Stadium 24
63rd Street and York Avenue 4
Brooklyn:
Fort Greene Park DeKalb Avenue and Washington Park 6
Gravesend Plgd. 56 Street and 18th Avenue 9
Kelly Memorial Park Avenue S and East 14th Street 9
Liev Eiriksson Plgd. 66th Street and 7th Avenue 10
Lincoln Terrace Eastern Parkway and Buffalo Avenue 3 8
McCarren Park Lorimer Street and Driggs Avenue 14
McKinley Park 75th Street and 7th Avenue 4 5
Prospect Park Prospect Park W. 9th Street 25
Sunsat Park 5th Avenue and 41st Street 3
Coney Island Plgd. Neptune Avenue and W. 25th Street 12
Marine Park Fillmore Ivenue and Marine Parkway 18
Bronx:
Bronx Park Brady Avenue and Bronx Park East 6
Crotona Park E. 173rd Street and Crotona Avenue 5 20
Pelham Bay Park Pdce Stadium 10
St. James Park E. 193rd Street and Jerome Avenue 4 8
St. Mary's Park E. 146th Street and Trinity Avenue 5
Van Cortlandt Park E. 233rd Street and Jerome Avenue 8
Van Cortlandt Park 242nd Street and Broadway 16
Williamsbridge Oval Bainbridge Avenue and E. 208th St. 8
Mullaly Park E. 164th Street and Jerome Avenue 15
Queens:
Alley Pond Park Grand Central Parkway, Winchester 10
Boulevard, Creedmoor
Grover Cleveland Park Grandview Avenue and Stanhope St. 3
Brookville Park Brookville Boulevard and S. Conduit
Highway, Rosedale
Crooheron Park S. of 215th Place, S. of 33rd Avenue
Bayside 10
Cunningham Park Union Turnpike, rl. of 193rd Street 15
Flushing Memorial Park 150th Street and Bayside Avenue,
Flushing 8
Forest Park Park Lane S, and 89th Street,
Woodhaven 7 7
Highland Park Jamaica Avenue and Cleveland Street 13 13
Howard Beach Nolan and Thedford Avenues 3
Kissena Park Rose Street and Oak Avenue, Flushing 12
Liberty Park 172nd Street and Liberty Avenue 10
Astoria Park 25th Avenue and 21st Street, Astoria 14
Wayanda Park Hollis Avenue, Springfield Boulevard 2
(Permit Plgd.) 48th Street and 30th Avenue, Astoria 2
(Permit Plgd.) 89th Avenue and 90th Street 4
Richmond:
Walker Park Bard Avenue, Delafield Place, Davis
Avenue 3 6
Silver Lake Park Hart Boulevard, Silver Lake Park 4
The golf courses are located as follows:
Brooklyn:
Dyker Beach 86 Street and 7th Avenue
Bronx:
Van Cortlandt 242nd Street near Broadway, Van Cortlandt Park
Hosholu Jerome Avenue and Holley Lane at "Toodlawn
Pelham-Split Rock Pelham Bridge, N. of Hutchinson River Parkway,
(2 courses) Pelham Bay Park
Queens:
Clearview Cross Island Parkway, Bayside
Kissena North Hempstead Turnpike and Fresh Meadow Road,
Flushing
Forest Park Park Lane South and Forest Parkway, Forest Park
Richmond:
Silver Lake Victory Boulevard, Silver Lake Park
La Tourette Forest Hill Road and London Road
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Friday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 March 15, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that there will be an
exhibition basketball game between a championship team of the Park
Departments recent indoor basketball tournaments held in the various
recreation centers of Manhattan and the leading team of a league in East
Boston, Massachusetts, on Saturday, March 16th, 8 P.M. at the gymnasium
located at 342 last 54th Street, New York City.
After competing with 24 teams in a tourney conducted by the
Park Department at the East 54th Street gymnasium for men and boys over 18
years of age, the Murray Basketball Team was victorious and will be on the
floor next Saturday night. Their opponent in this inter-state contest will
be a team composed of employees of the East Boston Times which won a similar
tournament conducted in the gymnasium centers of East Boston.
It is expected that a large gathering will be present at the
East 54th Street gymnasium on Saturday night, March 16th, to witness what
promises to be a very spirited basketball game.
Gold medals will be awarded by the New York City Park Department
to the members of the winning team.
* * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Monday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 March 11, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that the six indoor
swimming pools in the Borough of Manhattan, reconstructed by the Work
Projects Administration, have become very popular with the general public,
the attendance having increased 50% during the last two months.
The free instruction by the trained staff of the pool
operators and swimming instructors in attendance, in olasses for beginners
and also in life-saving for the advanced swimmers is creating great
interest.
There are hundreds of swimmers registered in each pool now.
The public is invited to enroll in new classes noY/ being formed at each of
the following indoor pools:
Carmine Street and 6th Avenue
23rd Street and Avenue A
409 West 23th Street
232 West 60th Street
35 West 134th Street
324 East 54th Street
The operating hours for the pools are as follows: For children
under 16 years of age on weekdays from 2 to 6 P.M. and on Saturdays, Sundays
and Holidays from 10 A.M. to 2 P.M.; for adults on weekdays from 6 to 10 P.M.,
and on Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays from 2 to 6 P.M.
With the exception of East 23rd Street, all these buildings
include a reconstructed gymnasium. These gymnasiums are available from 9 A.M.
to 10 P.M.
There is no charge for the use of any of these facilities.
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WED.AFTERNOON
MARCH 2nd &
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS THURS.MORNING
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE MARCH 3rd PAPERS
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 1940
The Department of Parks announces that work in
connection with the new boat basin at 79th Street, in Riverside Park, will
be completed on April 1st next. This basin will offer, for the first time in
the City of New York, special accommodations to boat owners, in that a
modern up-to-date storage garage will be provided for their cars while
boating. This garage is located in the basement of the three-level circle of
the Henry Hudson Parkway at 79th Street.
This facility, long awaited by Manhattan's boat owners
and formerly used by the Department of Sanitation as a loading pier for
refuse destined for the open sea, typifies the progress of the West Side
Improvement and is another vital step in the reclamation of a great marginal
waterfront improvement.
This basin will be operated on a concession basis by
this department. Applications for mooring service and berths should be made
to Eugene R. Duffy at the boat basin. lTr, Duffy operates the present
docking facilities which are directly adjacent to the new piers, and which
will be removed immediately following the opening of the new basin.
Rates will be as follows:
Transient rate (water extra), Fifty Cents ($.50) for 12
hours and One Dollar ($1.00) for 24 hours.
Daily rate (more than 24 hours) including water, Two Cents
($.02) per lineal foot per day, with a minimum charge of
Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) per month.
Seasonal rate (including water), One Dollar and Fifty Cents
($1.50) per lineal foot per season, excluding minimum charge.
This rate will apply only to boats at moorings.
Mooring service charge (including water), - The mooring
service will include the placing, maintenance and removal of
moorings, and the charge will be based on daily or seasonal
occupancy at the rates set forth above, excluding the minimum
charge.
-END-
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Friday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 March 1, 1940
Bids were reoeived today by the Department of Parks at the
Arsenal for placing the fill necessary to prepare the site of the new police
station to be built in connection with the Belt Parkway.
A total of five bids were received for this work, which is
scheduled to be completed by April 30, 1940,
The three lowest bidders were as follows:
1. H. J. Torpey, Inc.
50-07 49th Street,
Woodside, L. I. $23,040,00
2. Maguire k Dugan, Inc.
177-26 Ursina Road
St. Albans, N. Y. 35,000.00
3. Construction Aggregates, Inc,
1 East 42nd Street
New York City 36,000.00
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Friday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 March 1, 1940
Playground Birthday Celebrations
The Department of Parks announces that special programs of
recreational activities have been prepared for the boys and girls of five
Park Department playgrounds during the month of March in commemoration of
their official opening to the public.
These anniversary celebrations will include tumbling contests,
roller skating races, novelty races, track and field events.
Dancing contests, community and solo singing of patriotic
songs, one act plays, group games and talent shows will alao form part of
the programs.
The March schedule for playground birthday celebrations is
as follows:
Time of
Borough Playground location Opened Celebration
Brooklyn 52nd Street & Fort Hamilton Parkway March 10, 1938 2-4:30 P.M.
McKibben, White & Bogart Streets March 28, 1936 10 A.M.
President & Carroll Streets March 28, 1936 3 P.M.
Atlantic Avenue & Linwood Street March 31, 1939 10 A.M.-10PM
Queens
Benninger Playground - Madison March 18, 1937 3:30 P.M.
Street and Fresh Pond Road
* * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Monday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 February 26, 1940
Bids were opened today by the Department of Parks at the Arsenal on
the contract for lighting the Belt Parkway, between Flatbush Avenue and the
Mill Basin Bridge in the Borough of Brooklyn.
The work requires the installation of all materials and equipment
necessary for lighting the Parkway within the limits above mentioned, with
sodium luminaires and lamps mounted on cedar posts.
Work under this contract is scheduled for completion by April 30, 1940.
The three low bidders were:
1. L. A. Feldman
1015 East 31 Street, Brooklyn, Hew York $ 46,560.00
2. H. Z. Altberg, Inc.
1776 Broadway, Hew York City 49,600.00
3. T. Frederick Jackson, Inc.
25 West 43 Street, Hew York City 49,900,00
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Monday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 February 26, 1940
Bids were opened today by the Department of Parks at the
Arsenal on three contracts for lighting the Belt Parkway, as follows:
Southern Parkway from 158th Street to 230th Place
Cross Island Parkway from Bronx-Whitestone Intersection to 16th Avenue
Cross Island Parkway from Union Turnpike to 115th Avenue
all in the Borough of Queens,
The work requires the installation of all materials and equipment
required for lighting the Parkway within the limits mentioned above, with
sodium luminaires and lamps mounted on cedar posts.
The work under these contracts is to be completed on or before April 30,
1940.
The three low bidders were:
SOUTHERN PARKWAY from 158th STREET to 230th PLACE
1. Rao Electric Equipment Company
150 East 41 Street, II. Y. C. $47,477.
2. Arc Electric Construction Company
739 Second Avenue, N. Y. C. 50,840.
3. L. A. Feldman
1015 East 31 Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. 51,980.
CROSS ISLAND PARKWAY FROM BRONX-WHITESONE INTERSECTION TO 16th AVENUE
1. Utility Electric Co,, Inc.
92 Liberty Street, N. Y. C. 77,700.
2. E. Z. Altberg
1776 Broadway, N.Y.C. 79,890.
3. Arraneff Elec. Co.
4713 Pew Utrecht Ave., Brooklyn 80,000.
CROSS ISLAND PARKTAY FROM UNION TURNPIKE TO 115th AVENUE
1. Rao Electric Equipment Company
150 East 41 Street, N.Y.C. $ 123,711.
2. H. Z. Altberg
1776 Broadway, N.Y.C. 131,690.
3. Arc Electric Construction Co.
739 Second Avenue, N.Y.C. 133,300.
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MAP / DIAGRAM LIMITS OF CONTRACTS - BIDS OPEN FOR LIGHTING
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Thursday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 February 15, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that free skiing instructions
will be given on designated slopes under the jurisdiction of the Park
Department by various members of the New York Ski Council and the Norway Ski
Club.
Arrangements have also been made with the Staten Island Ski
Club for the assignment of ski instructors to Park Department hills in the
Borough of Richmond.
The locations at which instructors will be present are as
follows:
MANHATTAN - Central Park, Burns Hill, 79th Street and West Drive
Brooklyn - Prospect Park, Southwest of Music Stand, Empire Blvd Entrance
Sugar Bowl Hill, 9th Street and Prospect Park
West Entrance
Tennis House Hill, 9th Street and Prospect Park
West Entrance
Queens - Forest Park Golf Course, Forest Park Main Drive and Interboro
Richmond - Silver Lake Park - Forest Avenue and Silver Lake Roadway
La Tourette Golf Course - Rockland Avenue (10th, 14th and 18th
Fairways)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Monday Afternoon
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 February 12, 1940
The Department of Paries announces the completion of the six
reconstructed indoor swimming pools in the Borough of Manhattan. Prior to
January 1st, 1938, these buildings were under the jurisdiction of the
Borough President and their main purpose was to serve as cleansing baths for
the people of the various communities. The new charter placed all recreation
facilities under the Department of Parks with the result that wherever there
was a small swimming pool or a room in the building that was used as a
gymnasium, the property was assigned to the Department of Parks. Steps were
immediately taken and plans were prepared for the reconstruction of these
buildings so that they would serve the recreation needs of the community;
the need for the cleansing baths having diminished to a point where they
received comparatively little use.
The pools had been completely rebuilt and wherever possible,
enlarged. At 324 East 54th Street, there were two small swimming pools
which could better be described as elaborate bath tubs. Neither of the two
pools were adequate or sufficient in size to accommodate enough people to
make it worthwhile keeping the pools open. They have been combined into one
large pool. Actually, many of the pools were closed a good share of the time
because of the inadequacy of the mechanioal equipment which purified the
water. They have all been rebuilt along the most modern lines and provided
with up to date mechanical equipment. Existing gymnasiums have been rebuilt
and where possible new ones installed.
The trained staff of pool operators and swimming instructors
in attendance at the outdoor pools during the summer are now assigned to the
indoor pools and are preparing to conduct group classes for beginners in
awimming. Classes in Life Saving will be offered for the advanced
swimmers.
The general public is invited to enroll in these classes, at
anyone of the following indoor swimming pools:
Carmine Street and 6th Avenue
23rd Street and Avenue A
409 West 28th Street
232 West 60th Street
35 West 134th Street
324 last 54th Street
The operating hours for the pools are as follows: for children
under 16 years of age, on weekdays from 2 to 6 P.M. and on Saturdays,
Sundays, and holidays, from 10 A.M. to 2 P.M.; for adults, on weekdays from
6 to 10 P.M. and on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from 2 to 6 P.M.
These buildings also include reconstructed gymnasiums which are
available daily from 9 A.M. to 10 P.M.
There is no charge for the use of any of these facilities.
***
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Thursday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 February 8, 1940
Bids were opened today by the Department of Parks at the
Arsenal Building for the additional construction work in City Hall Park,
This contract provides for the continuation of the
reconstruction of the park which began with the demolition of the Old
Federal Post Office in the summer of 1938 and continued with the
construction of the first section of the park which included the area
through old Mail Street.
The work under this contract for the second section between
City Hall and the end of the work recently completed, will include the
demolition of the obsolete comfort station, landscaping, park lighting,
paths, fences and other incidental work.
Included also is the dismantling, transporting and storing of
the Civic Virtue Statue to Randall's Island for future erection or to the
site of the proposed Queens Civic Center.
The work of relocating the I . R. T. City Hall subway station
to conform with new design will be done by the Board of Transportation.
The three low bidders were:
1. Frank Mascali & Sons, Inc. $77,928.50
4634 Third Avenue, Bronx, N. Y.
2. Melwood Construction Corporation 87,466.75
507 Fifth Avenue, N. Y. C.
3. Millman & Nazzaro 98,653.00
125 Livingston Street, Brooklyn, N.Y.
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MAP: CITY HALL PARK - AREA TO BE LANDSCAPED
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Wednesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 February 7, 1940
Bids were opened today by the Department of Parks at the
Arsenal for Landscaping the Shore Parkway section of the Belt Parkway from
Brigham Street to Cross Bay Boulevard in the Borough of Brooklyn and Queens.
This contract provides for topsoiling and seeding that portion
of the Parkway which runs through Marine Park and the Jamaica Bay section
between the limits mentioned above.
With the letting today, all necessary contracts for landscaping
the Belt Parkway will have been placed under contract.
The three low bidders were:
1. Slattery Contracting Corp,
7202 51st Avenue, Winfield, L.I. $41,314.75
2. Bayview Concrete Construction Corp.
546 Ocean Point Avenue, Cedarhurst, L.I. 45,867.35
3. Grant Park Construction Co.
65 Prospect Avenue, Hewlett, L.I. 48,721.55
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Thursday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 February 1, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that eighty boys and girls of
the Bronx Operetta Orchestral Clubs will give three performances of Oscar
Straus's tuneful operetta, "The Chocolate Soldier" at Mullaly Recreation
Building, Jerome Avenue' and 165th Street. There will be two evening
performances: one on Friday, February 2nd, at 8:15 and the other on
Saturday, February 3rd at 8:15. A matinee performance, exclusively for
children, will take place Saturday, February 3rd, at 2:00 P.M.
Thousands of persons have been entertained by members of the
Bronx Operetta and Orchestral Clubs of the Park Department since their
organization in the Spring of 1938, Their repertoire has included various
Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, such as, "The Mikado" and the "Pirates of
Penzance", both of which were staged before large audiences on the Mall,
Central Park; the Music Grove, Forest Park and at the World's Fair. In
addition, they have broadcast excerpts of these well-known musical numbers
over Stations WOR, WNYC, and WPIX.
Rehearsals for "The Chocolate Soldier" production have been going
on for the last two months under the supervision of the recreation personnel
of the Bronx Recreation Division, Department of Parks, All the scenery,
stage settings, etc. have been made by the Stagecraft division of the clubs.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Thursday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 February 1, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that special recreational
activities are scheduled for three Park Department playgrounds during the
month of February in commemoration of their official opening to the public.
These anniversary celebrations will include kindergarten
demonstrations, puppet shows, singing of patriotic songs, group games and
recitations.
The February schedule for playground birthday celebrations is
as follows:
Borough Playground Opened
Manhattan: Harlem Health Roof
E. 115th Street between
3rd and Lexington Avenues February 15, 1938
Queens Liberty Avenue and 102nd
Street Playground February 28, 1937
Richmond Lyman Avenue Playground
Lyman Avenue & Ft. Wadsworth February 19, 1939
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Thursday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 February 1, 1940
Bids were opened today by the New York City Parkway Authority
at the Arsenal for the reconstruction of a section of Cross Bay Boulevard,
in the Borough of Queens.
This contract provides for the reconstruction of Cross Bay
Boulevard between North Channel Bridge at Howard Beach and the toll plaza in
Broad Channel.
The low bidders were:
1. B. Turecamo Contracting Co.
Foot of 24th Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y. $ 734,403.50
2. P. Tomasetti Contracting Corp.
1064-60th Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. 761,245.00
3. Reiss & Weinsier, Inc.
105 Court Street, Brooklyn, N.Y 788,914,00
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Thursday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 January 25, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that, as a result
of recent mention in the press regarding the "loss" of one of the two
pelicans which have roamed the 59th Street pond in Central Park for nearly
50 years, three new young pelicans have been acquired.
Those citizens who mourned the passing of the
old-timer will be delighted to learn that she never was lost, but had been
penned in heated winter quarters since the Christmas holidays while her
erstwhile hardier mate continued to roam the icy shores of the pond.
One of the new arrivals, a South American white
male, was donated by the Hew York Zoological Society and comes from the
collection in Bronx Park. It has been named "Ozzie", in honor of the
Secretary of the Society, Mr. Fairfield Osborn. The other two are young
brown pelicans of the Florida specie and were donated by Mr. Rushton Peabody
of Fort Pierce, Florida. These birds, one a male named "Rushty" and the
other a coy young female called "Peaby" were shipped north by train and
arrived safely and in good condition on Monday, January 22, despite the
recent cold spell that covered the Eastern States.
All the pelicans are now penned up in warm winter
quarters at the 59th Street Lake, including old Bill, to whose recent
solitude can be attributed the influx of new specimens. In the Spring, when
warm weather arrives, all five will be released from their pen to sun
themselves in their secluded spots and explore the lake with their enormous
and grotesquely-shaped bills.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE SATURDAY
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 January 20, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that, weather permitting,
the city-wide finals of the Ice Skating Carnival conducted annually
under the auspices of the New York City Park Department will be
held on Conservatory Lake, opposite 74th Street and Fifth Avenue, in
Central Park in Manhattan, on Sunday, January 21st, at 2 P. M.
the first four contestants in oach ovont of the fivo borough
carnivals will be eligible to compote on Sunday afternoon.
The skating races will include the following ovents:
Races Age Boys Girls
Juvenile 9-11 years 75 yards 75 yards
Junior 12-14 years 220 yards 100 yards
440 " 220 "
Intermediate 15-17 years 220 yards 220 yards
880 " 440 "
Senior Unlimited 880 yards 220 yards
(Over 17 years) 1 mile
Prizes will bo awarded to first, second and third place winners
of each event.
Exhibitions of figure skating will form part of the program.
Music will bo provided by the Perk Dopartnont Band and
seating accomodations will be furnished for spectators.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE WEDNESDAY
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 January 17, 1940
The lew York City Parkway Authority announces that the 30th millionth
car passed over the Henry Hudson Bridge, spanning the Harlem River, at 10:00
A.M., Tuesday, January 16, 1940. The car, a Ford coupe, license WE 817,
N.Y., was owned by Miss Janet Younker of Knollwood Road, Elmsford, New York.
The Henry Hudson Bridge has been opened to traffic a little over
three years, making the average nearly ten million cars a year. During the
past year the bridge carried 12,700,000 vehicles.
In accordance with the previous established custom, the Authority
donated a 50-trip booklet of tickets to Miss Younker.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bids were opened today by the Department of Parks at the Arsenal
for the construction of a sea wall in connection with the Belt Parkway from
Owl's Head Park (69th Street) to the Southern Parkway at Aqueduct, Borough of
Queens.
This contract provides for the construction of approximately
7800 linear feet of masonry wall with rip rap foundation which will be built
for the protection of the new Shore Parkway. This contract also includes
the construction of a promenade along the wall, a wrought iron fence and other
incidental work.
The low bidders were:
1. Garofano Construction Company
730 South Columbus Avenue, Mt, Vernon, N.Y. $ 663,000.
2. Elmhurst Contracting Company, Inc.
53-04 97th Place, Corona, L.I. 667,514.
3. Tully & DilNapoli, Inc.
30-11 12th Street, Long Island City 689,890.25
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Monday afternoon
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 January 15, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that the Mayor will open
two playgrounds at 3:30 P.M. tomorrow, one at Alexander Avenue and 136th
Street, The Bronx, and the other at Hamilton Place and 141st Street,
Manhattan.
The playground at Alexander Avenue and 136th Street is a
new facility and will be officially opened with a ceremony in which Mayor
La Guardia, Borough President James J. Lyons and Colonel Brehon Somervell,
Work Projects Administrator of New York City, will participate. Park
Commissioner Robert Moses will preside.
The three-quarter acre Alexander Avenue playground was
acquired with funds made available as a result of a transfer of park land at
the northerly end of Mullaly Park, in the same borough, to the Board of
Education for school purposes. It contains four handball courts, a large,
open, biuminous-surfaced play area for group games, small and large swings,
see-saws, slides, a jungle gym, a completely equipped playground with sand
pit and wading pool for smaller children, and a comfort station. A planting
area with shade trees borders the playground. Numerous concrete benches
have been provided.
At the Hamilton Place area, the old playground has been
entirely reconstructed to provide for wider and more intensive
usage. Besides a new modern comfort station, there is now a wading pool,
volley ball and handball courts, a jungle gym, swings, slides and see~saws,
The entire area has been resurfaced with bituminous material to provide for
continuous usage throughout the year.
The opening of these two areas, designed by the Park
Department and built by the Work Projects Administration, makes a total of
308 new and reconstructed playgrounds completed by the Park Department since
1934.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Friday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 January 5, 1940
Bids were opened today by the Department of Parks at the
Arsenal Building for the improvement of Coney Island between Ocean Parkway
and West 15th Street, Borough of Brooklyn.
The General contract provides for the relocation of
approximately 3800 feet of existing boardwalk eighty feet in width, starting
approximately at West 15th Street and extending easterly to Ocean Avenue,
thus widening the existing beach about 300 feet and adding 24 acres to the
beach area. This contract includes also covering the widened beach with
white sand and repairing the boardwalk damaged by fire last fall; the
utilization of space under the boardwalk for a combined Comfort Station,
Life Guard and Red Cross Building between West 5th Street and Ocean Parkway
and a similar arrangement of a combined Life Guard, Red Cross and Concession
Building at Stillwell Avenue; the realignment of Surf Avenue and other
incidental work.
The Electrical contract will provide the necessary lighting
for the relocated boardwalk and for the new buildings, including fire and
police alarms and beach telephone systems, as well as for the realigned Surf
Avenue and Seaside Park.
The Plumbing contract includes the necessary plumbing in
conjunction with the construction of the two buildings indicated above, and
the heating and ventilating contract provides the necessary heating and
ventilating for the combined Comfort Station, Life Guard and Red Cross
Building.
The low bidders are as follows:
GENERAL CONTRACT
1. A. A. Johnson Co. & Necaro Co., Inc.
2928 Hunter Avenue, Long Island City $767,808.86
2. Reiss & Weinsier, Inc.
105 Court Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. 779,811.56
3. John G. English Co, & H.L, Fischer, Inc,
12 East 41 Street, Hew York City 835,119.50
ELECTRICAL
1. Simpson Electric Company $ 36,100.
71 East 116 Street N.Y.C.
2. Regent Electrical Institute Co.
250 East 43 Street, N. Y. C, 42,500.
3. T. Frederick Jackson, Inc.
1165 Broadway, N. Y. C. 44,000.
PLUMBING
1. Snyder Plumbing & Heating Corp.
333 viest 52 Street, N. Y. C. 21,097.
2. George J. Kay
1960 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y. 21,970.
3. Astrove Plumbing & Heating Corp.
353 West 25 Street, N. Y. C. 23,218.
HEATING & VENTILATING
1. Jacobs Engineering Co.
103 Park Avenue, N. Y. C. 816.00
2. Edward Kiss, Inc.
207 West 43 Street, N. Y. C. 905.00
3. Clermont Heating Co.
480 Clermont Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y. 1282.00
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Wednesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 January 3, 1940
The Department of Paries announces that, ireather permitting,
an Ice Skating Carnival will be held on Conservatory Lake, opposite 74
Street and Fifth Avenue, in Central Park, Manhattan, on Sunday, January 7,
at 2 P.M.
Entries for the events listed below are being received in all
Park playgrounds throughout the Borough of Ilanhattan, and will also be
received by mail or telephone at the Arsenal Building, 64 Street and Fifth
Avenue, New York City, telephone Regent 4-1000, Extension 89. Entries close
on Friday, January 5, 1940 at 5 P.M.
SKATING RACES AGE BOYS GIRLS
Juvenile 9- 11 years 75 yards 75 yards
Junior 12- 14 years 220 " 100 "
440 " 220 "
Intermediate 15- 17 years 220 " 220 "
880 " 440 "
Senior Unlimited 880 " 220 "
(over 17 years) 1 mile
In addition to prizes to the winners, the first four in each
event will be eligible to compete in the City finals which are scheduled for
a week later, January 14, at Conservatory Lake.
During the racing events, there will be an exhibition of
figure skating in the center of the arena. Seating accommodations will be
provided for spectators.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Index July-September
1940
7/l/40 96 Bids on East River Park, Brand Central to Montgomery
7/2/40 97 Jurisdiction over Columbus Circle
7/3/40 98 Programs announced for children for Independence Bay
7/3/40 99 Official openings of 22 Park Dept. playgrounds
7/5/40 100 City-wide finals of hoMeshoe-pitching tournament
7/6/40 101 Reopening of Annunciation Playground announced
7/9/40 102 Fireworks at Jacob Riis Park every Wednesday
during July and August
7/10/40 103 Newbold Morris golf trophy on display
7/10/40 104 Bids on sidewalks for Fort fatten
7/ll/40 105 Fifteen running tracks to ffeeilitate bicyclists
7/ll/40 106 Completion of Forth Section of Lincoln Terrace Park
7/13/40 107 Track meet at Randall's Island on July 13
7/13/40 108 City-wide sports carnival announced
7/13/40 109 Resignation of A.R. Jennings, General
Superintendent of the Park Dept.; other changes
7/19/40 110 Eighty entries for Queens Men's Singles tournament
7/19/40 111 Kite flying contest on July 25
7/19/40 112 Renovation of bathhouse and swimming pool at
5 Rutgers Place
7/20/40 113 Entries for golf and tennis championships due July 21
7/22/40 ll4 Complaints of residents near Belt Parkway heard
7/23/40 115 Bids on life guard and comfort station at 135th St.
7/26/40 116 Largest metropolitan tennis tournament begins July 27
7/27/40 117 New Lots playground reopened without ceremonies
7/29/40 118 Reconstruction of N. end of Bronx Park begun
7/30/40 119 Bids on paving Shore Parkway at 69th Road
7/30/40 120 Repairs to Steeplechase pier complete
8/1/40 121 Opening of four improved park facilities
8/3/40 122 Entries for swimming meet due Aug. 10
8/3/40 123 Need to water newly planted street trees cited
8/3/40 124 Eleanor Tennant will conduct free tennis clinic
8/3/40 125 Children's recreational activities for August
8/6/40 126 Softball league finals
8/6/40 127 City-wide golf championships August 10
8/8/40 128 Amateur Junior Fife and Drum Corps competitions
8/8/40 129 Correspondence re volunteer life saving corps dance
8/9/40 130 AAU diving championship August 10
8/9/40 131 Municipal golf championships for women and jr. boys
8/10/40 132 Bushwick playground reopened
8/10/40 133 Tennis finals announced
8/16/40 134 Manster Dance Festival with Brooklyn girls Aug. 17
8/19/40 135 Bids on demolition at 17th Ave.
8/19/40 136 Board of Estimate approves Stewart Railroad rt-of-way
8/2O/40 137 Third annual life guard tournament announced
8/21/40 138 Children's Dance Festival postponed
8/23/40 139 Final game of junior Softball tournament Aug. 24
8/23/40 140 Girls' softball tournament Aug. 24
8/23/40 141 Newbold Morris Trophy golf tournament opening
8/26/40 142 Pedestrian overpasses over Belt Parkway open
8/26/40 143 New playground at Stuyvesant Ave., Brooklyn
8/27/40 144 Bids on reconstruction of W. part of St. Gabrielle Park
8/26/40 145 World's Fair commissioner wants Flushing Meadow
converted to a military camp
8/27/40 146 Inter-pool swimming championships at Astoria Pool, Aug. 30
8/28/40 147 Pedestrian access t© be provided from
Bronx to N. end Randall's Island
8/28/40 148 Addition to recreation area at Howard Ave., etc.
8/30/40 149 Lefty Gomez will award prizes at softball tournament
8/31/40 150 Special programs for 17 playgrounds
9/2/40 151 Reopening of southern portion of Alley Pond Park
9/5/40 152 Demonstration of recreational activities of parks.
9/5/40 153 Finals of intermediate softball game postponed.
9/7/40 154 "Animal Naming Contest" by children to select
names for new animals in zoo.
9/7/40 155 Closing of outdoor pools and conversion to play area.
9/7/40 156 City-wide Softball championship for men over 21.
9/10/40 157 Construction of recreational facilities, passive
and active, adjacent to Queensboro housing
9/12/40 158 Bids received for work at Borden Ave*, Queens*
9/13/40 159 Finals of Children's Amateur Singing Contest.
9/14/40 160 Three new playgrounds opened*
9/18/40 161 Japanese World's Fair pavilion presented to city as
permanent Japanese exhibit
9/20/40 162 Finals of largest bolf tournament at Dyker Beach
Golf Course
9/26/40 163 Borough Hall park reconstructed.
nd/40 164 25-page speech by Robert Moses.
9/28/40 165 Amateur photo contest.
9/28/40 166 Children's handcraft exhibition at the American
Museum of Natural History.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Saturday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 September 28, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that the annual playground
children's Handcraft Exhibition will take place in the Education Hall of the
American Museum of Natural History, 79 Street and Central Park West,
Manhattan, beginning Sunday, September 29, and running through Sunday,
October 6, from 10 A.M. to 5 P.M. On Sundays, the hours will be from 1
P.M. to 5 P.M. There will be no admission charge.
This Handcraft Exhibit will be held in conjunction with the
display of pictures which were submitted for the recent Amateur Photo
Contest conducted annually under the auspices of the Park Department. The
pictures were reviewed by the board of judges and the prizes shall be
awarded to the winning contestants at the Museum of Natural History on
Saturday, October 5, at 2 P.M.
The Handcraft Exhibition will include objects made by children
of all age groups in the various Handcraft Classes supervised by the
Department of Parks at the numerous playgrounds under its jurisdiction as an
integral part of a comprehensive all year-round recreation program.
The heterogeneous collection will reveal leather, soap and chip
carving, raffia, reed, bead, weaving and basketry work. Useful and
decorative articles for home and school have also been made from such
materials as cork, wood, metal, leather, wool, beads, crepe paper, cord and
felt. Discarded materiai of all sorts has been salvaged from the waste heap
by the young craftsmen and converted into instruments of practical value,
viz., rugs made of rags, lamps made of bottles, and flower vases made from
cardboard milk containers.
Other contributions to the handcraft display consist of wearing
apparel such as sweaters, scarfs and hats with singular designs and
beautiful color schemes.
Demonstrations in the technique of handcraft will1 be given
during the exhibition by children from each of the boroughs in the
following: leather and chip carving, basketry, bead-work, metal work, loom
weaving and hook rug construction.
***
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Saturday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 September 28, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that the 350 photographs submitted
for the Amateur Photo Contest conducted by this department were reviewed by
the board of judges at the Arsenal Building, Central Park, Manhattan.
The entrants were divided into two age groups as follows:
Junior Division - Children up to 16 years of age
Senior Division - Persons 17 years of age and over
Each competitor was permitted to submit as many pictures as he
desired, provided all the photographs were taken during 1940 and depicted
"Youth or Age" in the parks, pools, beaches or playgrounds under the
jurisdiction of the Department of Parks.
The following contestants were adjudged the winners:
Junior Division;
1st place: Sol Tauber - 611 East 6 Street, New York City.
Age - 16 years
Title of Picture - "Last One in Is a Sissy"
2nd place: Robert Schneider - 66 Bloomingdale Road, Prince Bay, S.I.
Age - 14 years
Title of Picture - "Old Skipper's Delight"
3rd place: Benjamin Levy - 656-8 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Age - 15 years
Title of Picture: "Winter Scene"
Honorable Mention:
Martin Walpow - 1023 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Age - 15 years
Title of Picture - "Duck Bath"
Herbert Heller - 526 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Age - 13f years
Title of Picture - "Topsy Turvey"
George Kafig - 1660 Crotona Park East, Bronx, N. Y.
Age - 10 years
Title of Picture - "Cacti"
Louis Martin - 635 West 174 Street, New York City
Age - 16 years
Title of Picture - "Playground Celebration"
Senior Division;
1st place: Ben Cooperman - 964 49 Street, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Title of Picture -"Ice Skating"
2nd place: N. Field - 625 Caton Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Title of Picture - "Little Fisherman"
3rd place: Mrs. John Tehan - 34 Hillside Avenue, Manhattan
Title of Picture - "Fort Tryon Park in Winter"
Special Honorable Mention:
A. Schacht - 42 Elliott Place, Bronx, N. Y.
Title of Picture - "Peek-A-Boo"
Louis A. Monaco - 146 Hast 19 Street, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Title of Picture - "Central Park Lake"
Bernard Siegel - 102 East 52 Street, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Title of Picture - "Temptation"
Honorable Mention
Herbert Hamburger - 322 East 8 Street, New York City
Title of Picture - "Playmates"
M. Mansfield - 297 Pulaski Street, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Title of Picture - "Two Lads and a Boat"
M. Solomon - 2255 Grand Concourse, B ronx, N.Y.
Title of Picture- "Looking over the World from a
Playground Slide"
Albert Aboff - 40 Monroe Street, New York City
Title of Picture - "Thirsty"
Louis Kurnu - 19 Clinton Street, New York City
Title of Picture - "Pensive"
One Kodak 35 with K. A. f. 4.5 lens No. 1 Diomatic shutter, donated
by R. H. Macy Company, will be awarded to the winner of the Senior Division;
another valuable camera, donated by Davega Sporting Goods Company, will be
the prize for the winning contestant in the Junior Division. Second and
third place winners in both divisions will receive silver and bronze medals
respectively.
Certificates of merit will be awarded to the entrants receiving
honorable mention.
Presentation of prizes to the winning competitors will be made on
Saturday, October 5th at 2 P.M. at the Education Hall, American Museum of
Natural History, 79 Street and Central Park West.
The judges of the contest were: Paul J. Woolf, Rodney McCay Morgan
and Paul Schum.
All the pictures submitted for the Amateur Photo Contest will be on
display at the Museum in conjunction with the department's annual handcraft
exhibition which will commence on Sunday, September 29, and run through
Sunday, October 6.
* * *
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[In handwriting: No Date (September?) 1940]
Says R O B E R T M O S E S in conclusion
"...I warned the Editor that this
would be a rambling discourse - one
of those stream-of-consciousness
things which tell what goes on in
the mind of an administrator who, if
the truth be told, has very little
time for thought,"
Pretty much everyone in the U. S. who pretends to know anything knows what
Robert Moses has done for New York. But because Conmissioner Moses is more
interested in works than words, rare is the occasion when he takes time out
for reminiscing on paper. For all we know, and we tried to find out, this is
the first piece the Commissioner has written in which he uncovers the
technique which has given Hew York in recent years more public works to be
proud of than any other world metropolis. Here then is no stuffy opus that
seeks to impress with strange and large words, but a revealing, human
document that tells much, invites reading the rest between the lines. Anyone
who hopes to have a hand in the drastic changes which all of our cities are
undergoing needs to read this article. Gentlemen, Mr. Robert Moses.
CHANGE
We are told from time to time, both by those who seem to approve
and profess to admire and by those who are shocked and apprehensive, that
some of us are changing the face of the metropolis and have designs on its
character and personality as well. There is something in this, but neither
the boosters nor the critics are quite right about it.
We are the apostles of change but not of revolution. We do not
advocate change as a philosophy. We are not iconoclasts by profession nor
breakers of tradition by temperament nor, on the other hand, have we any
predilection for keeping things as they are because they have been so for a
long time. Least of all are we the slaves of any dogmatic new regional
planning theories.
What we are aiming at in New York and its suburbs is a series of
reasonable nearby objectives to make this community livable and convenient
according to modern standards, arresting and beautiful as measured by tried
and ancient principles of design, and conmercially and industrially
attractive because when such attraction weakens or is gone the reason for
the existence of the metropolis is gone with it.
The fundamental premise on which all change must be predicated
is, of course, growth and distribution of population. This is just
guess-work. The validity of the guess and the respect accorded to it must
depend upon the character and reputation of the fellow who makes it. Not
long ago our new City Planning Commission asked all sorts of people for
their estimates. It was, as might have been expected, a field day for
sensible people and crackpots. In such a situation I would rather have the
opinion of the New York Telephone Company than that of scientists using
elaborate formulas consisting largely of unknown quantities. The all-time
absurdity in such calculations was reached a few years ago when the Regional
Plan of New York printed, with apparent approval, a study of population
growth in the metropolitan area based upon an analogy with the breeding of
bluebottle fruit flies.
My own opinion, for what it is worth, is that Manhattan will
continue to decline in population, but not as rapidly as it has been
decreasing; that Brooklyn will increase slowly but steadily as the presently
undeveloped areas, especially those north of Jamaica Bay, are developed;
that the Bronx population will also increase slowly and steadily as the
areas in the east and north central sections fill up; that Queens will grow
somewhat more rapidly than the Bronx, and that Richmond will have no great
increase until it is made more accessible.
I think it is silly to give any figures beyond I960, In that year
my guess is that the population of Manhattan will be about 1,500,000; that
of Brooklyn 3,250,000; that of the Bronx 2,250,000 and that of Queens also
2,250,000; and that of Richmond 250,000. This makes a total population in
1960 of 9,500,000 inhabitants, After 1960, I believe that the city's growth
will be slow. You may, however, have a hearty laugh at my expense in I960.
In a recent speech before a child welfare group in the White
House the President enunciated a conclusion about New York's population
which is neither new nor illuminating, if indeed it is true. He said that
New York would be much better off if its population were six million instead
of seven million, and he added that the Mayor had told him it ought to be
five million. In the same speech the President quoted with approval the
remark of a French scientist to the effect that every third generation of
city-bred people require good healthy country blood to keep it from anaemia
and disintegration. This is no doubt flattering to our rural neighbors and
emphasizes a comparatively recent decision of the President to be regarded
as a simple Hudson Valley farmer as sharply distinguished from a New York
City boy. Such statements, of course, in spite of their high source, are
just political hokum.
New York, like a good many other cities, may have too large a
population. Even this is debatable. Nothing, however, would be accomplished
by merely cutting down the population, if such a crazy thing were possible,
unless there were a redistribution on the basis of entirely new zoning and
housing ordinances and regulations. We have plenty of vacant and thinly
populated land in New York City. There are large areas more open and rural
than the suburbs, just as there are others in which too many people are
huddled together. In- cidentally, there are some areas in the city of
Washington, D,C. in which there are slums more depressing than any I have
seen in Hew York and where some mag- nificent experiments could be conducted
by a paternalistic government. Similarly, all over this fair land of ours,
there are rundown rural communities of no great population in which decent
living must be much more difficult than in our larger cities. Somehow or
other the itch of planners to take the big cities apart and reconstruct them
nearer to the heart's desire is stronger than the itch to reorganize smaller
communities. Perhaps it is because the planners can't find an audience and a
living in the great open spaces.
Those who would drastically decentralize the metropolis, break it
up into satellite towns, rebuilt it in its entirety, make sheer logic
prevail in the relocation of trade, residence, art and recreation, may
continue to live in Ivory Towers, paint pictures and deliver homilies to
long-haired listeners. This town is too tough for them and they had better
keep out of the rough and tumble of the market place. You can make a lot of
changes in New York with public support, but the limitations are quite
definite and any one who goes beyond them is going to be very lonely. It
all gets down to the matter of judgment. Judgment must be predicated on
knowledge of the physical aspects of the community, acquaintance with its
many people and neighborhoods, sympathy with its folk-ways, a not too
slavish respect for its past and a not too exaggerated and roseate vision of
its future, and finally, a balanced conception of the place of this
metropolis in the state and nation, and of its advantages and disadvantages
in competition with other great centers.
This is a pretty elaborate formula demanding quite a little talent,
but if there is to continue to be a New York, and if this city and the suburbs
which depend upon it are not to be buried before long under tons of dust, just
such talent must be available among its leaders.
Let me be a little more specific. We have in New York an area
known as Jamaica Bay. It includes most of the south shore of Long Island
within the city limits, consisting of a flat apron of land representing the
glacial run-off below the terminal moraine in the center of the
island. There are vast stretches of meadow land, hardly changed since the
time of the Indians, running to an enormous bay, contained by the barrier
beach known as Rockaway.
Rockaway Inlet, the funnel from bay to ocean, gave industrial
planners of a generation ago the notion of a great harbor with deep
waterways, immense piers and waterfront manufacturing plants approached by
railroad spurs, including the bulkheading and filling of the islands in the
bay itself and their connection with the mainland by numerous causeways and
bridges. There was little or nothing in the history or prospects of the port
of New York to justify the so-called Jamaica Bay Improvement, and in all of
this mapping, planning and ballyhoo there was just a little too much
evidence of the slick real estate promoter who raises the value of a piece
of property from acreage to front footage, and from waste to teeming
industry, by the simple device of publishing an elaborate and persuasive
prospectus.
In any event, the Jamaica Bay lads, with the help of senators,
congressman and others, sold their idea to the city, state and federal
governments and brought about an agreement under which the Army Engineers
would do an immense amount of dredging in return for vague and grandiose
industrial improvements to be made by the city, the railroads, the
manufacturers, the shippers, the developers and other unnamed John Does and
Richard Roes.
Nothing of any consequence happened for a number of years and
then some of us came along with plans for various improvements, all looking
toward better traffic conditions, parkways, parks and public beaches -- all
spelling residence and recreation rather than industry as the future of
Jamaica Bay.
My first thought was to take the problem on cold by publicly
advocating the complete abandonment of the Jamaica Bay Improvement as
indicated on city maps and plans, and as reflected in zoning and other
ordinances and regulations. In spite of warnings from some of my staff and
associates and from shrewd and friendly observers, I took the responsibility
for issuing a pamphlet on "The future of Jamaica Bay". Let me make it clear
that many tides had run over the meadows and marshes and had ebbed and
flowed through Rockaway Inlet since anything active had been done about this
particular port development, and that we had already made great strides
toward the recreational and residential substitute.
We had built the Marine Parkway from the end of Flatbush Avenue
in Brooklyn to the Rookaways and had completely reconstructed Jacob Riis
Park. We had acquired the right of way for the Belt Parkway which was to
encircle the whole city and include a great part of the shore front on
Jamaica Bay. We were working on the reconstruction of Cross Bay Boulevard,
the only other passage across the bay in addition to the New Marine Parkway,
and not only the immense undeveloped area in Marine Park, Brooklyn, but
other large tracts of meadow land were in process of acquisition for future
recreation purposes. The great Rockaway shore front improvement was about to
begin, including the elevation of the railroad tracks as part of the new
State grade crossing program.
Nevertheless, I could not get the Mayor and the other necessary
city officials completely to abandon the Jamaica Bay Improvement, It was
just too much corned beef and cabbage to feed a public brought up for many
years on promises of a pate de foie gras and terrapin diet of port
development. Matters were further complicated by an announcement by the
Sanitation Commissioner that the ideal plan for Jamaica Bay should be
centered around bulkheading and filling up the islands with refuse, ashes
and garbage, a comparatively inoffensive process, according to this
official, which in the end would produce exactly what the Jamaica port
developers wanted. The public did not take kindly to this scheme to create
another noisome and offensive Riker's Island or Flushing Meadows dump.
Under these conditions it was necessary to advance the park and
conservation program for Jamaica Bay piecemeal by completing the acquisition
of park and parkway land, rezoning the adjacent frontage for residence,
adjusting the dredging program, defeating the sanitation dump plan and by
other steps, too detailed to mention. There remain today, for all practical
purposes, only two recognized industrial areas on the north side of Jamaica
Bay -- at Mill Basin and at Head of Bay.
The Jamaica Bay episode affords a good illustration of what can
and can't be done in New York by way of change, and the method by which a
controversial program can be carried through with public support. Even
though the old Jamaica Bay industrial plan was a practical impossibility,
the whole-hog-or-none policy as applied to the new program would not have
worked. The park and parkway program won its way gradually, step by step,
and any other procedure would merely have resulted in another ambitious
report to gather dust on the shelves of municipal reference libraries.
The timing of great municipal improvements is of the utmost
importance. A thing can be done today after the proper groundwork has been
laid, which could not have been done a month earlier and would be quite
impossible a month hence. This may sound fantastic, but it is
true. Government at best is a pretty freakish business and there are more
factors, personalities and situations to be considered than, control
business and other enterprises.
The fifty million dollar state railroad grade crossing program
which will eliminate all remaining surface intersections with streets had
its psychological moment at the 1938 state constitutional convention. Two
previous amendments had been duds, and this third effort succeeded at the
polls. As Chairman of the committee which had this subject in charge I saw
it through the convention and later, as Mayor LaGuardia's representative,
through the other critical stages to actual construction. If advantage had
not been taken of just these opportunities, the great Atlantic Avenue,
Rockaway and other railroad improvements in the City and others upstate
would have slumbered for another generation.
The acquisition of the rights of way for the first state and
federal parkway construction in New York City in 1929, that is, the Grand
Central Parkway in Queens, could not have been accomplished at any other
time than at the precise moment it was put through when we happened to have
federal funds available, and when Mayor Walker was willing to leave
condemnation to Comptroller Berry. I was representing the state at the time
and General Berry was a former state official and a friend of mine. Even
then it was impossible to acquire an adequate width. The Grand Central
Parkway had been mapped many years before at a width of one hundred and
fifty feet. The meaning of "parkway" was not known then. What the word
connoted then was merely a wide boulevard with private property fronting on
it and having access to it everywhere. In one section it would have been
necessary to take hundreds of houses to get the proper width.
Since then scores of people have critized our failure to provide
a separating strip between the two streams of traffic traveling in opposite
directions, space for six lanes instead of four, and retaining walls and
slopes so steep that erosion presents serious problems no matter what kind
of ground cover is used. There are plenty of ex post facto oritics who are
ready to confound the pioneers, but the critics did not have to live through
the early days. What was crazy in 1930, was progressive in 1935; is
universally accepted today, and may be outmoded tomorrow. Therefore don't
blame General Berry for refusing to go along on an adequate right of way for
the Grand Central Parkway. He couldn't see the traffic and the accidents of
the near future, and probably could not have persuaded the appropriating
authorities of the city to yield to what looked like the unreasonable demand
of an irresponsible enthusiast.
Practically the same condition arose a little later when we
decided to push the Grand Central Parkway on into Brooklyn. We had to use
the so-called Interboro Parkway, part of the land for which had been
acquired a few years before. This consisted of a tortuous ribbon winding
its way along the cemetery ridge in the form of not one but a series of
letter "S" curves. All religious denominations were represented in the
condemnation proceedings, and the wailing, cries of anguish and gnashing of
teeth at the Board of Estimate hearings could be heard blocks away. No doubt
this was due in part to the very natural objection to moving even a few
graves, but the net result was that the land cost the city an average of
#130,000 an acre, which would seem to represent considerable balm for the
living as well as the dead. It is interesting to note that when the five
scattered city park departments were consolidated and responsibility fell
upon the new administration, we succeeded in buying additional cemetery land
for $35,000 an acre.
Even the new administration could not straighten out very much
the original snake run in the cemetery section. We built adequate approaches
on each side, flattened slopes, rebuilt walls, planted ivy, added a
tremendous timber guardrail in the center mall, put up warning signs to slow
down traffic, but we could not entirely undo the mistakes of former
officials. We were up against too much sentiment to go
further. Nevertheless, the smart alecks of today scoff at what they are
pleased to call the bad planning and poor workmanship of those who built the
Interboro Parkway. They know nothing of its history. They have no idea what
our troubles were, and probably would not themselves have done half as
well. This kind of thing is tough on those of us who hate compromise anyway,
but we learned not to waste time on explanations and post mortems, and to go
on to the next thing, always hoping that it will be a fresh, new project,
without unfortunate inheritances.
The extension of the Grand Central Parkway through Flushing
Meadow and along Flushing Bay into the Triborough Bridge has an even more
interesting history. Here we had a very bitter fight with some of my upstate
Republican friends in the legislature, who insisted that there must be an
end to parkway construction with state funds in New York City, and
arbitrarily fixed the terminus of the Grand Central Parkway at Northern
Boulevard. The fact that New York City contributes to the state a very
substantial part of all license plate and gasoline tax revenues has never
made much of an impression on some upstaters who feel that no city ought to
get any state or federal highway moneys. There is no logic in it, but it is
part of a good, healthy, well nourished prejudice and dies a hard death. Of
course we took what we could get and arranged to have the rest of this
parkway built by the Triborough Bridge Authority,
Construction through the Flushing Meadows was a bold
adventure. This was no unspoiled tidal marsh. On half of it a huge ash dump,
with plenty of garbage and refuse, had been reared foot by foot over many
years. The accumulated clinkers, dust, offscourings, waste and junk of
hundreds of thousands of Brooklyn families had their monument in this
horrendous mountain. It was necessary to drive the parkway right through the
center of it after acquiring the dump itself and the land adjacent to it,
and settling all sorts of incidental quarrels between the city and the
Brooklyn Ash Removal Company, and then to flatten and plant the hills or to
remove them entirely as part of a gigantic reclamation project.
By the greatest stroke of luck, the progenitors of the World's
Fair came along at just this time, and asked me to go into partnership with
them in the location of the Fair in the Flushing Meadows. Nothing could have
been more opportune. It was the beginning of the reclamation of this entire
section of Queens, and our part of it was to level the dumps, straighten out
the water courses and make all the permanent improvements, which ran to a
total of some $50,000,000, I have always been frank to say that the Fair
meant nothing to the park and parkway boys exoept as the answer to our
prayer for allies in our reclamation program.
By way of further emphasizing the importance of timing in
connection with projects of this sort, 1 might say that land for the Belt
Parkway now under construction, and for the extension of the Westchester
parkways southerly through the Bronx, could not have been acquired at any
other moment excepting the one which we selected as psychological for this
purpose. We just got under the wire, because a little later official opinion
veered away from projects of this kind, and the competition for remaining
federal grants and city capital and assessment funds became so bitter that
our solution of this arterial problem would have been impossible. We might
have had odds and ends of parkways, but nothing like the connected system we
are about to open to the public.
Obviously, the occasion for obtaining greater protection of
parkways through zoning arises just after the rights-of-way have been
acquired. This is the time to appear before the Planning Commission and
Board of Estimate to urge that the adjacent areas be zoned for residence as
distinguished from business and industry, and to obtain the maximum
protection against disfiguring billboards and signs. If this process is
delayed until construction is completed, the chances of jacking up the
zoning requirements are much smaller because of the pressure of selfish
local ovmers to cash in on the public improvements.
We have made it a universal practice to insist on the
establishment of protective zones adjacent to parkways and, so far as
possible, on the borders of parks. The advertising sign and billboard
nuisance must also be attacked independently through rigid enforcement of
existing and additional new ordinances.
We have also obtained protection of parkways built with state and
federal funds within the city limits through a special state law. In all of
these proceedings we have had the bitter and unremitting opposition of
stupid representatives and undercover agents of the billboard companies, who
cannot realize that public opinion is massing against them and the products
they advertise. It may be added that the normal pressure for private gas
stations adjacent to parkways has been met by providing publicly owned
stations of appropriate design at intervals along the parkways.
I do not intend to create the impression that our group of
executives and technicians win all the battles and get everything we go out
for. As a matter of fact we have our setbacks and our apparent defeats. The
Brooklyn-Battery Bridge is an illustration. Almost every one agreed that
there must be a crossing between the Battery and Hamilton Avenue, Brooklyn,
as part of the Belt system and in order to give access to the piers and
industries of South Brooklyn, The first attempt to finance a tunnel by
federal loan and grant failed. Some of us then suggested a bridge, or rather
two bridges. Immediately there were howls of disapproval from various
sources.
One source was the real estate, financial and industrial
interests in Manhattan who don't want to see that borough go back any
farther in population or influence, and who hate to see anything done to
improve access to Brooklyn. Another group consisted of misguided artists,
architects, sculptors and the supporters they could drum up, who insisted
that we were going to destroy Battery Park and the skyline of Manhattan by
so hideous a structure as a bridge. The fact that the planners of this
bridge had just completed the Bronx-Whitestone crossing, one of the simplest
and most beautiful steel structures in the world, made no impression on
these people, most of whom, I am sure, never saw the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge
and would not have recognized its beauty if they had seen it. Similarly,
none of these critics had previously evidenced the slightest interest in
Battery Park, and one of them had proposed a huge and hideous obelisk in the
center of this park, much higher than the bridge towers. Still another group
consisted of military people who claimed that this bridge could be bombed in
the case of an aerial attack and that the channels leading into the East
River and to the Navy Yard would be blocked. These people carefully
refrained from emphasizing the fact that there were two other bridges
seaward of the Navy Yard.
The pressure of these groups on official Washington resulted in
the refusal of a permit to construct the bridge on the ground of war
danger. It was therefore necessary to come back to a tunnel, which will cost
twice as much to build and three times as much to maintain, will take twice
as long to finish and will accommodate only half as many vehicles. I felt,
however, as did my associates, that it was our duty to help put through the
tunnel and to construct adequate approaches if we could not get a bridge
which we still believed represented the most intelligent, economical and
esthetic solution of the problem.
We also took a licking on other occasions, for example, we did a
pretty drastic job of reorganization when we took over the old Triborough
Bridge Authority. The old set-up was fantastic. The chief engineer had
planned a sixteen lane bridge with two levels. There was no conceivable need
of sixteen lanes and there would have been no possible way of getting the
number of vehicles he had visualized on and off the approaches. As a matter
of fact, approaches did not concern him. On the other hand, vast quantities
of ornamental granite seemed to be of first-rate importance. I found out
where this granite was to come from, but that is another story. When I sent
for the chief engineer and asked him which he thought was more important --
adequate approaches or ornamental granite, he unhesitatingly replied,
"granite." This ended the conference, and I told hin to resign and get hia
pension.
A reorganization of this kind did not require any superlative
courage, nor did the scrapping of the plans. When it came, however, to a
complete relocation of the Manhattan crossing we ran into real trouble.
Anyone who looks at the great Triborough crossing, with all of
its approaches and ramifications, from the air or on a map, figures the
distance he travels in a car, will see that the Manhattan arm should have
gone across Ward's and not Randall's Island, a mile or more south of its
present location. This was one of the first things we took up when the
Authority was reorganized, but we found that the same Harlem real estate and
business interests which had brought about the acquisition of land at 125th
Street for the Manhattan arm would undoubtedly have blocked a shift to the
south. Certainly there would have been a protracted debate into which the
P. W. A. would inevitably have been drawn, not to speak of the city
administration. We therefore concluded to leave the Manhattan arm of the
bridge where it had originally been placed, and not to start a controversy
which might have jeopardized the entire undertaking. We did, however, insist
on something by way of compromise and this was the building of the first
link in the East River Drive from 125th Street to 92nd Street, as part of
the Triborough approach, and as a way of making up some of the loss in time
in traveling up to Harlem.
There were two public institutions on Randall's Island when it
was turned over to the Park Department and Triborough Bridge Authority for
the construction of the Triborough and incidental recreational
facilities. One was an ancient barracks some eighty years old, with a
variety of inmates, known as the House of Refuge, operated by a
self-perpetuating board, and drawing on the state for support. The other was
the so-called Childrens Hospital, an institution for feeble-minded, operated
by the City of New York. There were endless difficulties in getting rid of
these institutions and moving the inmates after all statutory and
administrative requirements had been complied with. These institutions were
literally driven off the island by construction forces, beginning with the
sinking of the caissons in the ferry slips themselves, for the Manhattan arm
of the bridge.
Ward's Island, like Randalls, is owned by the City of New York,
Curiously enough the land under water surrounding it was privately owned,
and had to be condemned by the City at the instance of the Park
Department. This island is occupied by a state hospital for the insane. Its
buildings are almost all obsolete. Segments of the island have been turned
over at various times to the connecting railroad for the Hell Gate Bridge,
to the Triborough Bridge Authority for the Triborough Bridge, and to the
Department of Public Works for a sewer plant. The remainder, under a
special act of 1933, now incorporated in the Code of the City of New York,
is to be vacated by the State Hospital and turned over to the City not later
than 1943, when all of the inmates will have been moved off to new state
institutions in the suburbs. Recently a piece of land between the two
bridges was conveyed to the City Park Department by the State, and old civil
war buildings razed as a start on the future city park. There is, of course,
the same opposition on Ward's Island that developed on Randalls Island on
the part of doctors, nurses, relatives of inmates, and particularly minor
hospital employees, to moving out into the country from the heart of the
city. Every year efforts are made in the State Legislature and City Council
to scuttle the plan for a park on the Island, and to keep the state
institution there indefinitely. Incidentally, there are some votes on
Ward's Island which election captains hate to lose.
In changing the face of the city, one of the first principles is
not to be too far ahead of the procession. This may appear cowardly and
unimaginative. Actually it gets down to leadership. The leaders should, of
course, be at the front and not merely in safe dugouts in the rear, but if
they are too far ahead the procession will turn up a side alley and
disappear.
For example, it is clear as crystal that Staten Island, with its
large and attractive acreage and small population, constitutes the only
remaining borough in New York where a really fine and enlightened job of
planning can still be done. The borough is remote only because it is
comparatively inaccessible from Manhattan and Brooklyn as distinguished from
New Jersey, It has been said that it logically belongs to New Jersey and not
to New York, but this point is not worth arguing. In colonial times the
direct route from New England to Washington and the South was by way of
Staten Island, and all that is needed today to populate this Island and put
it on the main thoroughfare is a vehicular tunnel from Fort Wadsworth to
Fort Hamilton connecting with the Belt Parkway system.
More than ten years ago I worked on a plan for parks and parkways
on Staten Island. Some progress has been made in carrying out the program
but it has been simply impossible to obtain funds even for surveys of the
arterial and recreational system which will inevitably be needed on this
Island, We did succeed recently, by good luck, in fixing definitely the
location of the backbone of the future parkway system. The opportunity came
when the state acquired land for a new hospital which necessitated
cooperation between state and municipal officials in the exchange of lands
and location of present and future roadways.
The trouble is that the appropriating bodies of the city will not
spend much money now on a borough which has a thin population and less
urgent immediate needs than other and more congested parts of the town. In
the end, this neglect will be expensive and people will be asking why the
conditions of 1960 were not anticipated twenty years earlier. I hope that
the proposed Boston to Washington inter-regional highway project will put
Staten Island back on the direct route of Revolutionary days, and establish
the fork which will connect the Bay-Ridge-Richmond tunnel with the Goethals
and Outerbridge Crossings, Staten Island's opportunity is much more likely
to come as the result of such a big arterial project than through public
realization of the soundness of theories of advance planning.
The only land we have acquired without difficulty for the
expansion of the park system has been property on which obsolete structures
and eye sores are located such as abandoned ferry terminals, old state barge
canal terminals, reservoirs no longer required by the Department of Water
Supply, Gas and Electricity, and swamps such as Juniper Valley in Queens and
Soundview in the Bronx, which the public are glad to have us fill up and
transform into play areas provided that the filling process is neither
noisy, smelly nor otherwise objection- able.
Public reaction to the removal of landmarks is a fascinating and
astonishing study. It is possible to stir up sentiment for structures which
mean nothing at all to the average citizen. We had quite a time combating
the machinations of the Columbia Yacht Club, coal pockets and the
U.S.S. Illinois which had the effrontery to attempt to hold up the entire
West Side Improvement and Henry Hudson Parkway so as to remain at their old
locations along the waterfront. Neither the Improvement nor the Parkway
could have been built with these structures in the way.
The Columbia Yacht Club was a private club in which, of course,
the rank and file of our citizens never set foot. It had no architectural
merit, paid little or no rent and occupied valuable city land on a permit
obtained from complacent city officials. The coal pockets did not belong
where they were on any theory. The U. S. S. Illinois was a sort of club for
the state's Swiss Navy, and had a permanent berth in the very center of one
of the most important grade eliminations. We moved this ancient hulk uptown
to a place where the parkway is elevated and had the devil's own time with
the land sailors in the process. From the hullabaloo in the press, an
outsider would have thought that we were laying impious hands on the Liberty
Bell, Faneuil Hall and the Ark of the Covenant itself.
The opposition of nature lovers to the location of the Henry
Hudson Parkway in Inwood Hill Park was more understandable although in the
light of what has actually been done their fears and prophecies were quite
groundless. It was amusing, however, to see this group joined by real estate
interests in the Bronx who wanted the bridge approach to run through some
ancient shacks formerly oc- cupied by employees of the Johnson Iron Works,
and regional planning experts who thought a low level bridge on the route
advocated by the real estate boys would be a fine solution of the problem in
the face of the fact that no one could have sold a single bond for a lift
bridge.
Nowhere is opposition to change so vociferous as in the
rehabilitation and reconstruction of the older squares and historic
mansions. We have had some fine rows over these places. I don't know yet how
we got away with the Bryant Park reconstruction with so little
difficulty. Perhaps it was because people were sick of the constant digging
up and exploitation of this area, and because it was a shambles when the
present administration took office. Most of these old squares require
improvement because their original design no longer meets present day
conditions, because the neighborhood has changed and because overcrowding,
neglect and decay have made them little more than mud and dust bowls.
At Stuyvesant Square we ran into the bitter opposition of certain
adjacent, property owners, including hospitals of all denominations. They
wanted quiet, and objected to our setting aside certain patches for active
play. All this led to a lawsuit, in which the City never had a chance, but
which did not nocessitate much of a compromise.
We had similar arguments in a dozen other quarters, notably at
Washington Square, where we simply struck the improvements off our list of
work relief projects and left the field to local residents to battle over.
At Bowling Green we had little trouble. I have already referred
te the argument over Battery Park. At Herald Square the removal of the
Sixth Avenue elevated structure gave us an opportunity to restore the old
clock and bell ringers which used to grace the front of the Herald Building,
and to bring back a charming memory of old New York. Even this was not
without its difficulties, because of opposition from business interests who
foresaw that their advertising signs would be less conspicuous under the new
plan.
At City Hall Park we had a grand debate over the restoration, in
the course of which we were accused of substituting for a lovely old village
green a rigid, formal design resembling a bath mat or a pair of
suspenders. At this writing final decision on the moving of the statue of
Civic Virtue, more popularly known as the Tough Guy, has not been made. Our
plan is to store him at Randall's Island pending a decision as to his
ultimate resting place. The symbolism in this statue is completely lost on
most New Yorkers who regard the tough boy as nothing more than an athlete
who has no place in City Hall Park. Of course the distinguished sculptor
who made him has his friends and defenders, who will not concede that Mr.
Macmonnies, like Homer, nods occasionally.
Historic mansions have also given us trouble. Most citizens know
little about architecture and hare no idea of the difficulties of restoring
old buildings, providing authentic period furniture for them, and running
them as museums. They are, however, easy prey for patriots, architects and
actiquarians. I recall the fuss that was made over the so-called Marshall
Mansion in Pelham Bay Park, This was a box-like house built after the Civil
War, to which an imposing Greek facade had been added. There was nothing in
it. It had no history of consequence. It was just the roomy country home of
a family of some means. It was of no earthly use for park purposes. There
was no appropriate furniture for it. It leaked, peeled, settled and did
everything else that neglected old buildings do. Nevertheless there was a
great deal of moaning at the bar when, after vandals had broken in and
smashed up most of the interior, we finally took the building down and
substituted park facilities. At no time could we get from our lyrical
opponents a coherent statement as to what should be done with this mansion.
Something about the old firetrap roused the deepest and wooziest statements
of patriotism, home and auld lang syne.
The Chisholm House at College Point Park is another illustration.
We fixed it up one year for the Mayor to use as a summer City Hall. It
gave us endless trouble after that, and there proved to be no way within
our means of making it either useful or ornamental, so we are tearing it
down. We completely rebuilt the Oracle Mansion at tremendous expense. It was
a fine house, not as old as most people thought, because it was not the
original mansion. Pretty nearly everything we used in the way of building
material and hardware had to be made to order. This was a work relief job,
so that the actual cost will never be known. When the restoration was
completed we had to look around for exhibits and after an immense amount of
searching, begging, and arguing, we managed to get some appropriate pictures
from the Metropolitan and City Museums. Mantelpieces and colonial furniture
were supplied by the late Francis Garvin. We never did get either rugs or
hangings, and we had the devil's own time getting a curator to show the
mansion to the public.
We also restored the Jumel Mansion. Mr. Embury and others who
worked on it did a splendid job, but we still have an inferior collection of
furniture and other objects. The ultimate disposition of Hamilton Grange is
still in doubt. Claremont was partially rebuilt to provide a suitable
restaurant. It is not the original Claremont as most people suppose. This
building burned down. The present building is brick veneered with wood, and
while it has associations which should be preserved as long as possible, it
is a pretty unsatisfactory structure.
We were lucky indeed to escape having the old Prince House in
Flushing moved into Flushing Meadow Park. This building was a wreck and
would have had to be moved in pieces. It had interesting associations, but
there was no conceivable way of making it fit for modern use or of providing
a permanent exhibit in it which could constantly attract visitors.
We dug up the stone out of which the old Gowanus House in Brooklyn
was made and built something on a smaller scale which was supposed to look
like it. It should be noted that in most cases there are no plans, sketches,
pictures or even contemporary descriptions to help establish what the
building really looked like, and almost never anything to show how it was
originally furnished. At the height of the federal work relief program one
of the white collar projects disclosed the existence of a shell of an old
Dutch building in lower Manhattan. Nothing was left but the walls and a few
timbers, and yet pressure was put on us to sponsor the restoration of this
house. There was a little shack at Alley Pond in Queens, a few feet away
from the new Belt Parkway, which served half a century or more ago as a post
office and storage place for an old mill. When I first saw it, a contractor
was using it as an office and depository for minor construction
materials. There was no conceivable way of restoring this structure or of
incorporating it into the parkway design, no convenient way of reaching it,
no data on which to base reconstruction, nothing to put in it and not the
remotest chance of obtaining through the budget authorities a custodian or
guard to take care of it. Nevertheless a movement was promptly started to
keep and restore this valuable relic, and I have no doubt that this movement
would have assumed considerable proportions if a large tractor had not got
out of control and knocked the shack over. There were even unkind, and of
course, wholly false accusations that some of my boys had ordered the
tractor to run it down.
As a state official I had considerable experience with historic
mansions long before I became City Park Commissioner, and nothing gave me
greater relief as head of the state park system, than divorcing them from
the parks. They are now floating kidneys in the Conservation Department. I
don't know why the good people who are vitally interested in such matters
eat up so much time, have so vague an idea of what they want, and manage
properties so badly. Perhaps it is because they have so much leisure, are
out of tune with the time, and seek escape into the past. The anniversaries
at historic places aro something to write homeabout. Like powerful magnets,
these occasions draw out of old clubs, Victorian mansions, and ancient
cellars and attics a bizarre collection of stuffed shirts which would make
Madame Tussaud's and the Eden Muses faint with envy. How these people manage
to hide between ceremonies is one of the world's greatest mysteries.
Not long ago we had a most impressive One Hundred and Fiftieth
Anniversary ceremony at Stony Point Park. All the old boys came out in their
high hats and the old ladies in their bombazine dresses. To make the
occasion quite authentic half a dozen grenadiers from an old Philadelphia
regiment with Revolutionary associations were brought on and dressed up in
shakos and colonial uniforms. They were a trifle awkward in their manoeuvres
and one of them, in lowering his sword from a gallant salute, cut a neat
gash in the calf of the local Congressman's right leg. One of the choice
spirits of the park system, who wanted to see just how brave the congressman
was, poured an entire bottle of iodine on the cut, which made the statesman
dance around like a white truck horse which had been given ammonia to pep
him up for the St. Patrick's Day Parade. This untoward event was the only
human thing that happened in the course of the ceremony.
I made some mention of the Tough Guy in City Hall Park. His is
not the only statue which has caused us grief. As a matter of fact New York
has some of the most hideous and inexcusable statuary in the world, but he
who touches a hair of green bronze head stands a good chance of dying like a
dog, if I may paraphrase Barbara Frietchie. We tried, for instance, to move
the equestrian statue of General Grant from Grant Square in Brooklyn, which
is just an island in the middle of traffic, to a position of prominence and
honor in front of the reconstructed Grant's Tomb. At the first scream of
rage from Brooklynites we gave up. It would have precipitated a civil war
between the boroughs. Again we narrowly escaped the wrath of Brooklyn when a
crew of relief workers, who were cleaning and restoring statuary under
competent direction, got out of hand and proceeded to use some inventions of
their own on the famous Henry Ward Beecher group in front of Borough Hall.
This group includes Beecher and some colored folks who are admiring
him. Apparently the relief clients applied acid to the colored folks and
made them white, and then put a coat of shellac on Henry Ward which gave him
a distinctly African hue. Frantic telephone calls from the office of the
Borough President led to quick action. We covered the group with a canvas
tent which was not removed until the damage had been undone. Of course we
have very little luck in getting rid of recent war memorials including
incredible doughboys, cannon, tanks and other mementoes, but with the help
of the Art Commission we have at least succeeded, in controlling new war
memorials.
We had quite an experience with the so-called Monitor Monument.
Funds for this monument were provided by the state. It was to commemorate
the battle of the Monitor and Merrimac in Winthrop Park, Greenpoint, near
the shipyard where the Monitor was built. The local assemblyman was, of
course, chairman of the state commission. He spent almost all of the first
appropriation on beer and skittles. As a result there wasn't much left for
the memorial. The assemblyman then decided to plan it himself, and offered
some terrible sketches. At our suggestion he finally employed a talented
young W.P.A. sculptor who made a sketch of a sailor straining at a rope
which he was winding around a capstan. The burghers of Greennoint objected
to this because the statue was apparently nude. This, of course, was easily
repaired by adding bell bottom trousers and a jersey. It then turned out
that the assemblyman had engaged a local tombstone cutter to do the
monument. This in turn necessitated making a full size model because it was
the only thing this marble cutter could work from. When it came to the
inscription, the assemblyman substituted his name for that of Ericsson.
There wasn't room for mention of both on the memorial, and the assemblyman
naturally felt that his name was the more important. In the end, Ericsson
won by a whisker. The assemblyman managed to get a second appropriation.
The monument was dedicated with great ceremony, and is now the pride of what
my friend, Peter McGuinness, Boss of Greenpoint, calls the Garden Spot of
America. Pretty nearly as much time was spent by us on the Monitor Memorial
as on the construction of the Henry Hudson Bridge and Parkway. In the face
of all this we were foolhardy enough to attempt to have the best of the
World's Pair statuary carved or cast in permanent form, but we couldn't
raise the funds anywhere.
Park architecture presents even more problems than sculpture
because there is more of it. Few people seem to realize that there is a vast
gap between private and public architecture. It is not merely a difference
of scale, although this is an important factor. The landscaping of a private
estate is one thing; that of a public park is quite another. A private
estate is designed for the use of a comparatively few discriminating
people. A public park is used by millions with conflicting needs and
purposes. The same applies to structures. Not long age an intelligent woman
with a flair for gardening insisted that we use in our parkway work plants
of Asiatic origin which are hardy, attractive and require little water. We
could not make her understand that it was impossible to obtain public funds
to buy enough of them to make an impression on miles of planting strips
along a shoestring park.
In my opinion public officials have no right to experiment beyond
a reasonable point with new forms in architecture, I do not mean that they
should merely imitate, try nothing new, or be hostile to all change. A
public building has to last for a long time. It has to wear well not only
physically but esthetically. It is not a thing which can be lightly torn
down if in a comparatively short time it proves objectionable, clashes with
surrounding buildings or does not continue to be useful.
It was quite obvious in the rebuilding of the Central Park Zoo not
only that the size of the plot was limited to the old area, but that the
style had to be based on that of the restored Arsenal as the central key
structure and motif. Mr. Embury began with this and the rest followed
logically. On the other hand he had a wider opportunity in the case of the
Brooklyn Zoo, but here again size of the plot, the setting and other factors
spelled conservatism.
Conservatism, however, means nothing to some people. A
distinguished architect employed by the Brooklyn Museum, proposed to add to
the present somewhat massive pseudo-classical building an ultra modern
addition in the form of a wing. The same architect proposed a new Children's
Museum of the most streamlined horizontal character in an old residential
section of Brooklyn. The plan for the Museum wing was rejected and that of
the Children's Museum was toned down.
It has been said that we went modernistic in the design of our new
bathhouse play centers. I think they represent a reasonable compromise
between modernists and traditionalists. The nost interesting of these
structures are those at Tompkinsville, Colonial and Astoria Parks. If an
illustration is needed of the limits of ultra modern design as applied to
structures of this kind, it is only necessary to compare the original East
Bathhouse at Jones Beach with the later West Bathhouse. The West Bathhouse
presented a somewhat different problem because it was built around swimming
pools, but no discriminating person will fail to see that it lacks the
dignity, simplicity and beauty of the original East bathhouse. The architect
was just a little too gay and playful with the West Bathhouse, especially
with the facade toward the ocean. It is interesting but not first rate, and
it would have been better to have followed the severer lines of the earlier
structure than to try to do something entirely new and different. Similarly,
at Orchard Beach, in striving for an effect of height as seen from the
water, we ran up a building which is just a little absurd from other
vantages and wasteful from the point of view of space and cost.
The most futile thing a public official can do is to be drawn into
arguments over naturalism and functionalism. These are two of the most
overworked words in the lexicon. Planting of native material is often the
best solution of a landscape problem, but naturalism pushed to extremes may
result in something which cannot be maintained in the face of pressure of
population and hard usage. Rejection of silly ornamentation is the first
negative standard of good taste, but all architecture, even that of bridges
where bare steel is used, requires a more or less sophisticated form which
if we look at it honestly, involves some kind of structural ornament. There
is no such thing as pure functionalism.
It is part of the modern cant not to acknowledge the sources of
our architectural inspiration, just as we do not admit those of our
vocabulary. Many of the apt phrases that stick in our crops, if we speak
English and have any pretensions to education, came straight from the Bible
and Shakespeare. It is so also with the arts, and here again we quote and
plagiarize the best of the ancients. The architect and engineer invent
something quite new, and it turns out to be nothing more than the
sub-conscious remembrance of a Roman viaduct.
The Striding Russian on top of the Soviet World's Fair buildings
at Paris and New York was a feeble imitation of the Colossus of Rhodes, and
other supposedly ultra modern exhibits at these Fairs were on show when the
Cook's tourists of the third century B. C. bought their commutation tickets
for the Mediterranean winter cruises to the Seven Wonders of the World. As
for the notion that ornamentation and disguise are the property of the
ancients, and simplicity and functionalism the mark of our time, the poet
exposed the shallowness of this generalization when he said:
"We shift and bedeck and bedrape us.
Thou art noble and nude and antique,"
This brings me logically to Lady Godiva. It will be recalled
that after dinner speakers of a generation ago used to conclude their
remarks with the following jape:
"And now as Lady Godiva said
at the end of her ride, I am
approaching my close."
I warned the editor that this would be a rambling discourse -
one of those stream of consciousness things which tell what goes on in the
mind of an administrator who, if the truth be told, has very little time for
thought.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Thursday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 September 26, 1940
The Department of Parks announces the completion of the
reconstructed and rehabilitated Borough Hall Park at Court and Fulton
Streets, Brooklyn, on Thursday, September 26th.
The park has been enlarged to include the subway entrance on the
north side formerly on a separate island. A mall lined with benches and
trees and at the north end of which is located a monument of Henry Ward
Beecher leads from the subway to Borough Hall. In addition to new
landscaping the walks of the park have been entirely repaved.
The reconstruction of this park designed by the Park Department and
built and landscaped by the Work Projects Administration makes for a larger
and more impressive setting for the seat of borough government.
***
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Friday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 September 20, 1940
The largest golf tournament ever held in the Metropolitan Area
will reach the final rounds this weekend, when the four semi-finalists
out of the 2000 entrants, will play 36 holes of match play at Dyker Beach
Golf Course, Brooklyn, on Saturday, and the finals on Sunday for the
"Newbold Morris Trophy".
In the first round of play last weekend Joe Sage, course
champion at Mosholu, won 4-2 from Bob McFarland who in turn had defeated
Frank DeCaprio, the 1938 and 1939 champion, 5-4. Sage, a former N. Y. U.
collegiate linksman and runner-up in the New Jersey Public Links
Championship last year, is the dark horse in this tournament. Playing his
first year on the municipal courses, he was unnoticed until he won the
course championship at Mosholu with a 68. His scintillating play continued
in the qualifying round when he finished sixth out of 80 players, with a
79-76 for 155, six strokes behind the medalist. Sage, who hits a long ball,
will play John Mikrut, another hitter who was captain of N. Y. U. Golf team
in 1933 and 1934, the champion of Dyker Beach for the past four years and
the winner of the Daily News Driving Contest in 1934. Mikrut is one of the
best match players in the Metropolitan Area, and plays his best when the
pressure is on. With such outstanding amateur golfers as Joe Oleska, Frank
Strafaci, Dom Strafaci and Olin Cerrocki as club members, one can get a good
idea of Mikrut's ability as the course champion for the past four years. A
score of 78-76-154 qualified Mikrut for the National Amateur Championship
for the third straight year.
The second half of the bracket will bring together Tom Strafaci,
one of the many Strafaci brothers who can be found in every championship
tournament in the Metropolitan Area and Andy Timoshuk, the former
Interscholastic ace from Newtovm High School.
Tom Strafaci has many notable achievements attached to his name
having qualified for the National Amateurs in 1936, 1937, 1938 and 1939,
Staten Island Open Champion in 1938, runner-up in the Long Island
Championship in 1938, runner-up to Frank DeCaprio in the Municipal Golf
Championship in 1939 and the finalist with Johnny Burke in the Metropolitan
Championships held at the Century Club in White Plains this year.
Andy Timoshuk the former interscholastic ace from Newtowm High
School, who won the City Championship in 1933 and 1934, was third in the
Municipal Championship last year. In playing for the course championship at
Kissena, Timoshuk's 69 gave him the title for the second year in a row, and
his 75-76-151 was two strokes behind the medalist in the qualifying round at
Clearview when he placed third, in a field of 80. If Timoshuk continues his
play of the past few weeks, he will be the heavy favorite in Saturday's
match. On Saturday and Sunday the 36 holes of match play will start at 9
A.M. with the second round at 1 P.M.
The winner of the Municipal Golf Championship will have his name
inscribed upon the "Newbold Morris Trophy", a sterling silver cup donated by
Newbold Morris, President of the City Council, which will be in compe-
tition for sixty years. In addition, the winner will be presented with a
sterling silver replica of the Trophy, which he will retain.
* * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Wednesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 September 18, 1940
Commissioner Moses announces that he has been notified by the
Honorable Kaname Wakasugi, Commissioner General for Japan's participation in
the New York World's Fair, that the Japanese Pavilion and Garden at the
World's Fair have been presented to the City of New York as a permanent
Japanese exhibit.
The Garden and Pavilion have been extremely popular with Fair
visitors and should continue to be a point of interest in the Flushing
Meadow Park. Included in the gift are various items of exhibit as follows:
Murals of the Four Seasons
Gold Lacquer Screen showing map of the world and Ogata Landscape
Bronze Statue of Laborer
Photo Mural of Mt. Fuji
Brocade Tapestry by Jiyu Gakuen
Silk Wall-Covering of Pavilion
Stone Lanterns and other Garden decorations.
One section of the building will be operated as a Japanese tea
room. Plans have been prepared by Tamura & Sakurai, well-known Landscape
Architects of Tokyo, for the extension of the Garden to the north. Upon
completion of this development, the total area covered by this facility will
be two and a half acres.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Saturday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 September 14, 1940
The Department of Parks announces the opening without
ceremonies on Saturday, September 14, of three new marginal playgrounds in
Claremont Park, The Bronx. The balance of the park which is now being
redesigned and reconstructed will remain closed until completion of the
improvement later in the fall of this year.
Two of these small children's playgrounds, one at Teller Avenue
directly opposite Morris Avenue and the other in the northeast section at
Mt. Eden and Topping Avenues are completely equipped with kindergarten
swings, slides, sand pits and see-saws while the third playground at the
northwest corner at Mt. Eden and Morris Avenues has in addition a free play
space with a shower basin and a pipe frame exercise unit. Adjacent to the
playground at Mt. Eden and Morris Avenues is a softball diamond. All the
areas have been surfaced with bituminous material to provide all year round
usage and are landscaped with shade trees and numerous concrete benches.
The opening of these three playgrounds designed by the Park
Department and built and landscaped by the Work Projects Administration
makes a total of 291 new playgrounds completed by the Park Department since
January 1, 1934. At that time there were 119 playgrounds in the five
boroughs, 52 of these have been redesigned and reconstructed. At present
there are 410 playgrounds in the City Park System.
* * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Friday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 September 13, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that the finals of the
Children's Amateur Singing Contest will be held on Sunday, September 15th at
2:30 P.M. on the Mall, Central Park.
Playground children, including boys and girls, whose
eligibility to qualify for the finals has been determined in preliminary
contests held in the various boroughs during the past two weeks, will be
divided into two age groups as follows: 8 to 12 years, and 13 to 16
years. Of course, the boys' and girls' compe- tition will be entirely
separate.
Each borough will send four representatives for the finals on
Sunday, one boy and one girl from each age group. This means that 10 boys
and 10 girls will compete for the city championship in amateur singing among
Park Department playground children.
Silver loving cups will be awarded to the winner in each age
group of both the boys1 and girls' classification. Silver medals will be
presented to those attaining second place in the finals and bronze medals to
those competitors who won first place in the borough preliminaries.
Judges for the finals will include the following: Mrs. Hugh
Hawley, National Broadcasting Corporation; Harry Barnhart, well-known leader
of community singing; and Murray D. Welch of the Associated Glee Clubs of
Greater New York.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Thursday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 September 12, 1940
Bids were received today by the Department of Parks at the
Arsenal Building on two contracts for work at the Cloverleaf intersection,
Borden Avenue and the Connecting Highway, Borough of Queens.
The contract work consists of the installation of wrought iron
and chain link fence, construction of pedestrian walks, incidental work,
planting of trees and shrubs and seeding where necessary.
The three lowest bidders on each of the contracts were the
following:
FOR FENCE, WALKS AND INCIDENTAL WORK:
1. Melwood Construction Company $24,835.00
507 Fifth Avenue, New York City
2. Independent Fence Company 26,441.60
189 Seventh Street, Brooklyn, N.Y.
3. Harris Grand 29,472.50
156 Beach 125 Street, Belle Harbor, N.Y.
FOR PLANTING:
1. Grandview Nurseries, Inc. $2,963.60
6 Grandview Avenue, Mt. Vernon, N.Y.
2. General Landscape Corporation 3,221.30
Chrysler Building, New York City
3. Roman Landscape Contracting Co., Inc. 3,331.00
551 Fifth Avenue, New York City
* * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Tuesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 September 10, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that in cooperation with the
Work Projects Administration it is constructing recreational facilities,
both passive and active, adjacent to the new Queensbridge housing
development.
Originally, a large part of this property belonged to the State
of New York and was used as a barge canal terminal. There was not
sufficient business at the terminal to warrant continuing it, and the Park
Conmissioner arranged with the state to have the land transferred to the
city so that it could be used for park and playground purposes. The balance
of the land in the area was acquired by the Housing Authority and has been
assigned to park and playground use for the life of the housing project.
Prior to the start of construction, the area was a typical piece of run-down
waterfront property. The area under the bridge was used as a junkyard and
the property north of the barge canal terminal was used as a dump. The old
dilapidated bulkhead has been completely rebuilt and some land under water
has been reclaimed for park use.
Present plans include development of a play area, located
directly under the Queensborough Bridge span from the East River on the
west, easterly to 21st Avenue, and another larger area north of the bridge
and between the East River and the housing development. This latter area
will be landscaped with trees and grass and a circulating walk system
provided with numerous benches. This reclaimed area will contain an oval
bicycle and roller skating track encircling an acre of lawn. Adjoining the
track to the north is a semi-circular area to be provided with a comfort
station and which will ultimately be developed as a concert grove with band
shell, a dance mall and concession building. An oval athletic field;
including four softball diamonds and a football gridiron, i s being
developed south of the bicycle track. A sand pit with sitting area for
mothers and children is being constricted adjacent to the riverfront
promenade.
The improvement, which is a vital recreational need to this part
of Long Island City, will be available to the public generally as well as to
new housing development tenants. A greater part of the facilities of the
projected development will be available for public use the end of October.
Landscaping and planting, will be done next spring, during the planting
season.
A prominent feature of the new improvement is the construction of
a promenade along the new bulkhead, about a quarter of a mile in length,
along which benches will be arranged facing the river. The concrete coping
on the new bulkhead will be surmounted by a four-foot iron picket rail.
playground construction is under way from about Ninth Street at
Bridge Plaza South to Twelfth Street south of the new housing development.
The playground tract, extending under the bridge, will include swings,
slides, a sand pit, a jungle gym, wading pool and volley ball section,
comfort station, and basketball, volley ball and handball courts. The
entire area will be surfaced with permanent materials and enclosed by a
chain link fence.
* * * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Saturday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 September 7, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that the championship game of
the city-wide Softball tournament for men over 21 years of age will take
place at Jacob Riis Park, Queens, on Saturday, September 7, at 3:00 P.M.
44 leagues, comprising 269 teams have participated in this
division of the tournament.
Inter-playground, inter-district and inter-borough contests
totaling 1024 games, were played during the last 7 weeks on the various Park
Department Softball diamonds of which there are 170 throughout the city.
Besides gold medals, the members of the winning team will receive
complete Softball uniforms and equipment.
At the invitation of the Long Island State Park Commission, both
the winning and losing team at Saturday's game, will play the winner and
runner-up of a similar tournament, recently conducted by the Commission for
Softball leagues of Nassau and Suffolk Counties, on Sunday, September 22, at
Jones Beach.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Saturday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 September 7, 1940
The Department of Parks announces the closing of the 16
outdoor swimming pools and 5 beaches under its jurisdiction on September 8,
1940. No charge will be made for parking facilities after that date at
either Jacob Riis Park or Orchard Beach. The Pitch Putt Golf Course at
Jacob Riis Park will remain open for play until November 30th.
Immediately after closing, the following listed pools will be
converted into active play areas and reopened for use on Saturday, September
14th:
MANHATTAN
Hamilton Fish Pool - East Houston & Sheriff Streets
Colonial Pool - Bradhurst Ave. W. 145th to 147th Sts.
Highbridge Pool - Amsterdam Ave. & 173rd Street
Thomas Jefferson Pool - lllth to 114th Sts. & first Avenue
BROOKLYN
Sunset Pool - 7th Avenue & 43rd Street
McCarren Pool - Driggs Avenue & Lorimer Street
Red Hook Pool - Clinton, Bay & Henry Streets
Betsy Head Pool - Hopkinson, Dumont & Livonia Sts.
BRONX
Crotona Pool - 173rd Street & Fulton Avenue
QUEENS
Astoria Pool - 19th Street & 23rd Drive
RICHMOND
Faber Pool - Faber St. between Richmond Terrace
and Kill Van Kull
Facilities will be provided for paddle tennis,
shuffleboard, basket ball, soft ball and various group games. Leagues will
be formed in these sports and regular scheduled games will be held between
the pool clubs.
These play centers will be opened free to the public from 2
P.M. until 10 P.M. daily except on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays when the
hours of operation will be from 10 A.M. until 6 P.M.
On Monday, September 9th, the indoor pools at 60th St.,
Carmine, and 23rd Street will reopen, making available for the winter season
the following indoor pools, open daily from 2 P.M. to 10 P.M. weekdays, and
10 A.M. to 6 P.M. Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.
MANHATTAN
E. 23rd St. Baths - 3. 23rd St. & East River Dr.
B. 54th St. Baths - 342 Sast 54th Street
Rutgers Pl. Baths - 5 Rutgers Place
Carmine St. Baths - Clarkson & 7th Ave, South
W. 28th St. Baths - 407 West 28th Street
W. 60th St. Baths - 232 West 60th Street
W.134th St. Baths - 35 West 134th Street
BROOKLYN
Metropolitan Baths - Bedford & Metropolitan Aves.
During the season, now closing, 2,071,449 persons have availed
themselves of the swimming facilities provided by the 16 outdoor pools , of
these 749,020 were children admitted during the free periods; 780,620 were
children who paid 10¢ and 541,809 were adults who paid 20¢ for
admission.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Saturday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 September 7, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that an "Animal Naming Contest"
will be conducted for elementary school children for the purpose of
selecting appropriate names for the new arrivals at the Zoo in both Central
Park, Manhattan, and Prospect Park, Brooklyn.
Beginning Monday, September 9 and continuing through Wednesday,
September 25, boxes will be placed at a designated point in each zoo area.
Every child, who is desirous of participating in this contest, is requested
to write the suggested name for any of the animals included in the contest,
on an ordinary slip of paper, together with his name, address, age, school
and class, and place it in the box.
As a guide to the contestants, it is suggested that the proposed
names reveal something of the animal's habits, actions, attitudes, color,
physical appearance or place of origin. Perhaps, the reading of some book on
animals, with particular reference to the animals to be named, would be a
very interesting and informative preliminary to the observation tour of the
zoo.
The animals to be named in this contest, at the respective zoos,
are as follows:
Central Park Zoo, Manhattan: Black Leopard, Two Sea Lions,
a Thar, a Yak, an Antelope, a pair of Red Deer, a Buck, and a Doe.
Prospect Park Zoo, Brooklyn: Four Lion Cubs, a Tiger Cub,
Two Monkeys, a Buck and a Doe.
Any of the attendants, at either of these Zcos, will point out
the exact location of any animal listed above, and will supply any
information concerning the animals that may be desired by the contestants.
At the close of the day on Wednesday, September 25, all the
slips, containing the suggested names, will be taken to the Park Department
Headquarters, Arsenal Building, Central Park, where they will be reviewed by
the board of Judges.
The winners of the contest will receive gold medals at a public
ceremony, on a date to be determined later, at which appropriate signs,
bearing the winning names, will be hung en the cages of the respective
animals.
* * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Thursday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 September 5, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that because of inclement
weather, the final game of the Softball tournament in the intermediate
division, which includes boys ranging from 17 to 21 years of age, originally
scheduled for Saturday, August 31, at Macombs Dam Park, East 161 Street and
Jerome Avenue, Bronx, will take place on Friday, September 6 at 3:00 P.M. at
the same location.
Gold medals will be presented to the members of the winning team.
The Yankee Baseball Club of the American League, has donated funds
to purchase uniforms and equipment, which will be awarded to the
championship team of this age classification. The presentation of this
prize will be made by Charles T. McManus, Superintendent of the Yankee
Stadium.
The Yankees have also officially consented to permit the
intermediate division to bear their name in future Softball tournaments to
be conducted by the Department of parks.
* * * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Thursday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 September 5, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that on September 6, 7 and 8,
at various designated locations, approximately 3000 playground boys and
girls will participate in a demonstration of recreational activities
embracing in part, team and group games, folk dancing, singing, dramatics,
musical instrument contest, handcraft and magic.
One of the feature attractions of this comprehensive program
will be an operetta entitled "It Happened in Holland", which will be
presented by the Bronx Playgrounds Junior Operetta Club on the Sheep Meadow,
Central Park, Friday, September 6, at 2:30 P.M. The cast will consist of
100 boys and girls appropriately attired in costumes of native
Hollanders. Each of them has attended rehearsals diligently for the past two
months where they learned the intricate dancing steps and group songs
included in that well-known operetta. The Park Department Band will furnish
the music.
From 10 A.M. to 5 P.M. on Friday, September 6, there will be an
exhibition of handcraft at Heckscher Playground, Central Park. This display
will include objects made by children of all age groups in the various
handcraft classes supervised by the Department of Parks at the numerous
playgrounds under its jurisdiction as an integral part of an all-year round
recreation program.
The championship games of two tournaments will also take place on
Friday, September 6: baseball for boys up to 16 years of age, at Randall's
Island, at 2:00 P.M.; and Softball for girls over 16 years of age at
Heckscher Playground, Central Park, at 4:00 P.M.
The finals of the musical instrument contest will be the closing
event on Friday's program and is scheduled to take place at the Mall,
Central Park, at 8:00 P.M.
The outstanding event on the program for Saturday, September 7,
will be the mass demonstration of calisthenics, including approximately 300
boys, which will be held on the Sheep Meadow, Central Park, at 2:30 P.M.
At Jacob Riis Park, the championship game in the Softball
tournament for men over 21 years of age, is scheduled to take place on
Saturday, September 7, at 3:00 P.M.
On Sunday, September 8, at the Sheep Meadow, Central Park, about
800 girls ranging from 8 to 16 years of age will give an exhibition of folk
dancing.
A magic show, including ventriloquism, shadow puppetry, juggling
and a host of various tricks usually found in the repertoire of a magician,
will be held at the Park Department gymnasium,located at 407 West 28 Street,
on Sunday, September 8, at 2:30 P.M.
Attached is a copy of the complete program of activities which have
been planned for the three d«y demonstration.
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CITY OF NEW YORK
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
DEMONSTRATION OF PARK RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES
SEPTEMBER 6, 7, 8, 1940
FRIDAY - September 6th
HANDCRAFT EXHIBITION All Day
A display of the types of handcraft made
by the children of the Park playgrounds
will be exhibited at HECKSCHER PLAYGROUND,
CENTRAL PARK during the three days of the
demonstration.
OPERETTA - "It Happened In Holland" 2:30 P.M.
Presented by the Bronx Playgrounds Junior
Operetta Club at the SHEEP MEADOW, CENTRAL
PARK at 2:30 P.M.
BASEBALL GAME 2:30 P.M.
The citywide finals of the tournament
conducted by the Department of Parks for
boys up to 16 years will take place at
RANDALLS ISLAND.
SOFTBALL - GIRLS and BOYS 3:00 P.M.
4:00 P.M.
The final game of the citywide tournament
for girls over 16 years will take place at
HECKSCHER PLAYGROUND at 4:00 P.M.
The finals of the tournament for boys 16 to
21 years will take place at MACOMBS DAM
PARK, BRONX at 3:00 P.M.
DEMONSTRATION OF GROUP GAMES at HECKSCHER PLAYGROUND 3:00 P.M.
CHILDREN'S MUSICAL INSTRUMENT ASD HARMONICA CONTEST 8:00 P.M.
Citywide finals of the contest for the
children of the Park playgrounds will be
held at the MALL, CENTRAL PARK.
OUTDOOR SOCIAL DANCING 8:30 P.M.
ROOSEVELT PLAYGROUND, Chrystie & Forsyth Sts., Man.
RIVERSIDE PARK, 105 Street & Henry Hudson Pkwy., Man.
RED HOOK POOL, Clinton, Bay & Henry Streets, Bklyn.
BAND CONCERTS 8:30 P.M.
FOREST PARK, QUEENS - N.Y. Civic Orchestra
PROSPECT PARK, BKLYN. - N.Y.C. Symphonic Band
SATURDAY - September 7th
DEMONSTRATION OF PRE-SCHOOL AGE ACTIVITIES 10:00 A.M.
GULICK PLAYGROUND, Columbia, Delancy & Broorae Sts.
BOYS CLUB MEETING at HECKSCHER PLAYGROUND 11:00 A.M.
DEMONSTRATION OF WADING POOL ACTIVITIES 11:30 A.M.
HECKSCHER PLAYGROUND, Central Park
MASS DEMONSTRATION OF CALISTHENICS, PYRAMIDS & MIMETICS 2:30 P.M.
This demonstration will be presented by the
boys of the Park playgrounds of Queens on
the SHEEP MEADOW, CENTRAL PARK.
PLAYGROUND ORCHESTRA & JUNIOR CHORAL GROUPS 2:30 P.M.
Performance by the children of the Park
playgrounds of Richmond
INDOOR SWIMMING MEET at the East 54th Street Gym. 2:30 P.M.
SOFTBALL GAME - MEN 2:30 P.M.
The final game in the tournament for men
over 21 years will take place at JACOB RIIS
PARK, Queens
BAND CONCERT on the MALL, CENTRAL PARK 8:30 P.M.
New York City Symphony Orchestra
SUNDAY - September 8th
MODEL YACHT & SAILBOAT REGATTA 2:00 P.M.
This event is opened to anyone interested
in sailing model boats and will be held at
CONSERVATORY LAKE, CENTRAL PARK
CHILDREN'S FOLK DANCE EXHIBITION 2:30 P.M.
Presented by the Park playgrounds of Manhattan
and Brooklyn on the SHEEP MEADOW, Central Park.
BAND CONCERTS 8:30 P.M.
Mall, Central Park, Manhattan
FOREST PARK, Queens
MAGIC SHOW 2:30 P.M.
Talent Review by the children of the magic
clubs and classes of the Park Playgrounds will
be presented at the 28th STREET GYMNASIUM,
MANHATTAN
Music for dancing and concerts provided by the New York City WPA Music
Project. Public Address facilities provided by Station WNYC.
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DEPARTMUT OF PARKS FOR RELEASE: Monday
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK September 2, 1940
TEL. REGENT 4-1000
The Department of Parks announces the reopening of the
reconstructed southern portion of Alley Pond Park, bordered by Cross Island
Parkway on the east, 73rd Avenue on the north and Grand Central Parkway on
the south, an area of 41 acres, on September 2.
The natural beauty of this heavily wooded park, with its rough
terrain, has attracted visitors from all parts of the city for picnicking,
hiking, and nature study. As the area grew in popularity the facilities had
to be expanded. In 1932 and 1933 the Long Island State Park Commission
provided a parking field, comfort station, concession building, playground
apparatus for small children, a nature trail, bridle paths, walks and some
picnic tables and fire places. In 1939 two large playgrounds were built with
apparatus and a wading pool. These areas give the children a place to work
off excess energy which otherwise would find an outlet in the destruction of
trees and park facilities.
The Nature Trail, built in 1935, is located in a wooded section
north of the newly developed area. The combination of mature trees, a
natural pond, a small swamp and rolling topography make it especially
adaptive for nature stiady. It has served as an outdoor laboratory for
classes in biology for both children and adults. A large collection of
native plants, - ground covers, shrubs and trees have been neatly labeled,
including Scarlet Oak, Pin Oak, Sycamore, Sweet Gum, Witch Hazel, Ash, Sweet
Bay, Paulownia, Hawthorne, Iron Wood, Dogwood, American Elm, Tulip, White
Birch, Black Birch and Red Maple. The Trail, at the fringe of an extensive
wooded area harbors a wide variety of birds and other wild life including
frogs, rabbits, turtles, red fox, wild ducks and squirrels.
The popularity of the area forced the Department to widen and
extend the walk system, to install extensive drain lines and drinking
fountains; to improve the parking area; to provide protective fences and
walls, a Softball diamond and 225 new picnic tables; to recondition 113
others; to build new fireplaces, and to do grading, topsoiling and planting
throughout the area. These new improvements permit approximately 1200
additional people to enjoy the natural beauties and outdoor pleasures of the
park without overcrowding and the destruction which invariably goes along
with overtaxed facilities. It is reached by access roads from the Grand
Central Parkway near the intersection of the new Cross Island Parkway.
This area ties in with the developmsnt completed last year
bordered by Springfield Boulevard, 73rd Avenue and Adelphi Academy where
extensive facilities for picnicking were provided in the birch groves at the
east end. Included in this development are a comfort station, open play
fields, an archery range, walks and a parking area adjacent to Springfield
Boulevard.
The opening of this park designed by the Park Department and
built by the Work Projects Administration, makes a total of 289 new areas
completed by the Park Department since January 1, 1934.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Saturday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 August 31, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that special programs of
recreational activities have been prepared for the boys and girls of 17 Park
Department playgrounds during the month of September in commemoration of
their official opening to the public.
These anniversary celebrations will include horseshoe pitching
contests, checker and chess contests, handball matches, track and field
meets, Softball and baseball games, and gymnastic exhibitions.
The programs will also feature such activities as solo and
community singing of patriotic songs, recitations, concerts by playground
children's bands, one-act plays, and group games.
The September schedule for playground birthday celebrations
is as follows:
TIME OF
BOROUGH PLAYGROUND & LOCATION OPENED CELEBRATION
Manhattan Fort Tryon Park playground, Sept.3, 1934 2:00 P.M.
Broadway & Dyckman Street
Sara D. Roosevelt Playground Sept.14,1934 2:00 P.M.
Canal, Chrystie & Forsyth Sts.
Thomas Jefferson Playground Sept.23,1935 2:00 P.M.
East 111 Street & First Ave.
Tompkins Square Playground. Sept.5, 1936 2:00 P.M.
10 Street bet.Aves. A & 3
Brooklyn Riverdale & Snediker Avenues Sept.2, 1935 10:15 A.M.
McCarren Park Playground Sept.2, 1936 1:00 P.M.
Driggs Avenue & Lorimer St.
Sunset Park Playground Sept.23,1935 3:30 P.M.
6th Ave. & 44th Street
New Lots Avenue & Elton St. Sept. 4,1938 10:00 A.M.
Queens 45-46 Streets & 30th Road Sept.10,1937 10 A.M. to
4 P.M.
Bronx Crotona West Playground Sept.2, 1935 2:00 P.M.
Fulton Avenue & E.173 St.
Cauldwell Ave.bet.l6l & 163 St. Sept.23,1935 2:00 P.M.
Williamsbridge Playground Sept.11,1937 2:00 P.M.
E.208 St. & Bainbridge Ave.
Bronx Park East & Brady Ave. Sept.12,1938 2:00 P.M.
Bronx Park East & Boston Road Sept.12,1938 2:00 P.M.
Bronx Park East & Waring Ave. Sept.28,1939 2:00 P.M.
Mott Haven Health Center Sept.20,1938 2:00 P.M.
East 140 St. & Alexander Ave.
Richmond Winter Playground Sept,19,1936 2:00 P.M.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Friday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 August 30, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that Lefty Gomez, the famous
Yankee pitcher, will award the prize to the winner at the final game of the
intermediate division in the city-wide softball tournament, which will take
place on Saturday, August 31, at 2:00 P.M., at Macombs Dam Park, East 161
Street and Jerome Avenue, Bronx.
44 leagues, comprising 302 teams, have participated in this
division of the tommamait, which i s composed of boys ranging from 17 to 21
years of age.
Inter-playground, inter-district and inter-borough contests
totaling 1249 games, were played during the last 6 weeks on the various Park
Department softball diamonds, of which there are 170 throughout the city.
Gold medals will be awarded to the members of the winning team at
next Saturday's game.
The Yankee Baseball Club of the American League, has donated funds
to purchase uniforms and equipment, which will be awarded to the
championship team of the intermediate age group.
The Yankees have also officially consented to permit the
intermediate division to bear their name in future softball tournaments to
be conducted by the Department of Parks.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Wednesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 August 28, 1940
The Department of Parks has for the past three years urged the
acquisition by the city of the balance of the block bounded by Howard
Avenue, Pacific Street, Ralph Avenue, and Dean Street in Brooklyn. The
existing play area which occupies less than half a block is adjacent to the
proposed Kingsborough Houses and was never adequate to serve the
neighborhood as it exists at the present time.
Because the Housing Authority recommended the acquisition of
this property for use in connection with the housing development, it has now
been decided that the only addition that can be made to the playground is
the parcel 140 x 200, Consequently, this playground will have to take care
of the neighborhood and many of the 1,166 new families who will eventually
move into the Kingsborough project.
The Park Department reached an agreement with the Hebrew Orphan
Asylum for the acquisition of this property at a fraction of its assessed
value. Thio property has been acquired and after the demolition of the
buildings, the area will be developed by the Work Projects Administration so
as to provide an additional softball diamond and a basketball court to
supplement the existing comfort station, wading pool, play apparatus,
softball diamond, roller skating track, handball, snuffleboard, and
horseshoe pitching courts, and form part of the recreational facilities
available, not only to the adjacent community but also to the housing
development.
The Park Department has been informed by the Housing Authority
that within the main housing area bounded by Ralph Avenue, Pacific Street,
Rochester Avenue and Bergen Street, there will be three other playgrounds,
also open to the children of the neighborhood as well as to the children
living in the Kingsborougfr Houses. One is in the center of the development
and the other two on the westerly end. The existing park playground, with
its addition, will serve the easterly end of the housing development.
* * * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Wednesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 August 28, 1940
The Department of Parks announces another stop towards the
provision of adequate recreation facilities for the crowded section of
southerly Bronx, which has been very inadequately provided with playgrounds,
A pedestrian access will be provided from the Bronx to the northern end of
Randall's Island by means of the existing dyke across the Bronx Kills and a
pedestrian overpass across the adjacent New York, New Haven and Hartford
Railroad Yard to 132nd Street and St. Ann's Avenue. The completion of the
reconstruction of St. Mary's Park and the development of Pulaski Playground
were the first steps in this direction.
The improvement, costing $125,000, is to be done by the
Borough President of the Bronx, and is included in his capital outlay
request for 1941. The Triborough Bridge Authority is designing the
structure.
In the past 6 years the City of New York, through the
Triborough Bridge Authority and the Department of Parks, has transformed
Randall's Island from a neglected, inaccessible area in the heart of the
city, to an important municipal recreation center. Three years ago, as a
last step in the completion of the extensive development of the Island, the
War Department's approval had been requested for the improvement of the
Bronx Kills, a shabby and unwholesome fringe to this development, to permit
shallow, draft boating from the Harlem River to the East River. This was
rejected on the grounds that the benefits would not justify the cost.
In addition to the already existing facilities on the
Island, the Park Department will develop as a part of its 1940-41 program,
the large northerly area recently reclaimed with fill construction in
connection with the Benjamin Franklin High School on the East River Drive,
Manhattan. Five softball diamonds will be provided, as well as a promenade
along the Bronx Kills and Harlem River, and access to the Bronx pedestrian
approach. The existing gas station, south of this area, will be remodelled
to serve as a Field House and Station.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Tuesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 August 27, 1940
The Department of parks Inter-Pool Swimming Championsnips will be
held at the Astoria Pool, Queens, on Friday, August 30. Teams from fifteen
Municipal pools located in the five boroughs will compete. The meet is
described by pool officials as "the most amateur of the amateur swimming
events." Its purpose is to develop interest in water-safety and swimming
and to promote a wholesome spirit of competition with a view to producing
future champions. There will be events for children of all ages up to
seventeen in the junior, intermediate and senior divisions. The Rogers
Classification Test will be used to group the contestants. Over five hundred
boys and 5irls will participate in sixteen events. During the past two years
the members of the team representing the Astoria Pool have carried off the
highest honors, but it is expected that the teams from Sunset Pool,
Brooklyn, and Tompkinsville Pool, Staten Island, will offer the Astoria
aggregation severe competition on this occasion.
The trial heats will take place at the Astoria Pool on August 30
commencing at 10 A.M., with the finals scheduled for the same day at 1
o'clock. The public is invited to attend.
Trophies will be awarded to the pool team that &ains the greatest
number of points in swimming; another trophy for the pool that acquires the
greatest number in diving, while a plaque will be presented to the team
which amasses the largest total of points in both swimming and diving.
Medals will be given also to individual winners in the various events.
Many of the topnotch swiiumers and divers in the leading
Metropolitan swim clubs got their start in these Department of Parks
inter-pool championships. A few are Robert De Groot, of the Dragon Club,
senior Metropolitan 100-meter backstroke champion, Sue Hernstorf, Shelton
Dolphins, who is the New York State 50-yard indoor ana former New York State
100-meter-outdoor champion, Eileen Safarik, Dragon Club, former junior
Metropolitan diving champion, William Pauelson, present P. S. A. L. diving
champion, Jean Weslowski, Dragon Club, backstroke star who lost the New York
State backstroke championship to Rita Weaver of the Troy Swimming
Association by l/lO second in the recent A.A.U. Championships; also moraine
Fisher, W.S.A., present national champion; and many others.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Monday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 August 26, 1940
My attention has been called to a statement made by Theodore
T. Hayes, Acting U. S. Commissioner to the World's Fair, I do not enjoy
Mr. Hayes' acquaintance and have never heard from him on this subject.
Mr. Hayes wants Flushing Meadow Park converted into a military camp to house
500,000 poople. He says it would be a pity to destroy the present World's
Fair buildings and that the park can be fixed up later. Mr. Hayes
apparently has some extraordinary notions of the site required for 500,000
people. The Fair thinks it has a pretty good day when it has 100,000
Visitors. Camp Upton, with some 6,000 acres, has never had more than 75,000
troops on it. Flushing Meadow has at most 400 acres outside of the water
areas, which could conceivably be used for a camp. It looks as though
Mr. Hayes added a couple of ciphers for good luck.
It now develops that the idea of establishing the camp originated
with Harvey D. Gibson, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Fair.
Mr. Gibson was supposed to be working in close harmony with the city
officials responsible for demolition after the close of the Fair, but I have
only just learned from him that he communicated with the Secretary of War
and Secretary of the Navy some time ago suggesting to them that the Fair
buildings and grounds would make a good camp. Mr. Gibson admitted that his
purpose was to save money by not demolishing the Fair buildings and clearing
the site in accordance v/ith his contract with the city. This saving would
amount to approximately $750,000, assuming that the sub-contracts of the
Fair with industrial corporations, foreign governments, states and
concessionaires as to demolition of their buildings and clearance of their
sites were carried out. The Fair is, of course, responsible to the city for
any failure of these people to perform their contracts. It should be noted
that the responsibility of the Fair for demolition and clearance comes ahead
of further payments to the bondholders. So far ten cents on a dollar has
been paid the bondholders. There is a possibility that another five cents
will be paid. Interest up to a certain date has also been paid. The bonds
are selling for not more than ten cents on the dollar in the market and are
probably not worth that. There is even a question whether Mr. Gibson had
the right to make the last payment to the bondholders in the face of formal
written demands from the city that he set aside this money to keep the prior
obligation to the city with reference to demolition and clearance of the
site. My own feeling as the City official closest to the problem is that
the Corporation Counsel should ask that a receiver be appointed promptly so
as to protect the City's interests in the face of the Fair's financial
involvements. We have reluctantly become reconciled to the fact that there
is going to be no profit from the Fair available for the completion of
Flushing Meadow Park. We are not, however, reconciled to Mr. Gibson's cute
device by which a financially busted World's Fair will escape its
responsibility for clearing the site so as to pay an extra dividend to
Mr. Gibson's friends.
The relations of the World's Fair, Inc., 1939, to the City are
governed by the World's Fair Act adopted by the State Legislature in 1936.
Subject to this law a contract was made with the City. This contract was
signed by the Comptroller and the Commissioner of Parks and the latter is
responsible among other things, under both the law and the contract, to see
that the site is cleared within the time fixed. I have had a great deal of
trouble, as the City's representative, in getting anywhere with Mr. Gibson
who has never been frank and straight-forward and has impeded in every
possible way arrangements for demolition and site clearance. It has been
obvious for some time that Mr. Gibson had some scheme in mind by which he
could abrogate the law and void the contract. It is now clear that his
scheme is to take advantage of war hysteria and to get either the War
Department or Navy Department to agree to take over the World's Pair with
the present buildings and to convert them into a camp. His assistants in
this scheme appear to be the Acting United States Commissioner, who has no
responsibilities whatever in this context excepting for the federal building
and Mr. George Creel, a publicity man who seems to be associated with the
Federal Commission. This scheme to use Flushing Meadow Park as a camp for
500,000 men is so fantastic that it is hard to believe it would receive any
support from official quarters even under war conditions and with an
approaching national election.
As the matter stands, a tremendous amount of public money, city,
state and federal, has been spent upon public improvements in the
reclamation of Flushing Meadow in making it accessible, in improving living
conditions around it, and in encouraging people to build residential
communities on its borders. This entire investment will be jeopardized and
at least in part destroyed by a military camp. The notion that such a camp
would only remain for a short time is contrary to all past experience in the
World War. I disposed of the remains of one of these camps in 1934, 16
years after the World War ended.
All the underground connections, not to speak of surface
improvements, at Flushing Meadow have been, made with a view to park usage.
These facilities cannot be expanded for camp use without tremendous expense
and substantial destruction of the Flushing Meadow area.
The temporary buildings proposed to be used for cantonments were
never built for any such purpose, have only a short life, have no heating
facilities whatever, and few other sanitary facilities. Provision for
heating and other utilities alone would be enormously expensive and
prodigiously wasteful. The buildings would never be livable anyway.
When the Special code authorized by the World's Fair Act was
adopted for the Fair buildings, all established construction standards were
lowered on the plea that the buildings must necessarily be flimsy and cheap
and that this was justifiable because there was only a temporary use for
exhibition purposes. The suggestion of using these buildings without
complete reconstruction to house a large military force is crazy. A single
fire, a serious collapse or settlement would send a number of public
officials to jail.
Surrounding Flushing Meadow Park are not only buildings which
were there before the Fair, but new structures, public and private, built
solely because of the assurance of the park improvements. This applies not
only to such public buildings as the New Queens Civic Center and the new
high school, but also to the housing developments on the golf club
properties, and south and west of Forest Hills and Kew Gardens.
The establishment of a camp will make a shambles of Flushing
Meadow. It will ruin most of the new housing developments. It will destroy
trees and shrubbery, a good many of which have to be moved in connection
with the demolition program. It will create the most undesirable uses
surrounding the park area. There never has been a camp without camp
followers since the dawn of time and there will be plenty of camp followers
around Flushing Meadow.
A considerable part of Flushing Meadow Park is water and is of no
use for a camp. What remains does not lend itself to this purpose either.
A camp is thoroughly undesirable in the center of a city with a great and
growing population around it, and Flushing Meadow Park happens to be both
the population and geographical center of New York City. Camps should be
established on vacant property in the outskirts of cities or in the open
country They should be built by people who know just what they want in the
way of cantonments and who are not satisfied to have the army or navy roost
in temporary non-fireproof buildings without heat or other facilities, and
who don't want to create an impossible policing problem around the camp
area.
It is foolish to assume that only those interested in the park
program object to the camp. There will be plenty of other opposition and it
will be vocal and effective. In the end any administration will make itself
ridiculous if it lends support to such a scheme.
The basic questions, of course, continue to be those of public
need and common sense. There is no public need of creating a colossal mess
in the heart of the city, and certainly all the objections should be made
fully known to those who want to take advantage of war hysteria to do
something very foolish for which others, in the end, will have to pay the
penalty.
ROBERT MOSES
Commissioner
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Monday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 August 26, 1940
Bids were opened today by the Department of Parks at the Arsenal
for the General Reconstruction of the westerly portion of St. Gabriel's Park
between 35th and 36th Streets, East of 2nd Avenue, Borough of Manhattan.
This reconstruction was caused by cutting a street through the park to give
access to the new Queens-Midtown Tunnel.
This contract provides for the relocation of trees, benches and
playground areas, erecting fences, landscaping, repaving certain areas and
adjusting of existing utilities to new conditions.
The three low bidders were:
1. Frank Mascali & Sons, Inc, $12,977.00
4634 Third Avenue, Bronx, N.Y.
2. Colmar Construction Co., Inc. 13,872.00
15 East 40th Street, New York City
3. Melwood Construction Corporation 14,178.50
507 Fifth Avenue, New York City
* * * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Monday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 August 26, 1940
The Department of Parks announces the opening without ceremonies
of a new playground at Stuyvesant Avenue and Marion Street, Brooklyn, on
Monday, August 26. This land was acquired March 16, 1939 under permit from
the Board of Transportation for an indefinite period.
This small children's playground consists of kindergarten swings,
see-saws, slides, a sand pit and a free play space with a shower basin and
has been surfaced with bituminous material to provide for all year round
usage. The entire area is landscaped with shade trees and concrete benches
have been provided.
The opening of this playground designed by the Park Department
and built and landscaped by the Work Projects Administration makes a total
of 288 new areas completed by the Park Department since January 1, 1934. At
that time there were 119 playgrounds in the five boroughs; 52 of these have
been redesigned and reconstructed. At present there are 407 playgrounds in
the City Park System.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Monday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 August 26, 1940
The Department of Parks announces the opening to the public of
two pedestrian overpasses and approaches leading from the Old Shore Road
over the new Belt Parkway to the promenade and recreational areas along The
Narrows in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.
The approaches consist of steps, walks and ramps. The overpass
opposite 92 Street has four spans over the parkway and two spans of stepped
ramps parallel to the parkway leading to the wide promenade at the water's
edge. The sub-structure consists of a reinforced concrete deck and rolled
structural steel floor beams which frame into built-up girders. The piers
and abutments are of stone-faced reinforced granite. All piers and
abutments are supported by piles.
The overpass at Old Glory Overlook, approximately opposite 81
Street, consists of three spans over the parkway and two spans of step ramps
parallel to the parkway leading to the promenade. The structure is similar
to that opposite 92 Street, with the exception that the east abutment is a
stone-faced gravity type concrete wall extending about 160' in each
direction parallel to the parkway.
These approaches and overpasses provide access for local residents
of tile adjacent communities to the promenade and bicycle path along the
waterfront. They were constructed with Belt Parkway funds.
A considerable force is also working on the immediate construction
of passive and active recreational and landscaped areas strung out along a
two and one-half mile strip of reclaimed land extending from 69 Street to
Fort Hamilton. This work is being done largely by the W.P.A. according to
plans prepared by the Department of Parks, following the construction of a
new sea wall in what was previously the water of The Narrows, pumping in
sand and placing other fill back of the sea wall and thus manufacturing new
land for recreation purposes. There will be five playgrounds and two
athletic fields including baseball diamonds, field houses, a dancing and
roller skating area, handball, tennis, horseshoe pitching and shuffleboard
courts, playground apparatus, wading pools, sand pits and bicycle paths.
When this part of the Belt System is completed, Bay Ridge will have
a shoestring waterfront park similar to the one developed in Riverside Park,
Manhattan, in connection with the West Side Improvement.
* * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Friday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 August 23, 1940
Some of the best amateur golfers in the Metropolitan area have entered
the Golf Championship Tournament conducted by the Department of Parks for
the "Newbold Morris Trophy" which will start Sunday, August 25, at 9 A.M. on
all of the ten Municipal Golf Courses. This trophy, a handsome sterling
silver cup donated by Newbold Morris, President of the City Council, will be
in competition for the next sixty years, and the name of the annual winner
of the New York City Golf Championship will be inscribed upon it. In
addition, the annual winner will be presented with a six-inch replica of the
larger trophy, also in sterling silver, which he will retain.
For the past four months, anyone desiring to qualify for this
tournament turned over to the course supervisor his three lowest gross
soores attested to by the three other manbers of his foursome. The
thirty-two low gross scorers on each course will compete on Sunday, August
25, at 9 A.M. in eighteen holes of medal play for the course championship
and for the right to be included in a team-of-eight which will represent
their respective course in the citywide course championship. In a sense,
this is a preliminary qualifying round. Trophies will be awarded by the
Department of Parks to the individual course champions. The teams-of-eight
which have been selected '.Till compete on Sunday, September 1, at Clearview
Golf Course in 36 holes of medal play for the citywide course team
championship. The four low gross scorers from any one course will decide
the team championship. The winning team will receive a team trophy that
will remain permanently on display in the clubhouse of the course
represented by the team.
On Saturday, September 14 and 15, the sixteen low gross soorers will
begin eighteen holes of match play on the Dyker Beach Course, Brooklyn, to
determine the trophy winner.
The semi-finals will be played on the same course on Saturday,
September 21 with thirty-six holes of match play. On Sunday, September 22,
the two finalists will tee off at 9 A.M. to decide the New York City Golf
Championship.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Friday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 August 23, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that the city finals of the
Girls' Softball Tournament will be held on Saturday, August 24, at 2:00
P. M. at Heckscher Playground, 62 Street and West Drive, Central Park.
The city-wide handball championship, among girls of Park
Department playgrounds, will also be determined on Saturday, August 24, at
2:00 P. M., when the inter-borough winners will meet in a series of matches
scheduled to take place at North Meadow Playground, 100 Street and West
Drive, Central Park.
Girls in both these tournaments are 16 years of age and over,
and have been competing for the past 5 weeks in inter-plr.yground and
inter-district contests to determine the various borough representatives
who will be eligible to participate in Saturday's championship games.
Gold, silver and bronze medals will be awarded to the 1st,
2nd and 3rd place winners in each tournament.
In addition, sweatshirts, with a maple leaf, the Park Department
emblem, sewed on the front, will be presented to the members of the
championship softball team as well as to the winner of the handball
tournament.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Friday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 August 23, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that the final game of the junior
division in the city-wide softball tournament will take place on Saturday,
August 24, at 2:00 P. M., at Jacob Riis Park, Queens.
46 leagues, comprising 305 teams, have participated in this
division of the tournament, which is composed of boys under 17 years of age.
Inter-playground, inter-district and inter-borough contests
totaling 1309 games, were played during the last 6 weeks on the various Park
Department softball diamonds, of which there are 170 throughout the city.
Gold medals will be awarded to the members of the winning team at
next Saturday's game.
The Giants Baseball Club of the National League, has donated funds
to purchase uniforms and equipment, which will be awarded to the
championship team of the junior age group.
The Giants have also officially consented to permit the junior
division to bear their name in future softball tournaments to be conducted
by the Department of Parks.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Friday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 August 23, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that because of inclement
weather, the children's Dance Festival, originally scheduled for Saturday,
August 17, at 2:00 P.M., at Long Meadow, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, has been
postponed to next Saturday, August 24, at the same time and place.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Tuesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 August 20, 1940
The Third Annual Life Guard Tournament conducted by the
Department of Parks, will be held at 2 P.M. on Tuesday, August 27, 1940 at
Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York.
It has for its objectives the development and demonstration of
improved methods of life saving at beaches and fostering of a healthful
competitive spirit among the life guards.
Life guards at all the beaches have been practicing daily for
these events. On Friday, August 23rd, 1940, eliminations will be held among
the life guards at each beach to determine the make-up of the teams which
will represent the respective beaches in the tournament.
Each beach is limited to an eight man team with the two best life
guards from each beach competing for the individual championship. The
beaches under the jurisdiction of the DepartnBnt of Parks cover
approximately seventeen miles, and are staffed with 390 life guards. Teams
from the following beaches will compete: Orchard Beach, the Bronx, South
Beach, Staten Island, Rockaway East, Rockaway Park, Rockaway West and Jacob
Riis Park, Queens, Coney Island East and Coney Island West, Brooklyn.
The "Mayor's Trophy", emblematic of the Municipal Life Guard Team
Championship will be awarded to the winning team. This trophy put in
competition annually was won last year by Jacob Riis Park with Rockaway West
and Rockaway Park tied for second place.
An individual trophy known as the "Department Trophy" will be
awarded to the life guard securing the highest number of points in the
individual championship events. John Driscoll, a member of the team from
Rockaway Park, carried off the individual honors in last year's competition.
The events scheduled to determine the beach championship and the
individual life guard championship will be an Individual Surf Rescue, Team
Surf Rescue, Team Rescue Race with equipment, Individual Boat Race and a Two
Man Boat Race.
Beside the trophy, medals will be awarded to those men who finish
first, second and third in each event.
* * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Monday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 August 19, 1940
Collaboration between George U. Harvey, Borough President of
Queens and Park Commissioner Robert Moses has resulted in the approval of
the Board of Estimate at its last meeting to acquire and develop for
recreational, sewer and highway purposes, that portion of the abandoned
Stewart Railroad right-of-way which extends from the northeastern corner of
Flushing Meadow Park through Kissena Park to Fresh Meadow Road, Queens, In
addition to the approved taking of the old ettbankmont which passes through
low-lying meadow and swamp land, it was considered essential to acquire some
parcels of adjacent marshy areas wbJcb have little value for building sites.
In general, the tract is an irregular shaded, eighty-two acre
gore about one mile long and an average of five hundred feet wide, broadly
bounded on the north by Crommelin and Peck Avenues, on the east by Kissena
Boulevard, on the south by North Hempstead Turnpike, 56th Road and Elden
Avenue and on the west by Lawrence Street.
The development of this narrow connecting shoe-string park will
serve not only the local recreational needs but will also solve the
difficult problems of storm drainage for the Borough President and mosquito
elimination for the Department of Health. The great extent of this natural
drainage basin which serves the northeastern portion of the Borough of
Queens requires a storm water trunk sewer of such extraordinary size that it
cannot be accommodated within the limits of an ordinary city street. The
latitude afforded by the new right-of-way will simplify the problem.
Development plans for this new recreational area to be known as
Kissena Corridor Park, include four marginal playgrounds with typical
apparatus and court games spaced along the edges of the park. Some of the
open landscaped ovals will have soft ball as well as regulation baseball
diamonds. The predominant note, however, is passive recreation. A system of
winding walks, informal landscaped areas and high point overlooks will be
generously furnished with comfortable benches. Underpasses are indicated at
Main Street and Kissena Boulevard.
The marginal park walks and bicycle paths will have convenient
entrances from tht adjacent streets and will afford a fairly direct
connection between the two more extensively planned regional parks at either
end of the Corridor.
The west end of this new corridor will connect with the 1,255 acre
play center which will soon be under construction on the site of and upon
the termination of the New York World's Fair. A complete variety of
facilities for both active and passive recreation will be provided on a
scale unprecedented in New York City and equaled only in a few city parks in
the country.
The existing facilities in Kissena Park at the east end of the
Corridor will be increased in extent by the acquisition of the railroad
right-of-way through the park from Kissena Boulevard to Fresh Meadow Road.
This narrow strip, about one mile long and an average of eighty-five feet
wide is to be incorporated in the general park area and also in the athletic
field which will be built in the low-lying section north of North Hempstead
Turnpike.
Preliminary studies have been made by the Borough President of Queens
and the Park Commissioner to extend the Corridor easterly to Cunningham
Park. It is expected that plans will be submitted to the Board of Estimate
at its next meeting in September and, with the approval of the City Planning
Commission, favorable action seems assured.
The ultimate development of this one mile extension to the above
regional park might approximate the character of the westerly section but
the immediate needs of the area will be satisfactorily taken care of by
providing pedestrian and bicycle paths. The latter would tie in with the
existing two mile stretch through Cunningham Park which has been built over
the old Motor Parkway road bed from Horace Harding Boulevard to
Springfield Boulevard.
This three mile project consists of the development of approximately
120 acres of new park areas and thirty-five acres of reclaimed land in
Kissena Park.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Monday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 August 19, 1940
Bids were opened today by the Department of Parks at the Arsenal
for demolition at 17th Avenue, Shore Parkway section of the Belt Parkway,
Borough of Brooklyn.
This contract provides for the demolition and removal of all
buildings in the right-of-way, including fences, posts, walls, gas tanks and
other miscellaneous structures.
The three low bidders were:
1. Barr Wrecking Corporation $1,090.00
4802 17th Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y.
2. Greater New York Wrecking Corporation 1,343.00
110 West 42nd Street, Hew York City
3. J. Klotz 1,397.00
2064 Harrison Avenue, Bronx, N. Y.
* * * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Friday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 August 16, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that approximately 2000 girls
ranging from 8 to 16 years of age and representing 115 Park Department
playgrounds in the Borough of Brooklyn will participate in a Monster Dance
Festival scheduled to take place on the Long Meadow, Prospect Park,
Brooklyn, Saturday, August 17 at 2:30 P.M.
This dance festival is one of the outstanding features of the
recreational program prepared for the children of Park Department
playgrounds in Brooklyn and has been presented each year since 1916.
For the past five weeks, the children have attended regularly
the various instruction classes in playgrounds, where they have been taught
dance steps, which require poise, grace and rhythmic coordination to bring
about that precision in execution so necessary in group dancing.
In addition, each member of the dancing class is taught how to
make the costumes which she will wear at the performance. These costumes
are designed in accordance with the particular type of dance and they play
an important part in the decision of the judges since the appearance of the
costume will affect considerably each dancing performance.
Prior to the exhibition, there will be a colorful procession of
all the dancers, in costume, from the Union Street entrance to Prospect
Park, through the park to the Long Meadow, where the afternoon's performance
will take place.
The opening number on the program will be the "Indian Dance"
followed in order by the "Harvest Dance", the "Minuet", "Cowboys", "Virginia
Reel", "New Orleans Mardi Gras", "Sports Dance", "Radio Dance",
"Interpretation of Modern Dances", "Military Dance", "Sailor's Dance",
"Airplanes" and the "Spirit of Peace and Happiness".
The final event will consist of a patriotic tableau, featuring
Miss Liberty, Uncle Sam, and a Color Guard.
Music for this occasion will be furnished by the Park Department
Band.
At the close of the program, the dancers will parade to the
picnic grounds to enjoy their annual picnic which has become a traditional
part of the affair.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Saturday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 August 10, 1940
For the past two weeks over4 700 tennis players in the five
boroughs have taken part in the preliminary rounds of the Department of
Parks Annual Sports Tournament. The singles champion has been chosen in the
Men, Women and Junior Boys division in all five boroughs. The eight borough
quarter finalists in each division will meet at Randall's Island, Saturday,
August 10th, and Sunday, August 11th, at 10 a.m. to start the final round in
quest of the City Championship, Play will continue through the week with the
finals on the same courts at 2 p.m. on August 17th.
Leonard Hartman, seeded number one, is expected to defend the
title that he won last year. The present Manhattan Borough Champion, former
Columbia University Captain, and seoond ranking National Public Parks
player, Hartman, has been playing excellent tennis all season. Bill Lurie,
finalist with Hartman last Sunday at Central Park, three times a winner of
the Metropolitan Public Parks Championship and seeded second, is expected to
extend Hartman should they meet in the finals. Seeded third, is big,
red-headed Vincent Paul from Queens who has played such sensational tennis
in the leading amateur tournaments played at the Seminole Club, Sea Bright
and Rye and the victor over Al Doyle in a five set semi-final match which
gave him the virtual championship of Queens. Paul will meet Jerry Norman,
seeded star in the American Lawn Tennis Association and former doubles
champion in this division, on Saturday to decide the Borough of Queens
champion. Paul is expected to win in straight sets.
In back of Paul and the "dark horse" of this tournament is
Ernie Koslan, probably the best known player in the Bronx, a former N.Y.U.
tennis captain, New York State Intercollegiate Champion, conqueror of Jean
Boratra and Frank Bowden in indoor play, former nationally ranked junior
player and present Bronx champion, Koslan plays a smart game, the result of
experience in so many championship matches, and is expected to extend anyone
who tries to defeat him.
Queens stylist and 1939 Champion, seeded fifth, Al Doyle will be
found right out front, battling with the best of theme Doyle, consistently
one of the best in Queens, lost his first match on a Queens court in six
years when Vincent Paul moved into the finals with the score of 6-2 8-6 5-7
2-6 6-3. After defeating his brother in a semifinal round on Sunday morning
Don Hume, former Brooklyn College Captain, defeated Roy Groden,. a former
team mate, in the finals on Sunday afternoon 6-3 6-2 6-0 to win the
championship in Brooklyn. Seeded seventh in back of Don Hume is Bernard
Freedman, former City College star and finalist in the Bronx borough
championships. Roy Groden captured the eighth seeded position as a result of
his excellent play in Brooklyn having reached the final round.
Seeded first in the Womai's Division is Helen Germaine, National
Public Parks Champion, Metropolitan title holder for the past eight years
and present Manhattan title holder, Watacha Irwin, holder of the Bronx and
Metropolitan singles championships and the most outstanding feminine
performer in the Bronx is seeded right behind Miss Germaine, The third
seeding goes to Ingrid Lokatos, finalist in Manhattan who lost to Helen
Germaine 6-2 6-4. Following close behind and seeded in the order named are
Helen Levine of Brooklyn, Ann Freeman, Manhattan, Barbara Kaminer of the
Bronx, Janet Lorenz of Brooklyn and Claire Hotchner, Women's singles
champion of Queens who is seeded eighth.
Forty junior boys will compete for the singles title with Harold
Levine, Junior Champion of the Bronx, seeded number one. Paul Hockwolski,
Boy's High School s t a r and undefeated in P.S.A.L. competition is seeded
second. The Bronx vans the next seeding with Saul Seipser, while Brooklyn's
Champion, Irving Berkowitz, takes fourth place. The champion of Queens,
Leonard Srickson. is seeded fifth with Milton Kahn, Manhattan Champion,
sixth, and Al Range of Brooklyn, seventh. Arthur Seldin,finalist in the
Bronx, completss tha seeding with eighth place.
Arrangements have been made to handle a large crowd. Bleachers have
been set up around the courts on which the finals will be played. There
will be no charge, but admission will be by ticket only. Anyone desiring a
ticket for any of these matches may do so by writing the Department of
Parks, Arsenal Building, Central Park, Station WNYC, the Municipal
Broadcasting Station, New York Public Parks Tennis Association, 120 Wall
Street, New York City, or any Department of Parks tennis court.
Trophies have been donated by the Park Association of New York City
and will be presented to the winners.
* * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Saturday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 August 10, 1940
The Department of Parks announces the completion of work in
connection with the redesign and reconstruction of Bushwick Playground on
Knickerbocker Avenue between Woodbine Street and Putnam Avenue, Brooklyn,
and its reopening without ceremonies on Saturday, August 10.
This 2.8 acre recreation area has been redesigned to provide for
wider all year round usage for all age groups. There is a small children's
area with a wading pool, kindergarten swings, see-saws, slides, a sand pit
and a large area for group games. Separated from the small children's area
there is space for older children and adolescents containing play apparatus,
paddle tennis courts and basketball and volley-ball courts with removable
standards so that the court surfaces may be used for other types of group
games. There is also a separate area containing two double handball courts,
three horseshoe pitching courts and two softball diamonds, as well as a
large bituminous surfaced area for roller skating and roller hockey which,
during winter months when subfreezing temperatures permit, can be flooded
and used for ice skating. The entire playground is landscaped with shade
trees and numerous concrete benches have been provided. The old inadequate
comfort station has been demolished and replaced with a new modern brick one
to provide up-to-date sanitary facilities.
The reopening of this playground designed by the Park
Department and built by the Work Projects Administration makes a
total of 339 new or reconstructed recreational areas completed by
the Park Department since January 1, 1934.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Friday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 August 9, 1940
As part of the Annual Sport Tournament conducted by the
Department of Parks, twenty women and twenty Junior Boys will tee off this
Saturday, August 10th, at Clearview Golf Course, Whitestone, Queens, to
decide the Municipal Golf Champion in their division. They are the winner
and runner-up in the Course Championships in their division held at the ten
Municipal Golf Courses after two days of play. Over two hundred women and
one hundred Junior Boys took part in the preliminary rounds. Mrs. Adele
Ernst, of the Bronx, who lead all the qualifiers in the City with an 80 won
the crown at Van Cortlandt Park with. Mrs. Ann Nelson, of Washington
Heights, the runner-up. Mosholu's Champion, Miss Patricia Shanahan, a Hunter
College senior, whose 81 was second best in the qualifying rounds, is
expected to fight it out for first place with Mrs. Ernst. Miss Minnie
Fullen, also of Mosholu, who led the city qualifiers the first day, was
runner-up with an 84. The other qualifiers are Pelham, Rosetta Wallace and
Bee Haskell; Split Rock, Mollie Newman, A. Rosenberg; Dyker Beach, Ava
Spencor, Kay Olsen; Clearview, Annette Reyl, Stelle Jamieson; Kissena, C.
Roth, Carol Kirkpatrick, a 17 year old Jamaica High School senior; Forest
Park, Elizabeth Sneed, Gertrude Burrows; Silver Lake, Margaret Brook,
Margaret Haverty; La Tourette, Lillian Kienzle and Jean Wikstrom.
The qualifiers in the Junior Division look like a parade of
Prep and High School stars, fighting it out to decide the City Championship.
Bobby Newman, Bayside High Ace, who filled the role of the "villian" in
reaching the quarter finals by defeating all the seeded favorites in the
recent 10th Annual Queens Interscholastic golf championships. The runner-up
was Nick Ben Venuto, the Jamaica Vocational High star. Bob Schlosser, a
member of the Richmond Hill High team that won the City P.S.A.L. Cham- [TEXT
MISSING] Bob Drasser and diminutive Gilbert Zizak, members of the Flushing
High School squad that captured the borough team title in the 10th Annual
Queans Interscholastic Championship qualified as the course champion and
runner-up at the Kissena Course. Jack Amanna of Pelham led the city
qualifiers with a 77 to make him the favorite to capture the title. Mat
Genero, his runner-up, is expected to give him plenty of
competition. Mosholu will send Jack Breakstone and Julius Begamj. Van
Cortlandt's Champion James Lustgarten and Alex Sood will join them along
with. John Ryan and Vincent Livoti of Split Rock in their attempt to carry
the title back to the Bronx. Brooklyn's hopes will rest on the shoulders of
young Joseph Kraska and Sam Schwartz, who will uphold the honors of Dykor
Beach. Staten Island will send Dick Shephard and S. Martenson to represent
Silver Lake, while J. Beagan and Nicholas Colucci will carry the banner from
La Tourette.
The match will be a 36 hole-Medal Play round, the Trophy going
to the one with the lowest score.
The trophies donated to the Park Department by the New York Park
Association will be presented to the winners at the close of the first
Annual Sports Tournament on the night of August 17th at Astoria Pool along
with the champions of Tennis, Swimming, and Diving.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Friday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 August 9, 1940
At Sunset Pool, 7th/avenue and 43rd Street, Brooklyn, on
Saturday, August 10th at 1 P.M. some of the leading divers in the
Metropolitan area will compete for the A.A.U. diving championship.
This event will open a series of swimming championship meets; a part
of the Annual Sports Tournaments conducted by the Department of Parks.
Among some of those who will compete are Carlos Fernandez of the
Park Central A.A., Senior Metropolitan Indoor Champion; Sol Shrebnick of the
Dragon Club, former Senior Metropolitan Outdoor Champion and Charles
Batterman,, Dragon Club, Junior Metropolitan Champion; Danny Davis, former
Senior Metropolitan Indoor and Outdoor Champion; Ann Ross of the Dragon
Club, New York State, Senior Metropolitan Indoor and Outdoor Champion and
considered the best woman diver in the East; Eileen Safarik, Dragon Club's
14 year old star and former Park Department Champion; Dot Williamson of the
U.S.A.; and many others.
On Monday, August 12th, at 1 P.M. Betsy Head Pool, Hopkinson and
Livonia Avenue, hundreds of young stars from the five boroughs will gather
together to take part in the Novice Swiinming Championships. All the pools
in Brooklyn are sending representative teams hoping that they might win the
trophy. There will be Patrick O'Brien from Red Hook; Stanislaus Fiunski
from McCarren; Sam G-insburg of Betsy Head and Sven Sfrickson from Sunset;
boys with different ancestry having some fun in a sportsman's way.
Diving, free style , breast stroke and back stroke will be the
order of the day for boys and girls under ten years of age, under 13, and no
one will be allowed to compete if they have passed their 17th birthday.
On Tuesday night, August 13th, the National Y.M.C.A. Outdoor
Swimming Championships will be held at McCarren Pool, Driggs Avenue and
Lorimer Street, Brooklyn. This is truly a national affair with entrants
from Y's in many cities. Greenpoint, Eastern District, Central Bedford,
Flatbush and Prospect Park Y's have each sent in a strong team.
The City employees residing in Brooklyn, who are entered in the
Municipal Championships, will travel to Crotona Pool, 173rd Street and
Fulton Avenue, The Bronx, on Wednesday evening, August 14th. At 7:30 the
starter's gun will announce the beginning of the first event.
Thursday evening a strong contingent from the leading swim club
in Brooklyn, the St. George Dragons, will travel to Highbridge Pool in
Manhattan to compete with some of the best clubs in the East; such as: New
York A.C., Women's Swimming Association and Shelton Dolphins. The Dragon
Club under the direction of Al Johnson have such stars as Robert De Groot,
Junior National and Senior Metropolitan indoor back stroke champion; Lester
Kaplan, former City College star and former Senior Metropolitan and Junior
National breast stroke champion; Edgar Blackledge, Junior National Breast
stroke, 200 meter champion; Jean West, Phyllis Smithwick and many others.
Those who qualify in each event will meet in the finals at
Astoria Pool, 19th Street and 23rd Drive, Astoria, on August 16th and 17th
at 8 P.M. Beautiful silver trophies presented to the Department of Parks by
the New York Park Association will be awarded to the winners.
* * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Thursday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 August 8, 1940
Following are copies of correspondence for publication, between
a citizen and the Park Department in connection with a Volunteer Lifesaving
Corps selling tickets at Rockaway for a dance and entertainment:
"Hon. Robert Moses
Commissioner of Parks, City of New York
Arsenal, Central Park
New York, New York
Dear Mr. Commissioner:
During the past two weeks, we have been subject to
persistent solicitation by several persons who claim to be members
of a volunteer lifesaving corps, to purchase tickets for an
entertainment and dance to be given on August 29tli. I am
enclosing a copy of the face of the tickets which they are selling.
These men do not claim to be Park Department
employees, but maintain that they are rendering a supplementary
lifesaving and first aid station based at a building on the
boardwalk between Beach 26th and Beach 27th Streets. They state
that the proceeds of this affair are needed to purchase supplies
for this station and to compensate the men, all of whom volunteer
their services, in the event of injury. TShen I declined to
purchase tickets on the ground that I did not believe this method
of financing lifesaving and first-aid services to be sound, they
persisted in their efforts and returned to my home on two
subsequent occasions.
I wonder if you can tell me to what extent the
statement that the City of New York does not provide the necessary
lifeguard and first - aid services is correct. I should also be
interested to know what official status, if any, the United States
Volunteer Lifesaving Corps has and whether these persons have any
authorization to solicit funds in its behalf. What accounting is
made of the proceeds and is not a license from the Department of
Welfare required for solicitation of this type;? Who is "Commodore
Fischman" and whence does he derive the title? Incidentally, he
was one of the two men engaged in the solicitation.
I should be grateful for any information which you
may be able to give me in this connection. I am sending a copy of
this letter to Commissioner Hodson.
Very sincerely yours,
/s/Marcel Kovarsky
Mr. Marcel Kovarsky
143-A Beach 25th Street
Far Rockaway, New York
Dear Mr. Kovarsky:
I have your letter of July 23 requesting information as to
representatives of the U. S. Volunteer Lifesaving Corps selling tickets
for an entertainment and dance of the Sigemere Volunteer Lifeguards to
be held on August 29 at Dick Smyth's Chateau on the Rockaway Peninsula.
This group is composed of members who, to the best of our
knowledge, are lifesavers in name only. This is really a private club
located on private property, and unless they sell tickets on property under
Park Department jurisdiction or claim they represent the Department, there
is no way in which we can stop them.
They are not permitted to operate as lifeguards on the beach
or boardwalk. A block away from this volunteer station at 28th Street,
the Park Department operates a first-aid station, adequately manned with
experienced personnel, as well as another station at 34th Street.
Rockaway Beach is manned daily, seven days a week, throughout the
entire swimming season, with regular, Civil Service lifeguards, So far as
the Park Department is concerned, there is no need for any volunteer
lifeguard group in connection with the beaches under the jurisdiction of
this department.
Sincerely,
/ a / ROBERT MOSES
Commissioner"
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Thursday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 August 8, 1940
The Department of Parks announces an Amateur Junior Fife and Drum
Corps competition to be held at Jacob Riis Park on August 24th and 25th at
6:00 P.M.
The contest is open to all organized Amateur Junior Corps in the
City of New York.
Each Corps will be judged on tone, time, execution, cadence,
uniforms, and fifes, drums, and bugles.
The winner will be presented with a trophy.
Further information can be obtained from the Queens office of the
Park Department at Kew Gardens.
* * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE
TEL. REGENT 4-1000
Telephoned to City News - 8/6/40
The winners and runners-up of the women*s and juniors' (boys)
eliminations for course championships held recently on the Municipal Golf
Courses as part of the Park Department's Annual City-Wide Sports Tournament,
will compete for the city-wide championships in their respective divisions
at the Clearview Course, Belt Parkway, Bayside, L. I., on Saturday, August
10, commencing at 9 a.m.
On the same day, starting at 2 p.m., the eight quarter-finalists in
the men's, women's and juniors' borough tennis championships will start the
play-off for the city-wide championships at Randall's Island.
Also on this day, at 1 p.m., the A.A. U. Diving Championships will
take place at Sunset Park Pool, Brooklyn.
PHOTOGRAPHERS ARE INVITED.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Tuesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 August 6, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that 134 softball leagues
comprising 976 teams are presently engaged in playing off a total of 3582
games to determine the championship team of each borough in preparation for
the city finals.
The tournament is divided into three age groups: boys under 17
years; 17-21 years; and men over 21 years. Interest in softball is so
widespread that each division has approximately an equal number of leagues.
All the games are played on Park Department softball diamonds of which there
are 170 throughout the city.
The championship game in each group will take place as follows:
Boys under 17 years - August 24- 2 P.M. - Riis Park, Queens
Boys 17 - 21 years - August 31- 2 P.M. - Ma combs Dam Park, East
161 Street and Jerome Avenue, Bronx
Men over 21 years - September 7- 2 P.M.- Randall's Island Stadium,
East and Harlem Rivers, Manhattan
Gold, silver and bronze medals will be awarded to the members of
the teams which attain 1st, 2nd and 3rd place respectively in each division.
In addition, the Yankee Baseball Club of the American League,
has donated funds needed to purchase uniforms and equipment which will be
awarded to the championship team of the intermediate age group.
This substantial prize will certainly increase the competitive
spirit of the leading teams in the 17-21 year classification when they meet
at the city finals scheduled to take place at Macombs Dam Park, East 161
Street and Jerome Avenue, Bronx, near the Yankee Stadium, on Saturday,
August 31, at 2 P.M.
The Yankees have officially consented to permit the intermediate
league to bear their name which is so well known to baseball enthusiasts.
* * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Saturday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 August 3, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that the children of 12 Park
Department playgrounds will participate in special programs of recreational
activities during the month of August in ccmmeinoration of their official
opening to the public.
Supplementing the regular schedule of playground activities such
as handball, baseball and softbpll games, shuffleboard tournaments end group
games, there will be e variety of special events including bathing beauty
contests for children ranging in age from 2 to 5 years of age, wading pool
games, birthday skits and community singing of patriotic songs.
The August schedule for playground birthday celebrations is as
follows:
Time of
Borough Playground Location Opened Celebration
Manhattan Dr.Gertrude B.Kelly Playground
West 1? St. between 8 & 9 Aves. August 11,1934 2:30 P.M.
95 Thompson Street August 11,1934 2:30 P.M.
Lewis & Rivington Streets August 11,1934 2:30 P.M.
83 Roosevelt St. between
Cherry & Oak Streets August 11,1934 2:30 P.M.
Brooklyn Lincoln Terrace Playground,
Buffalo & Rochester Aves. August 5,1939 2:30 P.M.
James J.Byrne Memorial Play-
ground, 3 St.& 4 Ave. August 11,1934 2:30 P.M.
Queens Liberty Park Playground,
Liberty Ave. & 173 S t . August 5,1937 2:30 P.M.
Bronx
141 Street and Brook Avenue August 18,1934 2:00 P.M.
St.Mary's West Playground,St,
Ann's Ave. & E.146 St. August 15,1938 2:00 P.M.
Waterbury,Edison,LaSalle
and Bradford Avenues August 23,1939 2:00 P.M.
Richmond Abraham Levy Playground,
Jewett and Cestleton Aves. August 11,1934 Aug.12-2 P.M.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Saturday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 August 3, 1940
In conjunction with the Borough Finals in the Men, Women and
Junior Tennis Championships conducted by the Department of Parks as a part of
the Annual Sports Tournament, Miss Eleanor Tennant, world famous tennis
teacher and coach, will conduct a free tennis clinic.
Miss Tennant isworld famous in the tennis world having coached
such stars as Bobby Riggs, National Singles Champion, Davis Cup Star,
Wimbleton Cup Champion and ranked number one tennis star in United States;
Miss Alice Marble, National Women's Champion, National Doubles Champion,
Wimbleton Cup Champion, Wimbleton Doubles Champion, National Mixed Doubles
Champion and number one ranking women player in the country; Welby Van Horn
finalist with Riggs in the National Singles Championships last year; Mary
Arnold, Wightman Cup Star and National Clay Court Doubles Champion with Miss
Marble; Ronnie Lubin, National Tennis star and many others.
The Eleanor Tennant Municipal Free Clinics which have been so
successful in Chicago, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Baltimore and
California will be held on the Tennis Courts at Central Park, 93rd Street and
West Drive on Sunday morning, August 4th, at 11 A.M.
Miss Tennant will be assisted by Mary Arnold and Ronnie Lubin
in giving her demonstrations. Instruction will be given in all shot and
stroke technique; the proper method of serving, foot work and court strategy.
At 2 P.M. on the same day the Borough Finals will be held on
selected courts in all five boroughs. The quarter finalists in all boroughs
will meet to decide the City Championships beginning August 10th and 11th at
Randall's Island. The finals will be held on the same courts on August 17th
at 2 P.M. Grandstand seats are being erected to accommodate spectators. No
charge will be made to witness the exhibition or matches.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Saturday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 August 3, 1940
SUMMER CARE OF NEWLY PLANTED
STREET TREES
The Department of Parks announces that the need of water and
cultivation of newly planted street trees during the dry periods of the summer
months is most important.
Many young trees are found to be suffering from lack of water
and cultivation. In some cases, because of the presence of curbs, sidewalks
and paved streets, such trees receive the benefit of only a small portion of
the natural rainfall.
A newly planted tree should be watered at least three times a
week, especially on hot summer days. Two pails of water applied each time at
sunset is sufficient for the average young tree.
To assure deep penetration of the water, the surface soil of
the tree pit should be loosened with a hoe or rake to make a good earth mulch.
This should be done every week during the summer to prevent hard packing of
the soil over the roots. Where the tree is provided with s grating, the latter
should be lifted out and the soil loosened at frequent periods.
Every effort by the property owner should be put forth to
insure the good health and life of the newly planted tree.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Saturday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 August 3, 1940
Entries for the Championship Swimming Meet, a part of the
Department of Parks Annual Sports Tournament, are pouring in daily. This
Swimming Meet is unique in that it is not one swimming meet but is made up of
five separate and distinct divisions.
On Saturday, August 10, at 1 P.M., Sunset Pool, 7th Avenue and
43rd Street, Brooklyn, New York, will have some of the best of the amateur
divers in the East compete for the A. A. U. diving championship. On Monday,
August 12, at 1 P.M., Betsy Head Pool, Hopkinson and Livonia Avenue, Brooklyn,
New York, hundreds of young boys and girls under eighteen years of age will
race in the Novice events. Many youth groups, such as the Police Athletic
League, Catholic Youth Organization, Junior Inspectors Club, and Boy Scouts of
America will have teams represented. Tuesday night, August 13, at 7;30 P.M.,
McCarren Park, Briggs Avenue and Lorimer Street, Brooklyn, New York, will have
the swimmers from the Y.M.C.A. in the United States and Canada, who will fight
it out for the Y.M.C.A. Championships. Teams from many cities have already
sent in their entries for these events. Wednesday night, August 14, at 7:30
o'clock, the officials will move to Crotona Pool, 173rd Street and Fulton
Avenue, Bronx, to clock Municipal Employees as they thrash through the
water. Here the policeman from the corner beat will toss aside his nightstick
for a bathing suit; the fireman will climb down his ladder and plunge in after
him; the sanitation man, the tax collector and the law-makers will all follow
suit. All those who are on Father Knickerbocker's payroll are invited to "get
in the swim" at the Swimming Meet for Municipal Employees.
Highbridge Pool, Amsterdam Avenue and 173rd Street, Manhattan,
will be the scene of the best swimmers in the country competing for the Senior
Metropolitan and New York State Championships for Men and Women. All the best
clubs in the City, such as the New York Athletic Club, St. George Dragon Club,
Shelton Dolphins, Sutton Swim Club, Park Central A. A., Women's Swimming
Association, Bayville Aquatic Club, Newark A. C. and many others have entered
teams.
On Friday night, August 16, at 8:30 o'clock, and Saturday
afternoon, August 17, at 2 o'clock and at 8 P.M., the winners of the trial
heats of all the swimming meets will compete in the finals at Astoria Pool,
19th Street and 23rd Drive, Astoria, Queens. The program will be varied with a
water show of clowns, aqua belles and aqua boys and the Park Department Band.
Saturday evening will be topped off with the presentation of the cups and
medals to all of the winners of the City Championships in Tennis, Golf,
Swimming, and Diving.
All of these events are free to the public and the Department of
Parks invites you to come and bring your friends to the various pools.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Thursday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 August 1, 1940
The Department of Parks announces the completion of
construction in connection with four park improvements and the opening of the
facilities to the public on Thursday, August 1, 194-0. One of these areas is
in Manhattan and three are in Brooklyn.
In Manhattan, Jasper Oval, on Convent Avenue between West
136 and West 138 Streets, south of the College of the City of New York, has
been redesigned and reconstructed to provide a wider all year round usage of
the area. The former earth surfacing has been replaced with bituminous
material so that it can now be used for roller skating and roller hockey and
during winter months when sub-freezing temperatures permit, for ice skating.
Space is available for four softball diamonds, one of which has been provided
with concrete bleachers. There are also nine horseshoe pitching, six
shuffleboard, and six double handball courts, as well as a modern comfort
station.
In Brooklyn, at Red Hook, a combination roller skating rink
and bicycle track has been built facing the east side of the large swimming
pool and bathhouse bounded by Creamer, Clinton and Court Streets. The bicycle
track encircles the roller skating rink and it is approximately one-sixth of a
mile long. The rink is paved with permanent materials. In the block bounded
by Oswego, Sigourney, Columbia and Halleck Streets, adjacent to the Red Hook
Housing Development, 18 new tennis courts have been constructed.
In Sunset Park, the westerly portion located at Fifth
Avenue, 41 to 42 Streets, has been redesigned and reconstructed. The new work
consists of the rearrangement of new bituminous walks, curbs, concrete stairs,
entrances, concrete walls, new overlooks, benches, chain link and wrought iron
fencing, a small children's play area with sand pit and play apparatus, and a
new modern comfort station.
The opening of these park areas designed by the Park
Department and built and landscaped by the Work Projects Administration, makes
a total of 338 new or reconstructed recreational areas completed by the park
Department since January 1,1934. At that time there were 119 playgrounds in
the five boroughs and at present there are 406.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Tuesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 July 30, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that repairs to Steeplechase pier
at Coney Island have been completed and the pier reopened t o the public and
fishermen.
16,500 square feet of old unsafe decking had to be removed and
replaced to render this popular facility safe for public usage.
* *
Telephoned City News - 7/30/40
" Brooklyn Daily Eagle - 7/30/40
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Tuesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 July 30, 1940
Bids were received today by the Department of Parks on a contract
for doing misoellaneous paving along Shore Parkway at 69th Road and Fort
Hamilton, Kings County.
The work under this contract consists of placing sheet asphalt
paving, constructing an access drive, placing macadam sidewalk adjacent to sea
wall in front of Fort Hamilton, setting timber and concrete curbing and other
incidental work required to clean up the area within the contraot limits.
The three low bidders on the work were as follows;
1. Mill Basin Asphalt Corporation $ll,958.30
5410 Avenue TJ, Brooklyn, N.Y«
2. Boulevard Contracting Corporation 13,820.80
218-02 118th Ave., St. Albans, N.Y.
3. B. Turecamo Contracting Company 15,077.50
Foot of 24th Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Monday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 July 29, 1940
The Department of Parks has started the reconstruction of the
northerly end of Bronx Park. This is another step in the plan to build it so
that in addition to housing the Zoological and Botanical Gardens, it will
serve the neighborhood. For years all of the park was under the jurisdiction
of the New York Botanical Garden and the New York Zoological Society. 1937
the Park Commissioner reached an agreement with these two organizations which
provided for the release of property required for the southerly extension of
the Bronx River Parkway through Bronx Park and also sufficient land along the
easterly and northerly boundaries to provide recreation for the people living
in the abutting areas. Up to this time, there was very little opportunity for
active recreation in the park. Four playgrounds along the easterly boundary
have already been opened to the public and the construction of this northerly
area will fill a real community need. It will be developed with two children's
playgrounds, one on the westerly side near 204 Street, and the other on
Bronx Boulevard opposite Rosewood Street. Two softball diamonds and also a
regulation baseball diamond will be provided.
As a step toward the completion of this improvement the Transit
Commission will start work Monday on the alteration and reconstruction of two
bridges over the New York Central Railroad on the westerly boundary of Bronx
Park.
The existing bridge at Mosholu Parkway will be altered and added to in
order to provide additional traffic lanes which will be a part of the Mosholu
Parkway connection to the Bronx River Parkway Extension which is to be rebuilt
on a new line through the easterly portion of Bronx Park. This bridge will be
a link in what will be ultimately a parkway connection between the Henry
Hudson Parkway in Van Cortlandt Park and Bronx River Parkway. The present
Mosholu Parkway will form a portion of this link.
The bridge at 204th Street will be remodeled for pedestrians use
only. Automobile traffic will be eliminated and this bridge will become the
principal pedestrian entrance to the portion of Bronx Park north of Mosholu
Parkway now being developed by the Department of Parks as a recreation area.
* * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Saturday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 July 27, 1940
The Department of Parks announces the reopening without ceremonies
of the reconstructed New Lots Playground bounded by Riverdale Avenue, Sackman
Street, Newport Street and Christopher Avenue, Brooklyn, on Saturday, July 27.
This two and one third acre playground has been redesigned and
reconstructed to provide a wider, all year round usage. The old earth surface,
previously unusable after heavy rains and periods of thaw, has been replaced
with bituminous material. Approximately one half the area has been set aside
as a children's playground completely equipped with apparatus such as swings,
see-saws, slides, a sand pit, and a wading pool, which when not in use as
such, can be used as a volley ball court.
The rest of the area set aside for older children and adults,
includes two double handball courts and a large open space containing two
basketball courts with removable standards to permit softball. This area can
also be used for roller skating as well as ice skating during winter months
when sub-freezing temperatures permit. It is provided with floodlights so that
those otherwise occupied during daylight hours may procure healthful
recreation during evening hours.
The entire park has been landscaped with trees and shrubs. The old,
inadequate comfort station has been replaced with a new modern brick one to
provide up-to-date, sanitary facilities.
The reopening of this park designed by the Park Department and
built by the Work Projects Administration, makes a total of 334 now or
reconstructed recreational arose completed by the Park Department since
January 1, 1934.
* * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Friday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 July 26, 1940
The largest Tennis Tournament ever held in the Metropolitan area
will get under way Saturday, July 27, when over seven hundred men, women and
juniors start the preliminary rounds* The selected courts in all five boroughs
will be filled with contestants eager to carry off the crown for the singles
championship in their respective division. This city-wide Public Parks Tennis
Championship is conducted annually by the Department of Parks as a part of the
annual Sports Tournament with the cooperation of the New York Public Parks
Tennis Association. Joseph M. Carleton, President of the New York Public
Parks Tennis Association, is referee.
The eight quarter-finalists in each borough will qualify for the
finals to be held at Randall's Island, beginning August 10, to determine the
city champions.
In the Bronx the men will play at Mullaly Park, while the women and
juniors play at St. James Park. Brooklyn will see the men at McKinley Park
and the women and juniors will use Ft. Greene Park. Manhattanites can see
their favorites on the Central Park courts. Queens, the scene of so many
matches of National and International flavor at Forest Hills, has only to
oravel to Forest Park to watch the men and Alley Pond Park for the women and
juniors. Staten Island will send their men to Walker Park and the women and
juniors to Silver Lake.
Queens with two hundred and nineteen entrants has the largest group
of all five boroughs. Manhattan is next with one hundred and ninety-five,
while the Bronx and Brooklyn follow with one hundred and twenty-two and one
hundred and twenty-one respectively. Richmond, the smallest of all boroughs,
contributes its share of fifty-nine.
Never in the history of Public Parks Tournaments have so many stars
entered; included in the list are players of national prominence - such as
Leonard Hartman, former captain of Columbia University tonnis team and ranked
second in the National Public Parks; Vincont Paul, the local Queens boy who
was a recent sensation in the New York State Clay court championships at tho
Seminole Club; Helen Germaine, former National Public Parks champion and
Manhattan and Metropolitan champion for the past seven years; Jerry Norman,
high ranking player in the American Lawn Tonnis Association; Ray Stone,
another former Columbia University tennis toam captain; William Lurie, three
times winner of Metropolitan Public Park championship; Nat Goldstein,
Metropolitan Public Park champion and ranked sixth in National Public Parks;
Al Doyle, Queens champion with a number nine national ranking in Public Parks;
plus many College, Prep, High School and Club champions.
The many thousands who were unable to enter Madison Square Garden
when Donald Budge, the world's professional champion, played, and who have
read about the coast sensation, Elwood T. Cooke, will be given the opportunity
of seeing both when they play an exhibition match at Randall's Island on
Friday, August 16.
Ben Dwight, known to the tennis world as the number one umpire, will
officiate at the finals held at Randall's Island at 2 P.M. on Sunday, August
18.
The winners will receive handsome trophies and medals and have their
names inscribed on a perpetual trophy which will be in competition for
twenty-five years.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Tuesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 July 23, 1940
Bids were received toda/ by the Department of Parks at the Arsenal
Building on three contracts for the construction of a combined Life Guard and
Comfort Station, at the foot of Beach 135th Street, Rockaway Beach, Borough of
Queens.
The work under these oontracts consists of the construction of a
brick building on a wood pile foundation and includes complete electrical and
plumbing facilities.. Facing a large elevated terrace will be a concession
booth for dispensing foodstuffs. Adjoining one side of the terrace will be
comfort stations for men and women and on the other side a completely equipped
section for providing first aid treatment. Also included in this wing will be
the headquarters for the Life Guard Corps servicing the beaches under Park
Department supervision. The existing first aid station adjoining the new
building will be removed.
The three low bidders for each phase of contract work were the
following :
General Construction
1. George Hoffman & Sons, Inc.
1071 Washington Avenue, New York City $21,894.00
2. Schultz Construction Corporation
1819 Broadway, New York City 22,988.00
3. Balaban Gordon Company, Inc.
220 West 42 Street, New lork City 24,730.75
Electrical Work
1. Duxin Electrical Contracting Co.
124-05 1Q1 Ave., Richmond Hill, N. Y. 1,298.00
2. Werther Electric Contracting Co.
1165 Broadway, New York City 1,342.00
3. Sterling Sillman Corporation 1,476.00
200 West 42 Street, New York City
Plumbing Work
1. Fox Plumbing Company, Inc.
103 Park Avenue, New York City 4,005.00
2. Albert Miller
62 Blake Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y. 4,270.00
3. Thomas F. Mulligan
45-28 11th Street, Long Island City 4,275.00
* * * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Monday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 July 22, 1940
My attention has been called to the complaint of several residents
along the missing link of the Belt Parkway paralleling Bnmons Avenue. Only a
minority of residents is affected, and they make up in noise what they lack in
numbers and logic.
A small group of local residents in this vicinity with the usual
letterhead dressed up to look as though it represented a considerable number
of members of an organization bitterly opposed the construction of the Belt
Parkway back of Emmons Avenue and insisted that Emmons Avenue be used as part
of the parkway. This opposition, although it never had any validity or sense
held up this section of the Belt Parkway for about two years. Finally it
became apparent to everyone that Emmons Avenue would never do as part of the
Belt Parkway and that the original missing link would have to be
constructed. Finally an agreement was made under which the City acquired the
land and the Triborough Bridge Authority agreed to expend over $3,000,000. of
the money of its bondholders to construct this link.
In the meantime, precisely what we prophesied has happened. An
immense amount of Belt Parkway traffic is fighting its way through Emmons
Avenue interfering with local usage, endangering the lives of the fishermen
along Sheepshead Bay, and visitors, choking back cars for miles on the Belt
Parkway and other roads, and generally causing a mess where there ought to be
order. Several serious accidents have already been caused by Belt Parkway cars
speeding along Bimans Avenue, the drivers proceeding on the natural assumption
that the same unimpeded flow of traffic prevails here as elsewhere.
The problem which I have had to face as Park Commissioner and
Chairman of the Triborough Bridge Authority has been to get the missing link
constructed in time for the opening of the summer traffic of 1941, Everything
possible was done by us to anticipate the present difficulties. Detailed plans
and specifications were begun by the Triborough Bridge Authority long before
the City acquired the land. Contracts have been let and work must proceed
without any interruption if we are to be ready to open the missing link on May
30 of next year.
This is an exceedingly complicated piece of parkway construction
with many bridges and facilities for cars and pedestrians, landscaping, and
even local play facilities. I do not know of another case of parkway
construction where so many bridges have been built to facilitate access to the
waterfront.
It is obviously impossible for us to keep up with our construction
schedule if every local resident who does not feel like moving can get a stay.
It is essential that the sheriff proceeds to do his duty. These people have
had several years of notice of this improvement. There is no mystery about
it. The acquisition of this property and the building of the missing link was
debated publicly over and over again, and there is no possible reason why
every resident or property owner should not have made preparations to move
long ago.
If this kind of thing becomes a political football, the
construction work cannot be done. The result will be that a very few
obstinate people will interfere with the welfare of hundreds of thousands of
travellers, visitors, fishermen and othor residents in this section who will
have to go through another and much worse summor of traffic confusion and
danger on Emmons Avenue if the missing link of the parkway is not completod at
the beginning of next summer. This is another case where the community and
the people of the City generally can't eat their cake and have it.
- END -
July 20, 1940
Sent to Brooklyn Daily Eagle
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Saturday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 July 20, 1940
The Department of Parks, City of New York, announces that entries
for the Golf and Tennis Championships to be held as part of the City-Wide
Sports Tournament, will close Sunday, July 21.
Eligibility for the golf championships is confined to permit
players among women and juniors on any of the ten courses operated by
the City. Juniors must be under 18 years of age.
The matches to establish the course championships will be 18 holes
of medal play, to commence on Tuesday, July 23, and continue through
Wednesday, July 24.
Qualifiers, winners and runners-up will compete in the City-Wide
Championships to be held at the Clearview Golf Course, Belt Parkway, Bayside,
L. I., on Saturday, August 10. The match will be 36 holes of medal play for
each division.
Entries will be accepted by the supervisors of the various
municipal courses up to closing time Sunday, July 21.
Trophies and medals will be awarded to the winners and runners-up
in both the course championships and City-Wide Championships, through the
courtesy of the Park Association of New York City, Inc.
The City-Wide Public Parks Tennis Championships is being conducted
by the Department of Parks in cooperation with the New York Public Parks
Tennis Association. It is open to all men, women and junior permit holders.
The qualifying matches to establish the borough championships will be the best
of three sets in men's singles, women's singles and juniors' singles.
Play will begin Saturday, July 27, at 2 P.M. at the selected
Municipal Courts and continue throughout the following day. If necessary,
week day matches will be played at 6 P.M.
Quarter-finalists will be qualified to participate in the City-Wide
Championships to be held at Randall's Island, New York City, on Saturday,
August 10. Eight from each borough will participate. The matches will
comprise men's singles, women's singles and juniors' singles, best of three
sets; men's semi-finals and finals, best of five sets.
Joseph M. Carleton, President of the New York Public Parks Tennis
Association, will be referee. Trophies will be awarded to the winners and
runners-up of both tournaments by the Park Association of New York City, Inc.
Entries may be submitted until closing time Sunday, July 21, to the
attendants at the various Municipal Tennis Courts, or to the committeemen of
the New York Public Parks Tennis Association.
The qualifying tournaments will be held at the following
Municipal Tennis Courts;
Bronx: (Men) - Mullaly Park, 161 Street and Jerome Avenue
(Women) - St. James Park, 193 Street and Jerome Avenue
Brooklyn: (Men) - McKinley Park, 75 Street and 7 Avenue
(Women) - Ft. Greene Park, DeKalb Avenue & Washington Park
Manhattan: (Men and Women) - Central Park, 93 Street and West Drive
Queens: (Men) - Forest Park, Park Lane South and 89 Street
(Women) - Alley Pond Park, Grand Central Parkway and
Northern Boulevard
Richmond; (Men) - Walker Park, Bard Avenue and Delafield Place
(Women) - Silver Lake, Hart Boulevard
* * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Friday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 July 19, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that the renovation of the
bathhouse and swimming pool at 5 Rutgers place has been completed and that the
facilities will be reopened to the public without ceremonies on July 19th.
This bath was one of nine transferred from the jurisdiction of
the Borough President of Manhattan to the Park Department by charter provision
in 1938. The redesign and reconstruction planned by the park Department and
performed by the Work Projects Administration with relief labor has increased
the play and swimming facilities. Mechanical, purification and filtration
equipment has been modernized and heating and ventilating equipment repaired.
The roof of the bathhouse has been altered for use as a playground.
The Board of Estimate has been requested to provide funds for
the acquisition of adjacent private properties required in order to permit the
opening of fdndows inside of the bathhouse for additional light and air, as
well as for a small sitting park. The sitting area as planned will be
landscaped, contain numerous benches, a surface of permanent material and a
sand pit for small pre-school children to play in.
The bathhouse and pool will be open daily from 10 A.M. to 10 P.M.
The reopening of this facility makes a total of 333 new or
reconstructed recreational areas completed by the Park Department since
January 1, 1934.
* * * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Friday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 July 19, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that a kite flying contest
for boys and girls between the ages of 8 and 14, will be held on Thursday,
July 25 at 2 P.M. In the event of inclement weather, the contest will be
held on July 26. The locations for these elimination contests are:
Manhattan - Randall's Island
Brooklyn - Long Meadow,. Prospect Park
Bronx - Parade Grounds, Van Cortlandt Park
Queens - Alley Pond Park, Grand Central Parkway, Northern
Boulevard and 233 Street
Richmond - Willowbrook Park, Richmond and Rockland Avenues,
Staten Island
The contestants will be required to fly a kite in a standing
position with 100 yards of string and will be judged on the basis of
altitude of the kite and the time required to fly the kite.
Borough winners will receive medals for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd
places. Arrangements have also been made with the Boy Rangers of America to
take the fifty best kitefliers of New York City to Montauk State Park, Montauk
Point, L. I. on July 30.
One adult will be permitted to accompany the children on this
trip. These fifty finalists will also receive from the Boy Rangers, Benjamin
Franklin Kite-Flying keys which symbolize the significance of kite-flying in
the progress of civilization. Boys and girls desiring to compete should
report on July 26th at 1:30 P.M. to the locations of the elimination
contests.
* * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Friday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 July 19, 1940
More than eighty entries have been received for the Queens
men's singles tennis tournament four days after the entry blanks were
released. In 1939 the total number of contestants was only thirty-eight.
The tournament is being held at Forest Park where seven clay
courts are available. Play will start on Saturday, July 27.
One of the first entries received was that of Nat Goldstein,
Metropolitan Park titleholder and Brooklyn College captain. Goldstein will be
favored to retain his title this year. He is an improved player and in the
recent New York State championships held at the Seminole Club in Forest Hills,
the stocky little lefthander reached the round of sixteen where it took a
semi-finalist, Bob Harmon, to put him out. Harmon is co-holder of the
intercollegiate doubles title.
Another of the early entrants was Al Doyle of Woodhaven, who
beat Goldstein for the Queens Championship a year ago in a five set, four hour
match. Doyle lost to Goldstein in the Metropolitans however. These two
rivals should again reach the finals at Forest Park, although there are
several players entered who are capable of upsetting either or both. Among
them are Jerry Norman of Flushing, one-time co-holder of the National Negro
Mixed Doubles Championship, Vincent Paul, who reached the quarter-finals at
Seminole, Joe Russo, Texas Christian University captain, and Frank Farrell,
former North Carolina University player.
* * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Tuesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 July 16, 1940
Mr. Allyn R. Jennings, General Superintendent of the Park
Department, has resigned to become General Director of the Zoological Park in
the Bronx and of the Aquarium, Mr. Harry Sweeny, Jr., one of our Park
Directors, also goes to the Society as Assistant General Director. These
changes have been made as part of a plan for coordinating the activities of
these two institutions and the Park Department is glad to cooperate in this
program. The New York Zoological Society has already announced the beginning
of reconstruction of the Bronx Zoo and further progress and improvement will
no doubt be announced from time to time.
Mr. George S. Spargo, Executive Officer, will be the head of the
permanent staff of the Park Department and its ranking officer.
(Signed) ROBERT MOSES
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Saturday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 July 13, 1940
The Department of Paries announces a city-wide sports carnival
consisting of golf, swimming and tennis eliminations and city-wide
championships.
This carnival of sports will start in July with golf eliminations,
carry through with tennis at the city courts, and finally with swimming meets
at the various outdoor Park Department swimming pools. These eliminations will
culminate in a grand finale of championship events at the end of the season
with a show at the Astoria Swimming Pool, Queens, at which time all city-wide
awards will be made.
Although many thousands of people make use of the revenue producing
facilities for which a nominal charge is made, these are only a small
percentage of the numbers that could be accommodated. Without doubt, there are
many people in New York City not familiar with the facilities offered by the
Department of Parks for the enjoyment of a pleasant, comfortable and healthful
summer at a minimum cost.
It is hoped that this carnival of sports will popularize and
familiarize the general public with the recreation facilities which are
available but are not used to their full capacity.
The Park Association of New York City, Inc., a city-wide civic group
interested in the preservation and extension of New York City Parks, at a
special meeting of the Board of Directors, generously offered to sponsor this
carnival and unanimously voted to purchase 7 permanent cups to be known as the
Park Association Cups, and such medals that will be necessary. Should there
be a sufficient public interest, the Park Association will seriously consider
the possibility of presenting replicas of the cups in future years.
The following is a schedule listing the various tournaments,
qualification requirements, and the location and times at which the various
eliminations will be held:
ANNUAL SPORTS TOURNAMENT
CHAMPIONSHIP SWIMMING MEET
UNDER THE AUSPICES OF
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
CITY OF NEW YORK
FINALS TO BE HELD AT
ASTORIA POOL
19th Street and 23rd Drive, Astoria, Queens
FRIDAY, AUGUST 16th, at 8:30 P. M.
and
SATURDAY, AUGUST 17th, 1940 at 2 P.M. and 8 P.M.
Sanctioned by the Metropolitan Association of the A.A.U., New York
SCHEDULE OF TRIAL HEATS IN ALL EVENTS
1. A.A.U. DIVING SATURDAY, AUG. 10, at 1 P.M. SUNSET POOL, Brooklyn
2. NOVICE EVENTS MONDAY, AUG. 12, at 1 P.M. BETSY HEAD POOL, Brooklyn
3. Y.M.C.A. EVENTS TUESDAY, AUG. 13, at 7:30 P.M. McCARREN POOL, Brooklyn
4. MUNICIPAL DEPT. WEDNESDAY, AUG. 14 at 7:30 P.M. CROTONA POOL, Bronx
5. A.A.U. SWIMMING THURSDAY, AUG. 15, at 7:30 P.M. HIGHBRIDGE POOL, Manhattan
IMPORTANT TO CONTESTANTS
All Contestants Who Qualify in the Trial Heats Will Be Notified as to
Time and Day of Finals in Their Events
PRIZES
Handsome Cups will be awarded to Team and Pentathlon Winners
Park Association Medals will be awarded to 1st, 2nd and 3rd in
all events including A.A.U. Medals in Championship Events
ALL ENTRIES CLOSE ON AUGUST 4th, 1940
ADDRESS ALL ENTRIES TO: Vic Zoble, Supervisor, Astoria Pool,
Department of Parks, Queens, New York City
GENERAL INFORMATION
THIS SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIP IS THE FINAL EVENT OF THE
"ANNUAL SPORTS TOURNAMENT"
SPONSORED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
Trophies will be awarded to the individual Pentathlon winners and also to the
Team winner in the follow ing four classes:
1. Men's A.A.U. Championship 3. Y.M.C.A.
2. Women's A.A.U. Championship 4. Municipal Departmental
POINT SCORE FOR TEAM TROPHIES
Points will be awarded in the following order in the Relays and Pentathlon:
10 points for 1st 4 points for 4th
8 points for 2nd 2 points for 5th
6 points for 3rd
In the individual events points will be scored as follows:
6 points for 1st place 2 points for 4th place
4 points for 2nd place 1 point for 5th place
3 points for 3rd place
A.A.U. CHAMPIONSHIPS and PENTATHLON EVENTS count in point score
ENTRANTS ARE LIMITED TO 2 EVENTS AND 1 RELAY
EVENTS
GROUP 1 The following events will be open
to all MEN swimmers registered with the A.A.U. whether they represent a club
or are competing unattached:
1. 100 Meters Free Style SENIOR METROPOLITAN CHAMPIONSHIP
2. 100 Meters Back Stroke SENIOR METROPOLITAN CHAMPIONSHIP
3. 100 Meters Breast Stroke Open
4. 300 Meters Medley Relay SENIOR METROPOLITAN CHAMPIONSHIP
5. 200 Meters Free Style Relay Open
6. Springboard Diving--3 Meter Board 5 Optionals (No Required Dives)
7. Pentathlon Championship Trophy to Winner
Pentathlon Events: 100 Meters Free Style
100 Meters Back Stroke
50 Meters Breast Stroke
150 Meters Medley
Springboard Diving, 3 Meter Board,
3 Optionals only
GROUP 2
The following events will be open to all WOMEN swimmers registered with the
A.A.U. whether they represent a club or are competing unattached:
1. 100 Meters Free Style N. Y. STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
2. 100 Meters Back Stroke N. Y. STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
3. 100 Meters Breast Stroke Open
4. 150 Meters Medley Relay Open
5. 200 Meters Free Style Relay Open
6. Springboard Diving--3 Meter Board 5 Optionals (No Required Dives)
7. Pentathlon Championship Trophy to Winner
Pentathlon Events: 100 Meters Free Style
100 Meters Back Stroke
50 Meters Breast Stroke
150 Meters Medley
Springboard Diving, 3 Meter Board,
3 Optionals only
GROUP 3
The following events will be open to all members of the Young Men's Christian
Association in the United States and Canada:
1. 100 Meters Free Style
2. 100 Meters Back Stroke
3. 100 Meters Breast Stroke
4. 200 Meters Free Style Relay
5. Springboard Diving, 3 Meter Board, 4 Optionals (No Required Dives)
GROUP 4
The following events are open to all male employees of the City of New York:
1. 100 Meters Free Style Municipal Departmental Championship
2. 50 Meters Back Stroke Municipal Departmental Championship
3. 50 Meters Breast Stroke Municipal Departmental Championship
4. 200 Meters Relay Municipal Departmental Championship
GROUP 5
The following events are open to all Novice swimmers and divers:
1. 100 Meters Free Style for Boys 17 years and under
2. 50 Meters Back Stroke for Boys years and under
3. 50 Meters Breast Stroke for Boys years and under
4. Springboard diving for Boys years and under--3 Meter Board--
4 optionals (No required dives)
5. 50 Meters Free Style for Girls 17 years and under
6. 50 Meters Back Stroke for Girls 17 years and under
7. 50 Meters Breast Stroke for Girls 17 years and under
8. 50 Meters Free Style for Boys 13 years and under
9. 50 Meters Free Style for Girls 13 years and under
10. 25 Meters Free Style for Children (Boys and Girls) 10 years and under
Tear off here
TO: DEPT. OF PARKS DATE:
Directors of Sports Tournament, N. Y. C.
Please enter me in the following events: If diving, list optionals on back of
sheet.
1.
2.
3.
4.
In consideration of your accepting this entry I hereby, for myself, my heirs,
executors and administrators waive and release any and all rights and claims
for damages I may have against the Department of Parks, City of New York, the
Directors of this meet, their agents, representatives, and assigns, for any
and all injuries suffered by me at said Swimming Meet.
Competitor's Name: Age:
Address:
Name of Club: A.A.U. Reg. No.:
No entry fees will be charged for open A.A.U. events, but A.A.U. rules require
an entry fee for Metropolitan and State Championships. These fees, 50c for
individual events and $1.50 for relay events must be mailed together with
entry directly to Metropolitan Association of A.A.U., Woolworth Building, New
York City. All other entries to be mailed as indicated on entry blanks.
Directors of Meet: Vic Zoble, Supervisor Park Operations, Department of Parks
Lee Starr, Supervisor Park Operations, Department of Parks
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This 1940 Sports Tournament sponsored by the Department of Parks is the first
of 25 Annual Tournaments intended to familiarize the people of New York City
with the facilities provided by this Department for their enjoyment and to
promote active healthful sports among the City's younger generation. Following
is a list of the facilities available:
MANHATTAN: SWIMMING POOLS
Hamilton Fish Pool East Houston and Sheriff Streets
Colonial Pool Bradhurst Ave., W. 145th to 147th Sts.
Highbridge Pool Amsterdam Ave. and 173rd St.
Thos. Jefferson Pool 111th to 114th Sts. and First Ave.
23rd Street Pool 23rd St. and East River Drive
Carmine Street Pool Clarkson St. and 7th Ave.
60th Street Pool 60th St. between Amsterdam and 11th Aves.
John Jay Pool 78th St. and East River Drive
BROOKLYN:
Sunset Pool 7th Ave. and 43rd St.
McCarren Pool Driggs Ave. and Lorimer St.
Red Hook Pool Clinton, Bay and Henry Sts.
Betsy Head Pool Hopkinson, Dumont and Livonia Aves.
BRONX:
Crotona Pool 173rd St. and Fulton Ave.
QUEENS:
Astoria Pool 19th St. and 23rd Drive
RICHMOND:
Faber Pool Faber St. between Richmond Terrace & Kill Van Kull
Tompkinsville Pool Arietta St. at Pier No. 6
BROOKLYN: GOLF COURSES
Dyker Beach Golf Course 86th St. and 7th Ave.
BRONX:
Van Cortlandt Golf Course 242nd St. and Broadway, Van Cortlandt Park
Mosholu Golf Course Jerome Ave. and Holley Lane at Woodlawn
Pelham-Split Rock Golf Course Shore Road, North of Hutchinson River Parkway,
Pelham Bay Park
QUEENS:
Clearview Golf Course Belt Parkway, Bayside
Kissena Golf Course North Hempstead Turnpike & Fresh Meadow, Flushing
Forest Park Golf Course Park Lane South and Forest Parkway in Forest Park
RICHMOND:
Silver Lake Golf Course Silver Lake Park on Victory Boulevard & Park Road
LaTourette Golf Course Forest Hill Road and London Road
TENNIS COURTS
Manhattan has 103 Tennis Courts Bronx has 105 Tennis Courts
Brooklyn has 125 Tennis Courts Queens has 148 Tennis Courts
Richmond has 13 Tennis Courts
OPTIONAL DIVES
List Type of Execution (a-b-c)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
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ENTRY BLANK FOR CITY-WIDE MUNICIPAL GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS OMITTED - SEE PDF.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Saturday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 July 13, 1940
The Park Department announces that a monster track meet for boys
and girls of the Park playgrounds will be held at Randall's Island on
Saturday, July 13 a t 2:00 P.M.
The events on the program will be :
Events for Boys Events for Girls
85 lb. class - 50 yd. dash 85 lb. class - 40 yd dash
Potato race Egg & speon race
Potato race
100 lb. class - Broad jump
60 yd. dash 110 lb. class - 50 yd. dash
Basketball throw
I2O lb. class - 70 yd. dash (for distance)
High jump
Unlimited class- 60 yd. dash
Unlimited class-100 yd. dash
½ mile run
Relay Events Unlimited Mixed Relay
100 lb. class - 220 yds. Girl - 55 yds. Boy - 110 yds.
180 lb. class - 440 yds. Girl - 55 yds. Boy - 220 yds.
Unlimited class- 880 yds.
Thousands of children have already competed in the various
preliminary playground and district competitions held prior to the borough
eliminations conducted during June.
The Park Department Band will play for the procession of
athletes and during periods between events.
Gold, silver and bronze medals will be awarOed to the win-
ners of each event.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Thursday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 July 11, 1940
The Department of Parks announces the completion of the
reconstruction of the north section of Lincoln Terrace Park, Rochester Avenue,
Eastern Parkway and Buffalo Avenue, Brooklyn.
The reopening of this area, without ceremony on July 11, designed by
the Department of Parks and performed by the Work Projects Administration,
completes the reconstruction of the entire park.
This hilly portion of the parks has been redesigned with broad
sloping lawns and wide circuitous walks generously lined with continuous rows
of benches. On the Rochester Avenue side of the park opposite Union Street,
games tables have been provided for checker and chess players, many of
i«hom have found quiet recreation in this park during recent years.
New park lighting has been installed as well as numerous trees and
shrubs planted, all in accordance with the landscape scheme.
On the east side of Buffalo Avenue, a new brick building provides a
headquarters for the park maintenance force, and storage for the
concessionaire serving the public using the park.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Thursday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 July 11, 1940
The Park Department announces that fifteen running tracks
throughout the City will be made available to bicyclists on Friday, July 12,
1940.
Followers of this sport have increased in geometric progression
in recent years. In 1932, bicycle sales totalled 180,000. Today, almost ten
times as many sales are reported. The majority of the followers of this sport
are youngsters of elementary and high school age.
With the schools closed for the summer, the Park Department
recognized the need for taking the thousands of the City's children off the
congested city streets where they face the menace of injury, and create
additional hazards to motorists.
A study of recreational facilities in parks revealed less
intensive use of running tracks during the summer months by the track teams of
elementary schools, high schools and other organizations. In order to satisfy
the persistent, urgent demands for additional local bicycling facilities, the
running tracks at the following locations will be made available to bicyclists
on the days specified and during the hours designated:
(see attached)
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Description Location Hours of Usage
Manhattan Weekdays 8AM to 3:30PM
Riverside Park Riverside Drive and 74 Street All day Sat and Sun
East River Park 9 Street and East River Drive Weekdays 9AM to 12 Noon
East River Park Paths Between Broome and Canal Sts Daily: All day
Roosevelt Park Roller Hester and Canal Streets Mon, Wed, Fri All day
Skating Track
Brooklyn
Betsy Hoad Playground Dumont and Hopkinson Avos. ) Weekdays 8 AM to 3 PM
McCarren Park Driggs Ave. and Lorimer St .) Saturdays 8 AM to 1 PM
Playground Neptune Ave. and West 25 St.) 7 PM to Dusk
Street ) Sundays 8 AM to 11 AM
Red Hook Recreational Foot of Henry St. on }
Area Gowanus Bay )
Queens
Liberty Park Liberty Ave between 172 Daily 8AM to 11AM
and 173 Streets
Astoria Park Ditmars Boulevard, 19 St., Daily 8AM to 11AM
25 Ave. and East River
Victory Field Forest Park, Woodhaven Daily 8AM to 11AM
Blvd. and Myrtle Ave.
Jackson Heights 25 to 30 Aves.; 84 to 85 Daily 3:30 PM to 5:30PM
playground Streets
Bronx
Williamsbridge 208 Street and Bainbridge Daily 8 AM to 12 Noon
Playground Ave. 6 P.M. to Dark
Van Cortlandt Park 241 Street and-Broadway Daily: 8A.M. to 12 Noon
Macombs Dam Park l6l St. and River Ave Weekdays 8 AM to 12Noon
Rice Stadium Pelham Bay Park, Middletown Weekdays 3 P.M. to Dark
Road and Eastern Boulevard Saturdays 9 AM to 1 PM
(Not on holidays)
At all other times during the day the running tracks will revert to
their regular track and field uses.
Paths previously available to cyclists are located at:
Borough Location
Manhattan Central Park - 104 Street Cross Road
Central Park - North End of Center Drive
Riverside Park - 82 to 91 Street along east side of the mall
Riverside Park - 101 to 106 Streets (The paths in Riverside
Park are available for use all day on weekdays and until
noon on Saturdays)
Brooklyn Prospect Park - Central and Well House Drive
Ocean Parkway - Park Circle to Coney Island
Marine Park at Avenue IT &Gerritsen Avenue
Coney Island Boardwalk (Fall, winter and spring only)
Daily to 1 P.M.
Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays to 11 A.M.
Queens Alley Pond Motor Parkway at Winchester Boulevard Hollis
Bicycle for Hire at a charge of 25¢ per hour, $2.00
deposit is required.
Transportation from Manhattan: 8th Ave. Subway to Sutphin
Boulevard, or Jamaica Line of the B.M.T. to Sutphin
Boulevard. At Sutphin Boulevard take Bellerose Bus
to Springfield Boulevard and Hillside Avenue. Walk
east to Winchester Boulevard, turn north, 5 minute walk
to Alley Pond Park. Subway Fare - 5¢. Bus Fare - 5¢.
Brookville Park - 149th Avenue to Sunrise Highway, East
of 216th Street
Jackson Creek Boat Basin near 95th Street at LaGuardia
Airport to the World's Fair Boat Basin at Northern Boulevard.
(May be reached from the 94th Street bridge on the west end,
and from Northern Boulevard and Grand Central Parkway
Extension from the east)
Rockaway Beach Boardwalk (Fall, winter and spring only)
Daily to 1 P.M.
Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays to 11 A.M.
Bronx Aqueduct Property (Van Cortlandt Park) - Gun Hill Road to
County Line
Roads in Claremont Park, Mt. Eden and Teller Avenues
(Closed temporarily on account of construction)
Closed roads in Crotona Park, East of Crotona Avenue
(Closed temporarily on account of construction)
St. Mary's Park - East Mall
St. Mary's Street to 148 Street
Richmond Franklin D. Roosevelt Boardwalk, South Beach
Fall, winter and spring only
Daily to 1 P.M.
Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays to 11 A.M.
Silver Lake Park around the Reservoir, Victory Boulevard
and Forest Avenue.
In addition bicycle trails are being constructed in connection
with the Belt Parkway along the Narrows, Jamaica Bay and Little Neck Bay in
Brooklyn and Queens by the Work Projects Administration, These paths will be
ready for use early next summer.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Wednessday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 July 10, 1940
Bids were received yesterday by the Department of Parks at the
Arsenal Building, Central Park on contract work in the vicinity of Fort
Totten, Borough of Queens, in connection with the construction of the new Belt
Parkway which was formally opened to traffic on June 29, 1940.
The work under this contract consists of the construction of a
bituminous macadam sidewalk leading to the Fort Totten entrances; a concrete
retaining wall at Millet's Point Boulevard between. Utopia Parkway and 200th
Street; and drainage work consisting of cobble gutters and necessary catch
basins.
The three low bidders for the work were as follows}
1. Frank Mascali & Sons, Inc. $7,690.00
4634 Third Avenue, The Bronx
2. Murphy-Persicano Construction Company, Inc. 7,987.50
86-05 Justice Avenue
Elmhurst, Long Island, N.Y.
3. Ross Galvanizing Works, Inc. 8,276.00
395 Kent Avenue
Brooklyn, N.Y.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Wednesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 July 10, 1940
The Newbold Morris Golf Trophy, upon which will be inscribed the
names of the next sixty annual winners of the New York City Golf Championship,
together with a replica of the trophy to be awarded each annual winner, was
placed on display at the Clearview Clubhouse, Belt Parkway, Bayside, Queens,
on Saturday, July 6. It will remain on exhibition at that clubhouse during
the balance of the present week. During each of the following weeks it will be
displayed in the clubhouses of the following golf courses operated by the Park
Department.
July 13 to 20 - the Van Cortlandt Course, 242nd Street and Broadway,
Van Cortlandt Park.
July 21 to 27 - the Kissena Course, North Hempstead Turnpike and
Fresh Meadow Road, Flushing.
July 28 to August 3 - LaTourette Course, Forest Hill Road and London
Road, Richmond.
August 4 to 10 - Mosholu Course, Jerome Avenue and Holley Lane,
Woodlawn, Bronx.
August 11 to 17 - Forest Park Course, Park Lane South and Forest
Parkway in Forest Park, Queens,
This tournament is open to men. Prizes are also to be awarded to the
champions of each of the respective courses competing, with medals to the
runners-up. A trophy will be presented to the low-gross team of four
representing a single course. The members of each of these teams will receive
medal awards.
From September 14 to September 22, the trophy will be on display at
the Dyker Beach Clubhouse, 86 Street and 7th Avenue, Brooklyn, at which course
the semi-final and final rounds will be held on September 21 and 22.
* * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Tuesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 July 9, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that commencing Wednesday
evening, July 10th, at 9:00 P. M. there will be fireworks at Jacob Riis Park
every Wednesday evening during July and August. These displays are presented
with the cooperation of the Triborough Bridge Authority.
Before and after the fireworks there is free
dancing on the Mall.
Ample parking space is available.
Jacob Riis Park is reached by Flatbush Avenue and the Marine
Parkway Bridge; also, Cross Bay Boulevard and Cross Bay Parkway Bridge. All of
these traffic arteries connect directly with the new Belt Parkway which was
opened to the public on June 29, 1940.
* * * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Saturday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 July 6, 1940
The Department of Parks announces the reopening without ceremonies
of the reconstructed Annunciation Playground at Amsterdam Avenue and West
135th Street, Manhattan, on Saturday, July 6.
This 1.2 acre reconstructed area designed by the Park Department
and constructed by the Work Projects Administration with relief labor, now
provides for greater recreational usage throughout the year. The old earth
surface rendered unusable after heavy rain and periods of thaw, has been
covered with bituminous material. It now contains a new modern comfort station
and a completely equipped small children's playground, a large free play area
?dLth removable basketball standards to permit soft ball playing and other
group games as well as roller skating and ice skating in the winter when
subfreezing temperatures permit.
The perimeter of the playground and the easterly portion of the
area adjacent to the Croton Aqueduct Gate House have been landscaped.
Continuous rows of concrete benches under shade trees have been provided for
mothers and guardians of children.
The reopening of this playground makes a total of 332 new or
reconstructed recreational areas completed by the Park Department since
January 1, 1934.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Friday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 July 5, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that the city-wide finals of the
Horseshoe Pitching Tournament, singles and doubles, for boys and young men
past 17 years of age, will take place at Circle Lawn, Central Park, 106 Street
and West Drive, on Saturday, July 6, at 1:00 P.M.
Each borough has been conducting inter-playground and inter-district
horseshoe pitching contests, during the past six weeks, to determine its
winner and runner-up in both the singles and doubles division, for the
inter-borough competition on Saturday.
Gold and silver medals will be awarded to those who attain 1st and
2nd place in the finals, both singles and doubles; bronze medals will be
awarded to the borough winners.
* * * * *
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Wednesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 July 3, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that the children of 22 Park
Department playgrounds will celebrate the anniversary of their official
opening to the public by participating in special programs of recreational
acitivies.
While handball and shuffleboard tournaments, softball games,
track meets, roller skating contests and wading pool games will form part of
the activities, the programs will feature a variety of other events, including
magic shows, birthday skits, musical selections by children's bands, folk
dancing, community singing of patriotic songs and group games.
The July schedule for playground birthday celebrations is as
follows:
Time of
Borough Playground Location Opened Celebration
Manhattan 74 Street and Riverside Drive July 11, 1937 2:00PM
McCray Playground - W. 138 Street between July 15, 1934 2:00PM
5th and Lenox Avenues
Sauer Playground - E. 12 Street between July 15, 1934 2:00PM
Avenues A and B
148 Street and Riverside Drive July 24, 1938 2:00PM
East River Park, Eist River Drive & 12 St. July 27, 1939 2:00PM
St. Gabriel's Playground, E. 35 Street
and First Avenue July 31, 1936 2:00PM
Brooklyn Pitkin and New Jersey Avenues July 28, 1937 10:00AM
New York and Clarkson Avenues July 4 , 1938 3:00PM
Lafayette and Reid Avenues July 25, 1937 2:00PM
Sheridan Playground, Grand Street near
Wythe Avenue July 16, 1934 6:00PM
Howard Avenue, Pacific and Dean Streets July 30, 1937 2:00PM
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Wednesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 July 3, 1940
The Department of Parks announces that special patriotic
programs have been prepared for the children of Park Department playgrounds,
in. commemoration of "Independence Day", Thursday, July 4.
Track and field meets, handball and softball games, paddle
tennis contests and wading pool demonstrations will form part of the programs.
Special emphasis, however, will be placed on the historical significance of
July 4th by such activities as: the reading of the Declaration of
Independence, community and solo singing of the national anthem and other
patriotic songs, pledges of allegiance and magic shows, exemplifying
patriotism.
Fourth of July will be celebrated on the Mall, Central Park,
71 Street and Center Drive, by a concert to be given at 8:15 p. M. by the
Naumberg Orchestra, with Eugene Fuerst as conductor and Jeanne Palmer,
soprano, as soloist.
This is the second of a series of four memorial concerts
contributed each summer season by Walter and George Naumberg in memory of
their father, Elkan Naumberg, who donated the bandstand on the Mall.
The fourth of a series of 20 concerts sponsored by the
Associated Musicians of Greater New York, Local 802, Mayor La Guardia and
Friedsam Foundation will also be given on July 4 at 8:30 P. M. at East River
Park, Stanton Street and East River, Manhattan.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Wednesday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 July 3, 1940
Some time ago the question was raised with regard to permits for
speakers in Columbus Circle. The Corporation Counsel has rendered the
attached opinion on this subject
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COPY
THE CITY OP NEW YORK
LAW DEPARTMENT
Office of the Corporation Counsel
William C. Chanler
Corporation Counsel New York, June 26, 1940
57512
Hon. Robert Moses,
Commissioner of Parks.
Sir:
I am in receipt of your communication of May 7, 1940, reading as
follows:
"I have your letter of May 1 stating that, in your opinion, this
Department has no control over Columbus Circle and that jurisdiction of this
area lies with the President of the Borough of Manhattan.
In view of the provisions of Chapter 21, Section 532, paragraph 5 of the
City Charter, there still seems to be some ambiguity as to the extent of the
jurisdiction of this Department.
I should appreciate a further opinion defining more exactly the limits
of jurisdiction of the Park Department as to the area around the Columbus
monument, the sidewalks and other areas at the 8th Avenue entrance to Central
Park adjacent to the Maine Monument, and as to the jurisdiction of this
Department, if any, over the use of Columbus Circle itself, not only by
miscellaneous orators and their audiences, but also by peddlers, street
hawkers and other Commercial and advertising enterprises."
The problems you raise have been carefully considered by me not
only from the theoretical angle of statutory intent but also from the
practical angle of efficient administration. My Interpretation of the Charter
has been supplemented by actual inspection of the Columbus Circle area.
The general duties and powers of the Park Commissioner, as
enumerated in subdivisions 1 and 5 of Section 532 of the New York City
Charter, are limited by an "except as otherwise provided by law" provision.
As a result of this proviso, the jurisdiction of your department over such an
area as Columbus Circle must be read in the light of all other applicable
provisions of law.
In 1866, the area now known as Columbus Circle was designated a
public place under the exclusive control and management of the Park
Department. In 1913, the jurisdiction over that area was transferred to the
Borough President of Manhattan for the purpose of concentrating in a single
authority the responsibility for pavement conditions in the borough. This
transfer was effected by a resolution of the Board of Estimate and
Apportionment, concurred in by the Board of Aldermen and approved by the Mayor
on August 14, 1913, in pursuance of the authority granted by Section 243-a of
the Greater New York Charter (Section 69-1,0 of the present Administrative
Code). Since this resolution only transferred the streets in that area,
Columbus Monument and the grassplot, fence and sidewalk encircling it are
still under your jurisdiction. The balance of Columbus Circle is now cleaned
by the Department of Sanitation, paved and repaired by the Borough President
of Manhattan and patrolled by the Police Department, especially to the extent
of regulating meetings.
While Columbus Monument and its encircling area, as described above,
and the sidewalks and other areas at the Eighth Avenue entrance to Central
Park adjacent to the Maine Monument are within the Park Department's
jurisdiction, nevertheless the Police Department has the power and duty to
patrol that area. By the terms of Section 435 of the Charter, the Police
Department definitely has the responsibility for controlling all meetings and
regulating itinerant peddlers and street hawkers, and the power to disband all
assemblaged which obstruct the free passage of sidewalks and public places.
Yours truly,
/ s / W. C. CHANLER
Corporation Counsel.
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DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
ARSENAL, CENTRAL PARK FOR RELEASE Monday
TEL. REGENT 4-1000 July 1, 1940
Bids were received today by the Department of Parks at the
Arsenal Building for the contract in connection with the general park
development of East River Park from Grand Street to Montgomery Street, Borough
of Manhattan. Other contracts in connection with this improvement have
already been let.
Under this contract the contractor will grade the area, provide
subsurface drainage and water system; construct necessary paths, walks and
curbing; erect benches, fence, playground equipment and incidental structures.
When completed, the East River waterfront from Montgomery to
12th Streets will have a modern park containing many types of recreational
facilities. The portion of the park north of Grand Street previously
completed has been in use for about a year.
The three low bidders for the work are as followss
1. John Meehan & Son $293,435.00
90 West Street, New York City
2. Ross Galvanizing Works, Inc. 294,650.82
395 Kent Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y.
3. Frank Mascali & Sons, Inc. 302,454.50
4634 Third Avenue, The Bronx, N. Y.
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