Van Cortlandt Park - Photo #31 - Van Cortlandt Parade Ground

   
31

The Van Cortlandt Park Parade Ground. This 43-acre field was built in 1901 as a training area for the New York National Guard. In the 1930s, Robert Moses, New York City's first citywide parks commissioner, redesigned the Parade Ground as athletic fields[2,3]. Today it is a large flat area where every conceivable kind of game is played, from Irish football to bocce ball to cricket, not to mention (American) football and soccer (fútbol).

References:

  1. Van Cortlandt Park History, New York Parks Department website.
  2. NYC Parks Dept press release of May 4, 1936: “Three reconstructed big league baseball diamonds will be opened on the Parade Grounds in Van Cortlandt Park. This entire area has had a new system of drainage installed and construction is proceeding on seven similar baseball fields, three cricket fields, two soccer fields and one lacrosse field.”
  3. Ultan, Lloyd, and Shelley Olson, The Bronx: The Ultimate Guide to New York City's Beautiful Borough, Rutgers University Press (2015), p.34.
  4. New Deal Assistance in NYC Parks Department Projects, 1934-43.