Breininger Park – Jamaica NY

Description

The City acquired Breininger Park (previously known as Braddock Park) in 1938. The Department of Parks officially announced the opening of the park in August 1939:

“In Queens, the new playground is located at Braddock Avenue and 240 Street, in the Queens Village section, where a three and one half acre plot, on which there is a fine stand of mature shade trees, was acquired as an adjacent playground site in connection with the Belt Parkway, from which it is three blocks distant. A feature of this playground is a large oval lawn surrounded by a roller skating rink. A comfort station for boys and girls lies between this lawn and a large modern wading pool. All age groups seeking active recreation will be satisfied from the small children who have a kindergarten area with sand pit and small apparatus, the older children with larger apparatus and ample space for group games, and the adolescents for whom six handball courts, five shuffleboard courts, three horseshoe pitching courts, a basketball court and two soft ball diamonds have been installed. In the winter, the southern third of the playground, where the softball and basketball facilities are located, can be flooded to provide an acre of ice surface.”

Although the press release does not mention the WPA specifically, the New York Times specifically identifies the project as a WPA project. The paper writes: “Nine frame dwellings were demolished to make way for Braddock Park, which has two softball diamonds, a roller skating rink, six handball courts, five horseshoe pitching areas and a wading pool.”

The playground was renovated in 2000.