Project type: Parks and Recreation, Playgrounds
Completed: 1935
Quality of Information: Moderate
Site Survival: Extant
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Description
The New York City Department of Parks announced the opening of Cedar Playground, along with twelve other playgrounds, in December 1935. Although the release does not explicitly mention federal funding, researcher Frank da Cruz explains here why “it is safe to say that every single project completed by the NYC Park Department during the 1930s was federally funded to some degree.” After April 1935, the WPA was especially involved in the development of the New York park system.
Source notes
https://kermitproject.org/newdeal/projects.html https://kermitproject.org/newdeal/pdf/1935.html#1935/12/18
Project originally submitted by Frank da Cruz on July 26, 2015.
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This was “my” park as a child in the 1950s. My family didn’t move to the Bronx (from Brooklyn) until the late 40s so the park was already there. It’s so interesting to see photos of it now and realize that it wasn’t just my childhood memory, it is truly an amazing park. I remember that my mom and I would pass by my brother playing baseball with his friends before we got to the children’s park. There was all the standard playground equipment, swings (flat metal hung from chains), monkey bars ( cubes of interconnected metal poles reaching so high that I would stop before getting to the top), A sliding pond and a wading pool with sprinklers at one end. There were always friendly “parkies” keeping everything clean and orderly. Lots of squirrels). We had to exit the park on the Cedar Ave side in order to walk further up the hill to the separately enclosed sand box which was locked after dark. If we weren’t going to the sand box we would climb up the stairs to Sedgewick Ave and continue our circle home. I had never connected my memories of the park with it being a WPA project but it is clear from it’s creativity and use of stone that that’s what it was. I’m so happy that I had this wonderful place to play instead of the plastic deserts that most kids today have.