- City:
- Brooklyn, New York City, NY
- Site Type:
- Parks and Recreation
- New Deal Agencies:
- Work Relief Programs, Works Progress Administration (WPA)
- Completed:
- 1941
Description
This Sheepshead Bay playground was constructed in part using WPA funds.
The New York City Parks Department writes:
“This parcel of land was vested in the City of New York in 1938 and transferred by the Board of Estimate to Parks in 1940. The playground opened to the public on June 5, 1941, as the 423rd playground in New York City’s parks system, funded in part by the New Deal-era Works Progress Administration (WPA). The playground contained a separate pre-school children’s section with a sand pit, seesaws, slides, swings, and a shower basin, and a surfaced area for adults and adolescents that featured a softball diamond and comfort station. Forty-eight trees were also planted in the playground.”
Source notes
NYC Parks -Mellett Playground Department of Parks, Press Release, June 5, 1941Site originally submitted by Evan Kalish on March 3, 2014.
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Ed Wizio
saul
It was named Mellet Playground in the late 1940’s to honor Mellett Brothers who gave the ultimate sacrifice in world war II.
The elder Francis J. Mellett was a Cpl in 101st Airbourne Div while the younger John E. Mellett was an infanrtyman. The former was a paratrooper in the famed Easy Company and died while taking the toy of Foy in Battle of Bulge on 13th January 1944. The latter was killed in March 1944 in Luzon, Philippines.
I played in that park from age 3 to 19. We too acorns from the maple trees to shoot in sling shots. I learned to play basketball there. From 1945-1961 It was a great park.