Paerdegat Park – Brooklyn NY

Description

The New York Times reported in 1941 that, as part of WPA efforts, Brooklyn would receive six new playgrounds, located at: “Third Avenue and Thirty-fourth Street, Second Avenue and Fifty-fifth Street, Fort Hamilton Parkway and Fifty-second Street, Albany and Foster Avenues, Park and Nostrand Avenues and Eastern Parkway Extension and Fulton Street.”

Paerdegat Park is the fourth site described. New York City’s Parks Department website writes: “The land for Paerdegat Park was acquired by purchase and condemnation in 1941 and became a park that same year.” Construction on the park was completed in January 1943. A press release announcing the opening explained that it contained a comfort station, a wading pool, three shuffleboard and two handball courts, and two softball diamonds. A double row of Pin Oaks and various shrubs had also been planted. The release confirms that “The construction of the playground was done by the Work Projects Administration from plans prepared by the Department of Parks.”

The park is named for Paerdegat Basin, a saltwater wetland area that empties into Jamaica Bay and is taken from a Dutch word meaning “horse gate.”