- City:
- Bronx, New York City, NY
- Site Type:
- Parks and Recreation, Athletic Courts and Fields
- New Deal Agencies:
- Work Relief Programs, Works Progress Administration (WPA)
- Quality of Information:
- Very Good
- Site Survival:
- Extant
Description
The Van Cortlandt Park Parade Ground is a 43-acre field on the southwest edge of Van Cortlandt Park. Researcher Frank da Cruz explains here that it “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. 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).”
Three baseball fields were opened on the Parade Grounds in May, 1936.
As da Cruz explains here, this work may have begun with CWA support and almost certainly included WPA funds and labor.
Source notes
https://kermitproject.org/newdeal/vancortlandt/vcparkparade1.html Van Cortlandt Park History, New York Parks Department website. NYC Parks Dept press release of May 4, 1936. Ultan, Lloyd, and Shelley Olson, The Bronx: The Ultimate Guide to New York City's Beautiful Borough, Rutgers University Press (2015). New Deal Assistance in NYC Parks Department Projects, 1934-43.Site originally submitted by Frank da Cruz on August 16, 2015.
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