Tom Crimmins Realty Blog - Parks

Veterans Park

Veterans Park is the oldest park on Staten Island. First mapped in 1836; thirty years later, the town became known as Port Richmond. In 1898, this open area was named Port Richmond Park.

In the 1920s, a police booth was built in the park courtesy of the Police Department and Parks. In 1949, the park was renamed by local law as a tribute to American veterans. Once an iron fenced property, it is now open for the public.

A granite water fountain stands in the Park as a monument honoring Eugene G. Putnam in 1915. Putnam was the school principal of P.S. 20 for over 15 years. 

The Park has a second monument; a bolder with a plaque comemorating  John Sullivan is located on the Park Avenue side. In the summer of 1777, he was an American Revolutionary War…

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Von Briesen Park

Like White Playground, Von Briesen Park is located in Shore Acres near Fort Wadsworth. The park is on the property of Arthur Von Briesen, a German immigrant who later served in the Civil War. 

Von Briesen purchased this land in 1901; he named it “Gernda”, translating to “wishing to be there” in German. The property was originally an orchard and greenhouse and Von Briesen maintained it during his residency.

Von Briesen passed away in 1920 but his property wasn't donated to the Parks Department until 1949.  It was then that the home was demolished by the Parks Comissioner.  The park wasn't open to the public until 1949, no recreational facilities were added, City of New York Parks &…

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Walker Park

Walker Park, initially known as Livingston Park, holds a distinguished place in the history of New York cricket and tennis. Founded in 1872, it was the grounds for the Cricket and Baseball Club.  

Tennis was introduced to North America by Mary Outerbridge when she came back from a vacation in Bermuda.

The first national tennis tournament for the Davis Cup was played at this park.  In 1885, the club was moved from in St. George to its current location on Delafield Place between Davis and Bard Avenue.

Staten Island Academy bought the grounds in 1925, and the City bought the property five years later for $110,000.  

The name was changed in 1934 to honor Lieutenant Randolph Walker Jr., who died in World War I. The Staten Island Cricket Club still…

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Westwood Park

Although Islanders relate the Expressway with a hassle, without it we would not have the Westwood Park.  "Master Builder" Robert Moses is linked to the development of the route and park.

Nycgovpark.org states, "In his effort to bring New York into the automobile era, Moses constructed 416 miles of highway and 13 bridges. Westwood Park and the Staten Island Expressway for which this land was acquired."

The land was an undeveloped land until 1973.  A local community group turned the park into a playground consisting of a basketball court, obstacle coure, slide, park benches and more.  It was named Sunrise Hill Park; however, it was all destroyed by local teenagers and the park was restored back to its natural state in 1980.

Commissioner Stern…

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Westerleigh Park Gets a Makeover

You can find some of Westerleigh Park's history here.  Staten Island Advance reported that the park is getting some new additions and a face lift. 

Some of the improvements are:

• Drains and 'rain gardens' to prevent any storm water damage 
• Repaved walkways and new paved stones at the entrances

The Parks Department is investing million dollars for these improvements; Borough President James Molinaro, Debi Rose and James Oddo are funding this project.

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Wegener Park

Ralph Wegener (left) is the oldest relative of the Wegener family. This is during the renaming of the park with City Councilman Vincent Ignizio (right)(credit: silive)

Wegener is also known as Genesee Park. It is taken from the Iroquois phrase: "Zon-esche-o" which translates to "beautiful valley." The park is located in a residential area right next to Korean War Veterans Parkway. The City did not have rights to the park until 1961; it was purchased among the land purchase for the Richmond Parkway, which is now known as the Korean War Veterans Parkway.

At the time of its purchase, residents would use Wegener as an unofficial playground. In 1998, Commissioner Stern named the land Genesee Park. Although the park was a playground at one point, it is…

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Wolfes Pond Park

Wolfes Pond Park is one of Staten Island's largest natural and manmade park that includes a beach, preservation and recreation area located in Tottenville. The park is named after one of the first Staten Island families, the Wolfes.

In 1857 the New York State purchased Wolfe as a quarantine station for immigrants. However, fisherman and oysterman suspected the waters were contaminated and decided to burn down all stations in protest.

Wolfes Pond became a popular recreational site in the late 1920s when the City bought the land. A new dam was built to "protect the freshwater pond from the infusion of salt water from the bay." However the dam broke twice in the past twenty years and the saltwater had killed some of the freshwater fish (nycogovparks).

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White Playground

White Playground in Short Acres was named honoring Staten Island WWI vet John Edward White.

Born in Fort Wadsworth, Staten Island, White served as a trainman for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in St. George, Staten Island. Never marrying, White enlisted in the United States Army to fight in WWI, and became a member of the Allied Expeditionary Force. He gave his life assisting in the defeat of Germany.

White Playground is located in the Staten Island neighborhood of Fort Wadsworth, which takes its name from the nearby military installation overlooking the Narrows. At 300 years of age, Fort Wadsworth is the oldest continually manned United States military reservation, and, along with Fort Hamilton on the opposite side, monitors movement in the New…

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Westerleigh Park

John Vanderbilt first purchased Westerleigh Park, and the neighborhood of Westerleigh, in 1848. In 1887, Vanderbilt sold the 25-acres of Westerleigh to Christopher S. Williams and William H. Boole; Williams and Boole bought the property in hopes of a summer retreat courtesy of National Prohibition Campground. Originally named as the National Prohibition Park, the neighborhood changed their name to correspond with the Westerleigh Collegiate Institute of Staten Island. This was the first institute that provided a kindergarden-college education. 

Westerleigh became popular around the time of the temperance movement; which is why the park was an…

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Willowbrook Park

WIllowbrook Park is a part of Greenbelt parks and is the most recognizable and popular in the sub-system. The park has been documented back to 1683. It had an industrialists attraction because of its waterways. However, due to a decrease in water level, the factories in the park that produced metal tools were forced to close down.

After 1964, Willowbrook Park developed in landscape and appeal after the opening of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. Willowbrook Lake is also known as the first man-made pond on Staten Island.

Although the area of…

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