Marcus Garvey Park, Manhattan

Marcus Garvey Park

Marcus Garvey Park spans from East 120th Street north to East 124th Street and from Madison Avenue to 5th Avenue.

Dutch settlers referred to the Park as "Slangberg" or Snake Hill because of it's reptile population. The site was also home of British fortifications during the Revolutionary War for the protection of the Harlem River.

In 1835, serious consideration was given to razing the hilly area to accommodate new streets however citizens successfully petitioned to preserve it.

Marcus Garvey Park (1935)
Museum of the City of New York

It opened as Mount Morris Park in 1840. The park is home of the City's only remaining fire watch tower. The fire watch tower was designed by Julius Kroehl and erected in 1856. The tower is a 47 feet high and constructed of cast iron. It was designated a New York City landmark in 1967. In the 1930s a reconstruction of Mount Morris Park added a community center and child health station. The Pelham Fritz Recreation Center is named for New York City Department of Parks and Recreation employee Pelham Fritz. Mount Morris Park was renamed for Marcus Garvey in 1973.

Marcus Garvey Park in 1949
Museum of the City of New York

Marcus Mosiah Garvey (1887-1940) was an advocate of Black Nationalism. Garvey was born in Jamaica in 1887 and immigrated to Harlem in 1916. In 1927 he was deported to Jamaica.

Stuyvesant Square Park, Manhattan

Stuyvesant Square (1930) New York Public Library Stuyvesant Square Park is a park spanning from East 15th Street north to East 17th Street and from Rutherford Place east to Nathan D. Perlman Place. The square is commonly thought to be named for Peter Stuyvesant, the last of the Dutch Director-General of the colony of New Netherlands until it was ceded to English control in 1664. It is actually named for Peter Gerard Stuyvesant. Stuyvesant Square (1905) Museum of the City of New York The park lies within what was the Stuyvesant family farm. The farm once stretched from the Bowery to the East River and from 3rd Street to 14th Street. The park itself is in the approximate location of the original Stuyvesant family mansion. Randel Farm Map 1818-1820 In 1836, Peter Gerard Stuyvesant and his wife Hellen Rutherford reserved four acres of the family farm and sold it to the City of New York for $5 as a public park, with the proviso that the City of New York build a fen

Kingsbridge Armory, The Bronx

Looking west at the Kingsbridge Armory on July 21, 1914. Museum of the City of New York Kingsbridge Armory Also known as the Eighth Regiment Armory located on West Kingsbridge Road. It was built in the 1910s to house the National Guard's Eighth Coastal Artillery Regiment which relocated from Manhattan in 1917. Possibly the largest armory in the World. After World War II, the City offered it to the United Nations as a temporary meeting place. Looking northeast at the Kingsbridge Armory on July 18, 1914 Museum of the City of New York In 1911, the New York State Legislature authorized construction of the Armory using an excavated area that was planned to have been the eastern basin for Jerome Park Reservoir. Some military artifacts were unearther in the area, believed to have been from nearby Revolutionary War forts including Independence and Number Five. After the second world war, the City offered it's use to the United Nations General

Greenwich Village, Manhattan

Greenwich Village or "The Village" extends from Houston north to West 14th Street and from Broadway west to the Hudson River. Greenwich is Anglicized from the Dutch Greenwijck (meaning pine district) into the same name as the borough of London. Greenwich Village May, 1868 New York City Department of Records Greenwich Village has many streets named for Revolutionary War heroes: Alexander McDougall New York Public Library MacDougal Street - named for Alexander McDougall (1731-1786) a leader of the Sons of Liberty, major general in the Continental Army, a NY State Senator and the first President of New York Bank. Hugh Mercer New York Public Library Mercer Street - named for Hugh Mercer (1726-1777) a Brigadier General and close friend of George Washington. Died as a result of wounds received in the Battle of Princeton. Thompson Street - named for William Thompson (1736-1781) a Brigadier General of the War. David Wooster

5 Boros: A History of Places

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