Celebrating Black New Yorkers in NYC Parks

To coincide with the naming or renaming of 16 park spaces by NYC Parks in honor of Black Americans, The New York Public Library is pleased to recommend a range of free resources to learn more about the great New Yorkers whose legacies are being memorialized. Discover books, articles, and databases exploring the lives of these writers and pioneers for free with your NYPL library card.

Background

On June 16, 2021, NYC Parks announced the official naming or renaming of 16 park spaces across the five boroughs in honor of the Black experience in New York City. These public spaces will memorialize local, national, and historically relevant achievements by a range of great New Yorkers.

Since the creation of Juneteenth Grove at Cadman Plaza Park in June 2020, when the agency pledged to continue to demonstrate its solidarity with the Black community in its fight against systemic racism, NYC Parks has named 28 park spaces to acknowledge the legacies of Black Americans, encourage discourse about their contributions, and work to make the park system more diverse and reflective of the people it serves. These spaces include the Ted Corbitt Loop in Central Park and Ella Fitzgerald Playground in Queens.

As with the first round of namings, the agency will install specially designed consolidated signs in the colors of the Pan-African flag—red, black, and green—at the renamed parks and facilities. These signs will be installed by the end of August 2021.

Learn more at NYC Parks and read on to explore the lives and legacies of the honorees.

Rev. T. Wendell Foster Park and Recreation Center

Jerome Avenue to River Avenue between East 164th Street and McClellan Street at Cromwell Avenue, Bronx

Rev. T. Wendell Foster was the pastor of the Christ Church in Morrisania. He was the first Black representative from the Bronx in the City Council, where he championed low-income housing and served as longtime chair of the Parks Committee. The renaming will formally take place in honor of Rev. Foster in September 2022, in accordance with Parks’ policy of naming three years posthumous.

Learn More:

• “Still Dreaming the Dream" by Katherine Bindley, The New York Times, Feb 13, 2009. (Available through The New York Times database with your library card.)

Mabel Hampton Garden

East 181st Street between Morris Avenue and Creston, Bronx

Mabel Hampton was a prominent lesbian activist and dancer during the Harlem Renaissance. She was also a philanthropist, and lived with her longtime partner Lillian Foster for decades on 169th Street in the Bronx.

Learn More:

• When Brooklyn Was Queer by Hugh Ryan (see Chapter 4)

Gil Scott-Heron Amphitheater 

St Mary's Street between St Ann's Avenue and Jackson Avenue, Bronx

Gil Scott-Heron was a pioneering soul and jazz poet, musician, and author. As a young man he attended DeWitt Clinton High School and the Fieldston School in the Bronx. The renamed amphitheater—along with the plaza, pathways, and lighting in this area of St. Mary's Park—is currently being renovated through the Anchor Parks Initiative, with the project slated for completion in the fall of 2021.

Learn More:

• Now and Then: The Poems of Gil Scott-Heron by Gil Scott-Heron 
• So Far, So Good by Gil Scott-Heron
• The Last Holiday: A Memoir by Gil Scott-Heron 

Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael) Recreation Center

Jesup Avenue between West 172nd Street and Cross Bronx Expressway, Bronx

Born Stokely Carmichael in 1941, the future Kwame Ture graduated from the Bronx High School of Science, and was a prominent activist and organizer during the Civil Rights era as a leader in the Black Power movement.

Learn More:

• Ready for Revolution: The Life and Struggles of Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture) by Stokely Carmichael with Ekwueme Michael Thelwell
• Black Power: The Politics of Liberation in America by Stokely Carmichael & Charles V. Hamilton
• Stokely Speaks: From Black Power to Pan-Africanism by Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture)

James Forten Playground

Underhill Avenue between Prospect Place and Park Place, Brooklyn

James Forten was a prominent abolitionist and vice president of the Anti-Slavery Society. During the Revolutionary War, he was temporarily imprisoned at Brooklyn’s Wallabout Bay near what is today the Navy Yard.

Learn More:

• A Gentleman of Color: The Life of James Forten by Julie Winch
• A Discourse Delivered on the Occasion of the Death of Mr. James Forten by Rev. S.H. Glocester
• The Prison-Ship Adventure of James Forten, Revolutionary War Captive by Marty Rhodes Figley, adapted by Amanda Doering Tourville, illustrated by Ted Hammond and Richard Pimentel Carbajal

Sarah J.S. Tompkins Garnet Playground

Lynch Street, Middleton Street, between Lee Avenue and Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn

A leading educator and suffragist, Sarah J.S. Tompkins Garnet was the first Black female principal in the New York City public school system. The playground which will bear her name is located in Williamsburg and features handball courts, play equipment, and swings. The park also has basketball courts, which are slated for a full reconstruction and are currently in the design phase.

Learn More:

• Homespun Heroines and Other Women of Distinction, compiled and edited by Hallie Q. Brown (see chapter on Garnet, pp.110–114)

Lena Horne Bandshell

Prospect Park West, Flatbush Avenue, Parkside Avenue, Ocean Avenue, Brooklyn

Lena Horne was born in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, and was a trailblazing dancer, actress and singer in theater, film, and television. She was also active on issues of social justice and civil rights. 

Learn More:

• Lena Horne: Entertainer by Leslie Palmer 
• Lena Horne by Brett Howard 
• The Legendary Miss Lena Horne by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon

Constance Baker Motley Recreation Center

East 54th Street between 1st Avenue and 2nd Avenue, Manhattan

Located in the heart of midtown, the 54th Street Recreation Center has been a community staple for years. Now, its name has been formally changed in honor of Constance Baker Motley. Motley, born in 1921, was the first African American woman to become a federal judge. She was a leading jurist and legal advocate during the Civil Rights Movement, and the first Black woman to serve as Manhattan Borough President.

Learn More:

• Constance Baker Motley: One Woman’s Fight for Civil Rights and Equal Justice Under Law by Gary L. Ford, Jr.
• Equal Justice Under Law: An Autobiography by Constance Baker Motley
• The Book of Gutsy Women: Favorite Stories of Courage and Resilience by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton (see Chapter 10, "Groundbreakers")

Ralph Ellison Plaza

Riverside Drive to Hudson River, West 72nd Street to St. Clair Place, Manhattan

A longtime resident of West Harlem, Ralph Ellison was a leading novelist, literary critic, and scholar best known for his novel Invisible Man. The newly named plaza, located at 150th Street, was already home to a granite block bearing Ellison’s name in honor of his legacy.

Learn More:

• Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison  
• Juneteenth: A Novel by Ralph Ellison
• Shadow & Act by Ralph Ellison 

Lorraine Hansberry Park

10th Avenue between West 47th Street and West 48th Street, Manhattan

Lorraine Hansberry was the playwright and writer behind A Raisin in the Sun and the first African American woman to have a play performed on Broadway. The newly renamed park in Hell’s Kitchen first opened in 1979 after the community advocated for more recreational space.

Learn More:

• Looking for Lorraine: The Radiant and Radical Life of Lorraine Hansberry by Imani Perry
• To Be Young, Gifted and Black: Lorraine Hansberry in Her Own Words by Lorraine Hansberry, adapted by Robert Nemiroff
• A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry 

Percy Sutton Playground

Harlem River Drive, West 151st Street to West 154th Street, Manhattan

Percy Sutton was an activist and lawyer during the Civil Rights movement, among whose clients were Malcolm X. He was also a prominent Black politician and businessman who served as Manhattan Borough President for more than a decade from 1966 to 1977. Percy Sutton Playground is located along the scenic Harlem River Drive. 

Learn More:

• A Wealth of Wisdom: Legendary African American Elders Speak, edited by Camille O. Cosby and Renee Poussaint, photography by Howard L. Bingham (see chapter on Sutton, pp.255–259)
• I See Black People: The Rise and Fall of African American–Owned Television and Radio by Kristal Brent Zook (see Chapter 3, "Percy and Pierre Sutton")
• Changing of the Old Guard: The New Breed of Black Politicians by Alfred Duckett (see chapter on Sutton)

Gwen Ifill Park

129th Avenue between 172nd Street and 176th Street, Queens

Gwen Ifill was born in Jamaica, Queens, and was a leading journalist, television broadcaster, and author. She was the first African American woman to anchor a nationally televised U.S. public affairs program, Washington Week in Review. Later, she co-anchored PBS NewsHour. Gwen Ifill Park is currently undeveloped and there is $21 million in capital funding to build out this green space.

Learn More:

• The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama by Gwen Ifill
• Access information about Gwen Ifill through The HistoryMakers Digital Archive using your library card

Malcolm X Promenade

Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Grand Central Parkway, Van Wyck Expressway, Queens

The scenic promenade located in Flushing Meadows Corona Park is now named in honor of leading civil rights activist, African American Muslim leader, and spokesman for the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X. At the time of his assassination, Malcolm X lived with his family in East Elmhurst, Queens.

Learn More:

• The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X by Les Payne and Tamara Payne
• Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention by Manning Marable
• The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X, as told to Alex Haley and Malcolm X

Musician's Oval

St. Albans Park, 169th Street, Merrick Boulevard, Marne Place between Linden Boulevard, Sayres Avenue, and 111th Road, Queens

The oval at St. Albans Park is named in honor of the numerous notable African Americans and Black luminaries in the jazz world including Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, and Lena Horne. They, among other prominent Black figures, including baseball legends Babe Ruth and Jackie Robinson, settled in the Addisleigh neighborhood—an enclave in the St. Albans area of western Queens that is today a landmark historic district.

Moses and Sylas Harris (Harris Brothers) Park

Foste Road, Carlton Avenue, Drumgoole Road West, Staten Island

Moses and Sylas Harris (also spelled "Silas Harris") were brothers and freed Black farmers who settled the community in southern Staten Island known as Harrisville or Sandy Ground. Last year, Parks renamed Fairview Park the Sandy Grounds Woods in honor of the free Black settlement where the Harris brothers lived.

Learn More:

• "The S.I. Soul Survivors" by Linda Tarrant-Reid, Daily News, Feb 18, 2007. (Accessible via ProQuest Historical Newspapers: U.S. Northeast Edition with your library card.)

Audre Lorde Walk

Silver Lake Park, Victory Boulevard, Clove Road, Forest Avenue, Staten Island

Audre Lorde was a Black lesbian feminist, activist, and writer. She lived on Staten Island from 1972 to 1987, and at the time of her death she was the New York State poet laureate. 

Learn More:

• The Collected Poems of Audre Lorde by Audre Lorde
• Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde
• Zami, a New Spelling of My Name: A Biomythography by Audre Lorde