Harlem Park Spaces Renamed To Honor Black New Yorkers

HARLEM, NY — Two park spaces in Harlem were renamed in honor of Black neighborhood luminaries this week as part of a citywide effort to honor the Black experience in New York, the Parks Department said Monday.

The initiative, announced on the the 51st annual Black Solidarity Day, has renamed 10 park spaces around the city in an effort to show solidarity with the city's Black community and efforts to combat systemic racism, the department said.

In Harlem, the lawn at St. Nicholas Park near its entrance on 135th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue will now be known as the James Baldwin Lawn, commemorating the renowned writer, essayist and playwright who was born and raised in Harlem.

A few blocks south, St. Nicholas Playground North on the corner of 130th Street and Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard will henceforth be known as the Langston Hughes Playground. The famed poet lived for decades in Harlem and was a key contributor to the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s.

Hughes's townhouse on East 127th Street, where he lived and worked for twenty years, was designated a city landmark in 1981.

"Systemic racism is far-reaching and real. As the leader of this agency, and as a Black Man, I feel obligated and honored to increase representation in our system to mitigate the impacts of racial and social injustice," Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver said in a statement.

Other renamings include a baseball field in the Bronx in honor of Elston Howard, the first Black player for the New York Yankees; Underhill Playground in Queens in honor of the jazz icon Ella Fitzgerald; and a wooded area of Staten Island's Fairview Park in honor of Sandy Ground, the oldest continuously inhabited free Black settlement in the U.S.

"By reminding New Yorkers and the world alike of these historical figures, we are shining a light on how these people strengthened our communities, advocated for all people, and improved the quality of life for the people who have been impacted by their work," Silver said.

In honor of the 51st #BlackSolidarityDay, @NYCParks is proud to name 10 park spaces in honor of the Black experience in #NYC. The park spaces we are naming represent a renewed effort to incorporate Black history into the fabric of our beloved city. https://t.co/iuVnliHN4q pic.twitter.com/71at7nfsIn
— Mitchell Silver (@mitchell_silver) November 2, 2020