The New York City Parks Department celebrated the 51st anniversary of Black Solidarity Day in style.
On Monday, officials at the parks department announced that they’ve renamed 10 park spaces to “honor the Black experience in New York City. In the midst of Black Lives Matter protests, the parks department said in June that it would continue to show its solidarity with Black New Yorkers and fight systemic racism. Commissioner Mitchell Silver made the initial announcement on Juneteenth when he created Juneteenth Grove in Cadman Plaza Park in Brooklyn.
According to parks department spokesperson Crystal Howard “an internal committee was convened shortly thereafter and have worked since then to vet selections and choose the locations. Vetting included consulting borough historians and The Schomburg Center.”
The parks will be re-named after five prominent Black women, four men and an organization.
In the Bronx, Tremont Park’s been renamed Walter Gladwin Park. Gladwin’s the first Black elected official in the borough’s history serving on the New York State Assembly. He also served president of the Bronx chapter of the NAACP and the Director of the Bronx Chamber on Commerce.
East Elmhurst Playground in Queens will now be named Helen Marshall Playground after the first Black Queens Borough President. Marshall also served on the New York City Council and the state assembly.
The formerly named Stapleton Playground is now Rev. Dr. Maggie Howard Playground, a community activist and the Senior Pastor of Stapleton UME, the older Black church on Staten Island.
New York City Mayoral Candidate Maya Wiley told the AmNews that places city dwellers frequent be named after its Black talent as much as its White talent.
“It is important that parks be named for the Black talent produced in a city with a history of denying them,” said Wiley. “I applaud Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver. Now let’s see to it that the trash is collected and the parks protected.”
In Manhattan, the parks department’s rechristened St. Nicholas Playground North as Langston Hughes Playground named after the famous novelist, poet and playwright. Also in Manhattan, the lawn at St. Nicholas Park’s been renamed James Baldwin Lawn after the author, activist, essayist, playwright and orator.
The lawn falls under New York City Council District .., which is represented by Ydanis Rodriguez. He expressed gratitude that something like this could take place in his district.
“The naming of the lawn at St. Nicholas Park to James Baldwin Lawn is welcomed with open arms in the Northern Manhattan community,” stated Rodriguez to the AmNews. “As a City, we must do better in recognizing the many contributions made by the Black community.
The council member also noted that these figures had to be honored by the city and not use their financial might, while they were still alive, to have something honored in their name.
“I am proud to have sponsored the co-namings of many streets in Northern Manhattan after Black and Latino leaders whose contributions to society must be always be remembered,” Rodriguez continued. “Many of these people did not have the luxury of being able to donate millions to the construction of a building that would then carry their name. We must honor the lives of these people and the many sacrifices they made for our underserved communities.”
Some other park renamings include Underhill Playground, in Queens, now named Ella Fitzgerald Playground, Heritage Field in Macombs Dam Park in the Bronx being rechristened Elston Gene Howard Field (Elston Howard’s the first Black man to play for the New York Yankees) and Staten Island’s Fairview Park wooded area now known as Sandy Grounds (named after the oldest “continually inhibited” free Black settlement in the United States).
Howard told the AmNews that deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor coupled with the harassment of Christian Cooper in Central Park exacerbated the parks “renewed commitment” to showing Black solidarity.
“New Yorkers and those that visit our great parks can learn so much from those we’ve memorialized,” said Howard. “They represent global icons, local heroes and enduring communities. From James Baldwin to Rev. Dr. Maggie Howard to Sandy Ground all represent an enriched Black experience here and abroad, now and forever.”