New York City: Seward Park

New York City: Seward Park

by Jeff Myers

Seward Park offers three full acres of green space to the Lower East Side. Found north of East Broadway and east of Essex Street, the park offers visitors a shady relief to the hustle of the town. The park, named after New York Senator William Henry Seward (1801-1872), was the first publically ran playground in the U.S. and a model for many others. With an exciting history and lots of room to play, Seward Park New York is amongst the Lower East Side's treasures.

In the late 1890s the Outdoor Recreation League (ORL) worked to bring organised games to public play areas. The ORL played an important role in building play areas in community parks and is crucial to history of Seward Park.

In 1897, the land that would one day become Seward Park was obtained by the city. The ORL transformed the area into a playground, including a children's garden and a running track. Opening on October 17, 1903, the park's other innovations like recreation pavilion and gymnastic equipment, marble baths, and meeting rooms made it a model for future playgrounds across the land.

The history of Seward Park continues in the 1930s and 1940s, when the park went through a sequence of transformations. A part of the park's east side was taken over by the New York City goverment and utilized for street purposes. In 1936, the park bought the Schiff fountain from Rutgers Park. The transformation was finally completed by the addition of more playgrounds, shuffleboard, horseshoe courts and an area for roller and ice skating.

The 1950s saw more transformations in Seward Park history. As the surrounding Lower East Side neighborhood grew, another section of the park was redeveloped by New York City. Many streets were closed and family homes were built to replace apartment buildings.

The prevailing history of Seward Park is indicated by a 1999 refurbishment that payed homage to the initial ORL plan. The park now features a central oval with a spray shower and map of the Lower East Side, period lighting and furniture, and quotations from local residents spanning the neighborhood's rich history. These changes brought the park the nearest to it's original 1903 appearance. With it's stunning curving paths, plenty of benches, sports facilities, playgrounds, Seward Park is still a favourite place for residents of the Big Apple and visitors to play.



Jeff Myers has been interested in Parks in New York City like <a href="http://new-york-city-parks.com/nyc-parks/seward-park-3/">Seward park</a> for many years. The author has written many articles about parks in New York City, including brief histories and top facts. For more information, please visit his <a href="http://new-york-city-parks.com/nyc-parks/">site</a>.

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