One of the parks located inside the neighborhood of St. George is Lieutenant Nicholas Lia Playground. This park is bordered by the streets of Belmont Place, Wall Street, and St. Mark's Place.
Prior to becoming a park, the City had planned for the William T. Davis Park to be built here, along with a new facility for the Institute of Arts and Sciences. The facility for the Institute of Arts and Sciences was an old Victorian home that was willed to them by Emma Stone. When the Institute of Arts and Sciences looked into the building, they decided that it would cost too much to be able to fix up the building, so instead they demolished it in 1960.
By 1969, New York City had purchased this land from the Institute of Arts and Sciences to build a park. It wasn't until 1972 that the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation obtained this land and named the park Lt. Lia Playground.
This park was named after Lieutenant Nicholas Lia. Nicholas Lia was born and raised in the St. George neighborhood
of Staten Island. Once he had graduated from Wagner College he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. After serving two tours in Vietnam as Lieutenant, he received a Purple Heart and Gold Star. Lieutenant Nicholas Lia died on duty in 1968, while placing a landmine.
In 1994, this park had a flag pole with a memorial to Lieutenant Nicholas Lia put in. There is also play equipment, decorative paving, game tables, benches, and drinking fountains for people of all ages in the community.
Posted by Anthony Licciardello on
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