In 1931, a school was constructed in the neighborhood of Grasmere at the corner of Targee Street and Naples Street. In 1953 and 1955, the City of New York acquired two plots of land to the east of the school, with Stanwich Street being their eastern boundary. Since the school first opened, these two parcels of land had been used as a play area for local residents, who named it as Concord Playground. Once the two parcels were acquired by the city, a playground was constructed. It opened in 1965 under the jurisdiction of both the New York City Board of Education and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. At the time of its opening, it became known as P.S. 48 Playground, for the adjacent school.
When it first opened, P.S. 48 Playground had a portion cordoned off so that portable classrooms could be placed there due to the overcrowding of Public School 48. In the
 remaining part of the playground, basketball courts, a softball field, and a comfort station were installed. Shortly after its opening, however, the New York City Department of Parks and recreation noticed that the playground was sinking. After this realization, the park was closed and renovations were undertaken.
During the renovation, the portable classrooms were removed. By 1985, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation Commissioner Henry J. Stern renamed the playground as Naples Playground. This was most likely due to its similarities to the city of Naples, which was extensively damaged in the Second World War, but was rebuilt. It's also likely that the playground was named for its northern boundary, Naples Street.
Naples Playground was renovation twice more between 1996Â 
and 1998. During these renovations, the playground was given safety surfacing and asphalt pavement. Aside from the baseball field and basketball courts, Naples Playground has handball courts and play equipment. Benches surround a semi-circular area which is itself surrounded by a wide variety of trees.
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