The First World War, as you may know, drafted many Americans into the war. One of these men was Frederick Staats, a Staten Island resident who worked for Staten Island Rapid Transit. After having entered the war, Staats was killed in 1918, at the age of twenty-three. Ten years later, the New York City Board of Aldermen, now the New York City Council, decided to name a parcel of land after him. It was named Frederick Staats Circle, due to the shape of the land.
During the 1970s, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation had to surrender the property to the New York City Department of Transportation, who was working on a construction project there. While working on traffic improvements, the New York City Department of Transportation had to reduce the size of Frederick Staats Circle. When they did this, they also changed the shape.
Today, Frederick Staats Circle consists of two separate pieces of land which are both triangular in shape. Although the park is no longer circular, it is still known by the same name it was called in 1928. With the changing of streets by the New York City Department of Transportation decades ago, the park is bordered by Fingerboard Road, Hylan Boulevard, and Sand Lane.
Frederick Staats Circle is part of the Greenstreets program, a partnership between the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation and the New York City Department of Transportation. Frederick Staats Circle, like all of the other properties in the Greenstreets program, is comprised of much vegetation. In 1991, a tablet was posted on a boulder among the plants. This tablet honors Private Frederick Staats.
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