Prodigy Real Estate - SI NY Real Estate Blog - New York City Parks

South Beach and Park, South Beach Staten Island

In 1906, Happlyland Amusement Park opened in South Beach, on the East Shore of Staten Island. The amusement park was very popular in its day, attracting residents from nearby boroughs as well as Staten Island inhabitants. There were concession stands, a carousel, Vaudeville performance, a pool, and more. There were also small hotels which lined the beach for vacationers. During the first third of the 20th century, fires began to destroy what had developed into a summer resort. While Happyland was rebuilt each time, it finally saw its end in the early 1930's, when the rebuilding of the park proved to be financially futile.

With the closing of Happyland, the construction of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk began, replacing the decrepit…

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Liotti-Ikefugi Playground, Tompkinsville Staten Island

Liotti-Ikefugi Playground is a small playground located in the neighborhood of Tompkinsville. The entrance of the park is on Winter Avenue between Bismark Avenue and Westervelt Ave.

Before this lot was a playground, New York City used this land as a reservoir from 1909 to 1935. The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation took over this property in 1935 and filled the reservoir with dirt. This created a playing field for the local neighborhood. At this point in time, the park was named after William Winter.

In 1961, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation renamed the park as Liotti-Ikefugi Playground. This park was renamed after Sergeant Carmine Liotti and Private First Class Lloyd Ikefugi. Both of these young men were Staten…

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Lieutenant Nicholas Lia Playground, St. George

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…

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Dugan Playground, Staten Island NY

Dugan Playground is located in the neighborhood of New Dorp. This park is about three acres in size and stretches from Mill Road to Weed Avenue. Dugan Playground is bordered by these streets and is located between Tysens Lane and Isernia Avenue.

In 1931, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation obtained the land that makes up Dugan Playground. From the time that the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation opened this park up until 1974, this park was just an empty lot and did not have an official name.

In 1974, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation updated the empty lot into a nice playground for the community and renamed it Dugan Playground. This park was named for Gerard P. Dugan.

Gerard Dugan was born in…

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Cedar Grove Beach, Staten Island NY

Cedar Grove Beach, located in the neighborhood of New Dorp, is one of Staten Island's newest public beaches, though it is still currently undergoing construction. Cedar Grove Beach is bordered by Ebbitts Street to the north and the Lower New York Bay to the east and south. Once it has been completed, the entrance to the park will be on the corner of Cedar Grove Avenue and Ebbitts Street.

In the early 20th century this land was established as the Cedar Grove Beach Club. This was a private area that was used as a vacation spot. It included beach front bungalows, a clubhouse, a barn, a guardhouse, and garage structures.
 
At some point around the 1950s, urban planner Robert Moses arranged for a parkway to be built. This parkway would require the demolition…

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Greencoft Playground, Staten Island NY

During the early 1960s, a school was constructed at 330 Durant Avenue in the neighborhood of Bay Terrace. This school became known as P.S. 53: The Bay Terrace School. At that time, an open area existed just below the school, which was made up of a little less than three acres of land. This open area was bounded by the streets of Ainsworth Avenue to the west, Greencroft Avenue to the south, and Redgrave Avenue to the east-P.S. 53 being its northern boundary.

Around the time that the school opened, the Site Selection Board of New York City decided that the site should be converted into a park. By 1970, construction began on this park, which would be operated jointly by the New York City Board of Education and the New York City Department of Parks and…

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Corporal Allan F. Kivlehan Park (New Dorp Beach Park), Staten Island NY

Corporal Allan F. Kivlehan Park is located in the neighborhood of New Dorp. This park is bordered by the streets of New Dorp Lane to the north, and Cedar Grove Avenue to the west. It is also bordered by the Lower New York Bay to 
the east, and by Cedar Grove Beach to the south.

Prior to being a park, this land used to hold bungalows for vacationers and residents of Staten Island. The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation obtained the land for this park in 1962 and it became known as New Dorp Beach Park. The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation had also obtained Cedar Grove Beach and Oakwood Beach at that time.

After the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation took over the land they removed all the houses that were there…

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Annadale Green, puts itself in the middle of Annadale's commercial town center.

If you've read most of the historical information on our website, you probably know all about the history of the Huguenots on Staten Island. These were French Protestants who fled France during the end of the seventeenth century once the Edict of Fontainebleau came into effect. These people left in fear of being killed due to their relig
ious beliefs, as the prominent religion at the time was Roman Catholicism. At some point prior to 1706, a James Sigin had fled from France to Staten Island. Over the next couple of centuries, his descendants became some of the most prominent people amongst the Staten Island residents.

In 1860, James Sigin's great-great-grandson, Stephen Seguine, became the treasurer of the Staten Island Rapid Transit railroad. At that…

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Corporal Thompson Park, West Brighton Staten Island

Corporal Thompson Park is located on the North Shore of Staten Island, in the neighborhood of West Brighton. It is bordered by the streets of Broadway, Henderson Avenue, and Chappell Street. Corporal Thompson Park has about ten acres of land that were transformed into an outdoors sports recreation park. The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation acquired this land around the 1970s.

Before this parcel of land became a part of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation's territory, it was used for factories. In 1851, Barrett Nephews & Company used this land for a dry cleaning and cloth dyeing factory. In the early to mid-20th century, Barrett Nephews & Company closed down their Staten Island location and moved to Manhattan. From 1947…

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Carlton Park is one of many small parks on Staten Island's South Shore.

Carlton Park is located on the South Shore of Staten Island, in the neighborhood of Woodrow. This is a small park that is only about two acres in size. It is bounded by streets on three sides, and houses on the last side. The stree
ts that border the park are Carlton Avenue, Foster Road, and Drumgoole Road West.

In the 1900s, this area was known as Little Farms. It was named by Wood Harmon, a real estate development company. At that time, Carlton Avenue was one of the main streets in the community. There is no certainty how this name came about, but it has stuck throughout the years and changes.

From 1928 to 1939, Carlton Park was the site of a public elementary school. The New York City Board of Education relinquished this site as a public school in…

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