Sunset Park (Brooklyn park)

Sunset Park is a 24.5-acre (9.9 ha) public park in the neighborhood of Sunset Park, Brooklyn, New York City, located between 41st and 44th Streets and 5th and 7th Avenues. The modern-day park contains a playground, recreation center, and pool.[1] The latter two comprise the Sunset Play Center, which was designated as both an exterior and interior landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. The park is operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also known as NYC Parks.

Sunset Park
Exterior of the Sunset Play Center
LocationSunset Park, Brooklyn, New York
Nearest cityNew York City
Coordinates40°38′53″N 74°00′13″W
Area24.5 acres (9.9 ha)
Created1891
Operated byNew York City Department of Parks and Recreation
Open7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Statusopen

The land for the park was acquired in 1891 through 1905. The park initially contained a pond, golf course, rustic shelter, and carousel. These features were removed in 1935–1936 when the current neoclassical/Art Deco style pool was built by Aymar Embury II during a Works Progress Administration project. The swimming pool and play center were renovated from 1983 to 1984.

Description

Sunset Park is located between Fifth Avenue to the west, Seventh Avenue to the east, 41st Street to the north, and 44th Street to the south,[1] atop a 164-foot-tall (50 m) hill that is part of the Harbor Hill Moraine, a terminal moraine formed during the last glacial period.[2] The park's elevated location offers views of New York Harbor; Manhattan; the Statue of Liberty; and, more distantly, the hills of Staten Island and the U.S. state of New Jersey.[1][3] Initially, Sunset Park contained a pond within its borders. According to Sergey Kadinsky, author of the book Hidden Waters of New York City, the pond was likely artificial since it did not appear on any maps prior to the park's creation. The pond was destroyed in 1935 with the construction of the current swimming pool.[4]

Recreation fields

Sunset Park contains numerous sporting fields. Within the namesake recreation center, there is an indoor basketball court, seven table tennis tables, a gymnasium and a billiard table.[5] Outdoors, there are four basketball courts, two handball courts, two soccer fields, and a baseball field overlapping with one of the soccer fields.[6] There is also a playground at Sixth Avenue.[7] The outdoor fields are free for use by the general public,[8] but some indoor activities require a membership.[5]

Recreation center

Pool

Sunset Park contains an enclosed elliptical pool area that is aligned north-south.[9] The pool area is composed of an outdoor 256-by-165-foot (78 by 50 m) rectangular swimming pool. There were also two semicircular 165-foot-diameter (50 m) pools for wading and diving, one on either end of the main pool, though these are no longer in use.[10] The deck surrounding all three pools is made of cement. The western part of the deck contains concrete bleachers with seven rows, underneath which is the filter house. A brick wall is located behind the bleachers, and is adjacent to the handball courts to the west. A pump house is located to the north of the bleachers.[9] A former comfort station (now used as storage space) is located to the south, with separate entrances for boys and girls on the north facade, but these have been bricked up.[10]

The diving pool was located to the south of the main rectangular pool, but has been filled in for use as a volleyball court. The wading pool, to the north of the main pool, still exists but has been drained, and spray fountains have been installed. Both pools are surrounded by a metal fence on their curved side, which contain Flemish-bond brick piers. A brick wall separates the wading pool from the main pool. Steps run along the curved side of the wading pool, and there is a concrete ramp leading to the wading pool area.[10]

Play center
Interior of the Sunset Play Center

The Sunset Play Center is located on the eastern side of Sunset Park. The building contains a facade of brick in Flemish bond, and consists of a one-and-a-half story rotunda with one-story wings to the north and south, giving it a rough I-shape.[11][12] The main entrance to the bath house, the eastern facade at Seventh Avenue, is approached by a short granite stairway, though there is also a handicap-accessible ramp to the south of the steps. It leads directly to the rotunda. A back entrance, from the west, leads directly to the swimming pool. The top of the building facade is wrapped with a motif composed of cast stone and brick chevrons, set in a pattern of diamonds and triangles.[12] The interior of the rotunda contains a similar motif along the top of the wall.[13]

The rotunda is a cylindrical brick structure. Seen from its eastern facade, the rotunda is located between and set behind two piers made of Flemish bond brick, each of which contain a flagpole and tile panel. The words sunset play center are inscribed in a granite tablet above the main (eastern) entrance; the entrance itself consists of a set of metal doors. The western entrance, facing the pool, is nearly identical but does not contain flagpoles, and a large NYC Parks logo is hung above that entrance's metal doors.[12] Inside the building, the wall is mostly made of Flemish bond brick with a granite base. The lobby is located inside the rotunda and is composed of three parts: the foyer leading east to the entrance, the central cylinder, and the foyer leading west to the pool. The foyers are one story high while the center cylinder is one and a half stories. The curved outer wall is topped by a lintel made of concrete. Light fixtures hang from the white-plaster ceiling. At the clerestory level, near the top of the lobby, there are 16 small windows. The floor is made of dark blue and terracotta tiling, and contains several drains.[13]

The north and south wings of the play center are nearly identical in design, except that the northern wing is located on a downward slope and contains a basement garage. The eastern facades each contain seven steel windows with metal screens and stone sills. There are five windows of similar style at the end of each wing. Both the north and south wings are connected to brick retaining walls that enclose the pool area to the west.[12][13] The men's locker room is located to the south of the rotunda while the women's locker room is located to the north.[13]

Monuments

The Sunset Park Memorial Grove was planted in 2002 to commemorate victims of the September 11 attacks.[14]

History

Early history
Looking northwest from Sunset Park

Sunset Park originally consisted of four blocks of land, from Fifth to Seventh Avenues between 41st and 43rd Streets. The city of Brooklyn acquired the land on May 15, 1891, as part of its plan to build several parks citywide, including Winthrop, Bedford and Bushwick parks.[15]:12[16][17] The previous landowner was Patrick H. Flynn, a contractor who, according to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, "sold the park department the site for the proposed Sunset Park in the Eighth Ward without consulting the owners. Then he went around and bought up the property at a low figure and is said to have made a good thing out of it."[18] The Eagle itself praised the site as having "one of the finest views in the city".[17] A New York Times reporter, writing in 1894, praised the "magnificent views of earth and sky and water" that could be experienced from the high point of Sunset Park, some 200 feet (61 m) above sea level.[19]

Sunset Park became a popular gathering place for residents of the area (then considered part of Bay Ridge and South Brooklyn),[20] and its initial users were mostly Polish and Scandinavian immigrants who had arrived within the last two decades.[16] However, development of the park was precluded by its irregular topography.[21] By 1893, the city of Brooklyn decided to expand Sunset Park southward.[15]:13 A Times article that year observed that the park lacked amenities and was situated on high bluffs that could only be reached by 60-foot ladders.[20] Furthermore, the article stated that it would cost at least $500,000 to improve the park.[20] In 1899, the city of New York constructed a six-hole golf course in Sunset Park, and started some other improvements such as installing retaining walls.[22][23] Even so, the Eagle observed that the park was still lacking basic amenities such as benches or drinking fountains.[24] The park was expanded southward to 44th Street in 1904.[15]:13 Other features added in the first decade of the 20th century included a new landscaping, a pond, a Neoclassical rustic shelter, and a carousel.[23][25] Concerts started being held by 1906, and a grand staircase to Fifth Avenue was completed by 1910.[15]:13

The surrounding neighborhood, located south of Green-Wood Cemetery and east of Fourth Avenue, was mostly undeveloped at the time.[16] After the Fifth Avenue elevated line was extended south from 36th Street to 65th Street on October 1, 1893,[26][27] development came rapidly.[16] Residential construction boomed in the late 19th and early 20th century amid real estate speculation initiated by the construction of the park and the Fifth Avenue elevated line,[28] and by 1909, there was significant development surrounding the park.[29] With the news that the New York City Subway's Fourth Avenue Line would constructed in the area, two-story houses were constructed on the south side of Sunset Park.[15]:15 Two-story houses were the most common housing stock in this part of South Brooklyn at the time; the Eagle said that two-family houses were "particularly attractive to people who desire comparatively small apartments, but who object to living in flats, and they appeal to this class on account of their being more quiet, and possibly, more exclusive."[30] The Fourth Avenue subway opened to 59th Street in 1915,[31] further spurring the growth of the surrounding neighborhood as a low-rise middle-class area,[16] and in particular the Finnish enclave directly south of the park.[32]

Works Progress Administration renovation
Looking north toward Manhattan

In 1934, Robert Moses was nominated by mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia to become commissioner of a unified New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. At the time, the United States was experiencing the Great Depression, and immediately after La Guardia won the 1934 election, Moses began to write "a plan for putting 80,000 men to work on 1,700 relief projects".[33][34]:82 By the time he was in office, several hundred projects were underway across the city.[34]:84

Moses was especially interested in creating new pools and other bathing facilities, such as those in Jacob Riis Park, Jones Beach, and Orchard Beach.[35]:456 He devised a list of pools at 11 locations around the city, including at Sunset Park, which would be built using funds from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a federal agency created to combat the Depression's negative effects as part of the New Deal.[35]:456[36] In total, Moses planned to create 23 pools.[37] He, along with architects Aymar Embury II and Gilmore David Clarke, created a common design for each of the 11 proposed aquatic centers. Each location was to have distinct pools for diving, swimming, and wading; bleachers and viewing areas; and bathhouses with locker rooms that could be used as gymnasiums. The pools were to have several common features, such as a minimum 55-yard (50 m) length, underwater lighting, heating, filtration, and low-cost construction materials. To fit the requirement for cheap materials, each building would be built using elements of the Streamline Moderne and Classical architectural styles. The buildings would also be located near "comfort stations", additional playgrounds, and spruced-up landscapes.[38]

Construction for some of the 11 pools began in October 1934.[38] The pond, golf course, rustic shelter, and carousel were removed to make way for the new pool at Sunset Park, which would be located on the park's eastern side.[39] The blueprints for the Sunset Park pool were submitted to the New York City Department of Buildings in August 1935, by which point WPA workers were already working at the site.[38] During construction, several Native American artifacts were found at the site of the old pond.[40] By mid-1936, ten of the eleven WPA funded pools were completed and were being opened at a pace of one per week.[35]:456 The Sunset Park Play Center was opened on July 20, 1936.[41] The center, the first of four planned WPA pools in Brooklyn,[36] was composed of a one-story bathhouse with a capacity of 4,850; a 256-by-165-foot (78 by 50 m) pool; and two semicircular 165-foot-diameter (50 m) pools for wading and diving.[42]

In 1938, the city announced that it would rebuild the western section of Sunset Park as well.[43] By the next year, a WPA project was underway for the western part of the park. A steep 65-foot slope was reduced to 40 feet (12 m) to lessen erosion, and a soldiers' monument was relocated. In addition, new concrete-block paths and drainage had been laid and an old comfort station had been destroyed.[40] Plans for minor modifications to the Sunset Play Center were filed in September 1940. By the early 1940s, WPA workers had finished the landscaping of the site, including new plantings, lawn restoration, and other rehabilitation.[44]

Later years

By the 1970s, Sunset Park and other city parks were in poor condition due to the 1975 New York City fiscal crisis. NYC Parks commenced a project to restore the pools in several parks in 1977, including at Sunset Park, for whose restoration the agency set aside an estimated $5.8 million.[45] These projects were not carried out due to a lack of money, and by March 1981, NYC Parks only had 2,900 employees in its total staff, less than 10 percent of the 30,000 present when Moses was parks commissioner.[44][46] Despite the revitalization of the surrounding neighborhood, partially due to efforts by Asian and Latin American immigrants who moved to the area,[15]:20–21 the park was still perceived as rundown, and graffiti and vandalism were common.[47]

In 1982, the NYC Parks budget increased greatly, enabling the agency to carry out $76 million worth of restoration projects by year's end; among these projects was the restoration of the Sunset Park pool.[48] Work had begun by early 1983, and the complex was closed for two summer seasons while work was ongoing.[45] The play center reopened on August 8, 1984.[49] In addition to the renovated play center, the diving pool was infilled for the construction of a volleyball court; spray fountains at the wading pool's former site were installed in 1988; and murals were installed in the locker rooms.[45]

NYC Parks continued to face financial shortfalls in the coming years, and the pools retained a reputation for being unsafe.[45] For the summer of 1991, mayor David Dinkins had planned to close all 32 outdoor pools in the city, a decision that was only reversed after a $2 million donation from real estate developer Sol Goldman[50] and $1.8 million from other sources.[45] Additionally, in the 1990s, a practice called "whirlpooling" became common in New York City pools such as Sunset Park, wherein women would be inappropriately fondled by teenage boys.[51][52] By the turn of the century, crimes such as sexual assaults had decreased in parks citywide due to increased security.[45]

In 2007, the Sunset Play Center's interior and exterior were both designated as official city landmarks by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.[53] A reconstruction of the playground was completed in 2017.[54][55] The same year, a $4 million renovation of the Sunset Park Play Center was approved.[56]

References

Citations
  1. "Sunset Park : NYC Parks". www.nycgovparks.org. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  2. "Sunset Park: A View From The Ridge". NYC Department of Records & Information Services. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
  3. Federal Writers' Project (1939). "New York City Guide". New York: Random House. p. 468. ISBN 978-1-60354-055-1. (Reprinted by Scholarly Press, 1976; often referred to as WPA Guide to New York City.)
  4. Kadinsky, Sergey (2016). Hidden Waters of New York City: A History and Guide to 101 Forgotten Lakes, Ponds, Creeks, and Streams in the Five Boroughs. Countryman Press. p. 240. ISBN 978-1-58157-566-8.
  5. "Sunset Park Recreation Center : NYC Parks". www.nycgovparks.org. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
  6. "Field and Court Usage Report for Sunset Park : NYC Parks". www.nycgovparks.org. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
  7. "Sunset Park Playgrounds : NYC Parks". www.nycgovparks.org. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
  8. Wolfe, Jonathan (June 18, 2015). "How to Find Hassle-Free Playing Fields With Priceless Views". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
  9. Sunset Play Center Exterior 2007, p. 13.
  10. Sunset Play Center Exterior 2007, p. 14.
  11. Diamonstein-Spielvogel, Barbaralee (2011), The Landmarks of New York, Albany, New York: State University of New York Press, p. 619, ISBN 978-1-4384-3769-9
  12. Sunset Play Center Exterior 2007, p. 12.
  13. Sunset Play Center Interior 2007, p. 11.
  14. "Sunset Park News - BROOKLYN CELEBRATES LIFE WITH THE PLANTING OF THE CITY'S FIRST MEMORIAL GROVE : NYC Parks". www.nycgovparks.org. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
  15. "Sunset Park North Historic District" (PDF). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. June 18, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  16. Sunset Play Center Exterior 2007, p. 3.
  17. "Brooklyn's New Parks". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. July 7, 1892. p. 5. Retrieved August 8, 2019 – via Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com .
  18. "A Finger in Many Pies". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. February 21, 1892. p. 2. Retrieved August 8, 2019 – via Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com .
  19. "BROOKLYN'S SUNSET PARK; WHERE MAGNIFICENT VIEWS OF EARTH AND SEA MAY BE HAD. Promise of Improvement in the Eighth Ward Park -- Already the Resort of Little and Big Children -- Lying 200 Feet Above Tide Level, It Affords Views of the Atlantic Ocean, the Metropolis, and Further Away Appear the Jersey Hills". The New York Times. August 5, 1894. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
  20. "BROOKLYN'S SUNSET PARK; WHERE MAGNIFICENT VIEWS OF EARTH AND SEA MAY BE HAD. Promise of Improvement in the Eighth Ward Park -- Already the Resort of Little and Big Children -- Lying 200 Feet Above Tide Level, It Affords Views of the Atlantic Ocean, the Metropolis, and Further Away Appear the Jersey Hills". The New York Times. August 5, 1894. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
  21. "JUST ONE OF THE SCANDALS; OUTRAGEOUS PRICE PAID FOR ALDERMAN COFFEY'S PARK. Land Which Was Assessed for $28,900 Was Forced Upon the City of Brooklyn for $131,249 -- The "Park" Property Was Formerly a Dumping Ground -- Now It Is Covered with Water Several Feet Deep -- Suspicious Features of the Transfer of the Real Estate". The New York Times. October 22, 1893. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
  22. "1899 New York City Department of Public Parks Annual Report" (PDF). nyc.gov. New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. 1899. p. 76 (PDF p. 77). Retrieved August 9, 2019.
  23. "Sunset Park Highlights". Sunset Park and Pool : NYC Parks. June 26, 1939. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  24. "Brooklyn's New Parks". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. July 17, 1899. p. 14. Retrieved August 8, 2019 – via Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com .
  25. "Small Parks Get Attention". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. October 19, 1902. p. 9. Retrieved August 8, 2019 – via Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com .
  26. "Trial Trip on the Sea Side". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. September 30, 1893. p. 10 – via Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com .
  27. "Through Trains To-day". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. October 1, 1893. p. 1 – via Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com .
  28. Jackson, Kenneth T.; Manbeck, John B., eds. (2004). The Neighborhoods of Brooklyn (2nd ed.). New Haven, Connecticut: Citizens for NYC and Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-10310-7., pp. 200–205
  29. "On Sunset Park Slope". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. April 4, 1909. p. 48. Retrieved August 8, 2019 – via Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com .
  30. "Realty Market in a More Hopeful Condition". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. September 21, 1901. p. 15. Retrieved August 8, 2019 – via Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com .
  31. "QUEENSBORO TUNNEL OFFICIALLY OPENED; Subway, Started Twenty-three Years Ago, Links Grand Central and Long Island City. SPEECHES MADE IN STATION Belmont, Shonts, and Connolly Among Those Making Addresses -- $10,000,000 Outlay" (PDF). The New York Times. June 23, 1915. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
  32. "Ever Hear of Little Finland in America? It's Right Here in Brooklyn, Called 'Finntown'". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. May 29, 1932. p. 7. Retrieved August 8, 2019 – via Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com .
  33. Sunset Play Center Exterior 2007, pp. 4–5.
  34. Rodgers, Cleveland (1952). Robert Moses: Builder for Democracy. Holt.
  35. Caro, Robert (1974). The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York. New York: Knopf. ISBN 978-0-394-48076-3. OCLC 834874.
  36. "City to Construct 9 Pools To Provide Safe Swimming". New York Daily News. July 23, 1934. p. 8. Retrieved August 18, 2019 – via newspapers.com .
  37. "23 BATHING POOLS PLANNED BY MOSES; Nine to Be Begun in a Month to Meet Shortage of Facilities Caused by Pollution. MANHATTAN TO GET SIX Three of Them Will Be Ready Next Year -- Two of Brooklyn's Six to Be Built Soon". The New York Times. July 23, 1934. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
  38. Sunset Play Center Exterior 2007, p. 7.
  39. "Sunset Park Recreation Center" (PDF). nycgovparks.org. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  40. "WPA Gives Sunset Park Face-Lifting". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. September 3, 1939. p. 4. Retrieved August 8, 2019 – via Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com .
  41. "MAYOR OPENS POOL IN BROOKLYN PARK; Turns On Under-Water Lights in Sunset Swimming Center as 3,500 Look On. TAYLOR PRAISES MOSES Valentine Contrasts Benefits With Prior Administration's 'Keep-Off-Grass' Policy". The New York Times. July 21, 1936. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
  42. Sunset Play Center Exterior 2007, p. 8.
  43. "Whole Western Section of Sunset Park on WPA List for Reconstruction". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. September 28, 1938. p. 29. Retrieved August 8, 2019 – via Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com .
  44. Sunset Play Center Exterior 2007, p. 10.
  45. Sunset Play Center Exterior 2007, p. 11.
  46. Carmody, Deirdre (March 15, 1981). "Parks Department to Start Hiring for First Time Since Fiscal Crisis". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
  47. "Awaiting waterfront rebirth". New York Daily News. March 1, 1981. p. 282. Retrieved August 9, 2019 – via newspapers.com .
  48. Carmody, Deirdre (June 25, 1982). "City to Start Repairing Three of Its Swimming Pools". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. ProQuest 121985503.
  49. "Sunset Park in the swim". New York Daily News. August 9, 1984. p. 110. Retrieved August 9, 2019 – via newspapers.com .
  50. "Donation Will Keep 32 Public Pools Open". The New York Times. May 16, 1991. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
  51. Marriott, Michel (July 7, 1993). "A Menacing Ritual Is Called Common in New York Pools". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
  52. "Deep at City Pool; Sex harass is pervasive". New York Daily News. July 11, 1994. p. 7. Retrieved August 9, 2019 – via newspapers.com .
  53. Dunlap, David W. (July 25, 2007). "McCarren Pool in Brooklyn Is Now a Landmark". City Room. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
  54. "Sunset Park Playground Reconstruction : NYC Parks". www.nycgovparks.org. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
  55. "Sunset Park Playground Is Open - BKLYNER". bklyner.com. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
  56. "Sunset Park Recreation Center Gets Approval For Much-Needed Renovations - BKLYNER". bklyner.com. Retrieved August 22, 2019.

Sources
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