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Soundview Park (sometimes referred to as Sound View Park) is a park on
The area remained largely undeveloped until the 1950s, and adjacent land was used in 1947 for a New York City Housing Authority temporary housing project made up of 947 apartments in 473 quonset huts. One remaining Quonset Hut is still visible on the south side of Seward Avenue at Croes Avenue. Further, more permanent public and private housing projects were built adjacent to the park in the 1950s.
Extensions of the park were made by purchase of adjacent land in 1952 and 1967, when the park reached its current size.
As part of Mayor
New York City web siteNYC Parks History pageThomas Balsley Associates Project websitePlaNYC Project OverviewGreenway Master Plan: Soundview Park to Ferry Point Park
{{Protected areas of New York City Parks in the Bronx Soundview, Bronx Robert Moses projects
Clason Point
Clason Point is a peninsula in the East Bronx, New York City. The area includes a collection of neighborhoods including Harding Park, and Soundview. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are: Lafayette Avenue to the north, ...
in the southern portion of the Bronx, New York City. The park is adjacent to the Clason Point
Clason Point is a peninsula in the East Bronx, New York City. The area includes a collection of neighborhoods including Harding Park, and Soundview. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are: Lafayette Avenue to the north, ...
, Hunts Point, and Soundview neighborhoods, situated where the Bronx River flows into the East River, roughly opposite Rikers Island
Rikers Island is a island in the East River between Queens and the Bronx that contains New York City's main jail complex. Named after Abraham Rycken, who took possession of the island in 1664, the island was originally under in size, but has ...
and LaGuardia Airport. The park is bounded by the Bronx River Estuary/East River, Lafayette Avenue, Morrison Avenue, Story Avenue, Metcalf Avenue, O'Brien Avenue, and Bronx River Avenue.
Soundview Park is equipped with playgrounds, running tracks, sports fields, basketball and handball courts, outdoor fitness equipment, and kayak/canoe launching sites along the Bronx River Estuary. A bicycle path runs through the park from Bronx River and Lafayette Avenues to Leland and O'Brien Avenues. Soundview Park is operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.
History
Soundview Park was built on landfill over intertidal marshland under Parks CommissionerRobert Moses
Robert Moses (December 18, 1888 – July 29, 1981) was an American urban planner and public official who worked in the New York metropolitan area during the early to mid 20th century. Despite never being elected to any office, Moses is regarded ...
during the administration of New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia. The first of the park were acquired by the City of New York in 1937. more were acquired along the water's edge in December 1939. Plans to dredge and fill the shoreline had been developed by Moses and Sanitation Commissioner William F. Carey in 1938, and the New York City Board of Estimate approved initial funding for the construction project at Sound View Park in March 1939.
In the summer of 1942, a strange gas that caused silver to tarnish and gave people headaches and nausea was noticed in the Clason Point neighborhood. Experts and residents initially suspected that the garbage in the landfill under the parkland had not been handled properly, but finally the cause was determined to be dumping of sulphur from a Consolidated Edison
Consolidated Edison, Inc., commonly known as Con Edison (stylized as conEdison) or ConEd, is one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the United States, with approximately $12 billion in annual revenues as of 2017, and over $62 b ...
plant into nearby stagnant pools.
The area remained largely undeveloped until the 1950s, and adjacent land was used in 1947 for a New York City Housing Authority temporary housing project made up of 947 apartments in 473 quonset huts. One remaining Quonset Hut is still visible on the south side of Seward Avenue at Croes Avenue. Further, more permanent public and private housing projects were built adjacent to the park in the 1950s.
Extensions of the park were made by purchase of adjacent land in 1952 and 1967, when the park reached its current size.
As part of Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...
's PlaNYC city planning initiative, the park is slated to be redesigned by landscape architects Thomas Balsley Associates (TBA). The landscape architects describe their planned intervention at Soundview Park:
References
External links
New York City web site
{{Protected areas of New York City Parks in the Bronx Soundview, Bronx Robert Moses projects