DeWitt Clinton Park
| DeWitt Clinton Park | |
|---|---|
Southeast entrance to park, with doughboy
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| Type | Urban park |
| Location | Manhattan, New York City |
| Coordinates | 40°46′5.56″N 73°59′39.49″W / 40.7682111°N 73.9943028°WCoordinates: 40°46′5.56″N 73°59′39.49″W / 40.7682111°N 73.9943028°W |
| Area | 5.8 acres (2.3 ha) |
| Created | 1906 |
| Operated by | New York City Department of Parks and Recreation |
| Open | All year |
DeWitt Clinton Park is a 5.8-acre (23,000 m2) New York City public park in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, between West 52nd and West 54th Streets, and Eleventh and Twelfth Avenues.
The park, which was one of the first New York City parks in Manhattan on the working waterfront of the Hudson River, is named for DeWitt Clinton, who had created a business boom of Hudson commerce when he opened the Erie Canal. It is the biggest city park in the neighborhood, and since 1959, the neighborhood has frequently been referred to as "Clinton". It is the only park on the west side of Manhattan to have lighted ball fields.
The park was the first community garden in New York City.
The land for the park was part of the Striker and Hopper homestead farms which had been in those families for more than 200 years. The home of General Garrit Hopper Striker built in 1752 had been torn down in 1895. Another farmhouse called the Mott farmhouse built in 1796 on 54th Street was torn down in 1896. The city announced plans to purchase the land (called "Sriker's Lane") in 1896. Other buildings on the site were torn down in 1902 and a tent was placed on the site in 1903. In 1906 the hilly terrain was graded at a cost of $200,000. At the same time, the De Witt Clinton High School opened nearby on Tenth Avenue.
The park's original 1901 design by Samuel Parsons Jr. encompassed a bigger park that was much less developed than the current park. Since Navy requirements set length limits on piers, the city was able to lengthen the piers by removing land from Manhattan so that longer piers could be built that would not extend beyond the Navy limits. The park was originally 7.4 acres (30,000 m2) and stretched nearly to the Hudson River, and it featured a recreation/bathing pavilion, gymnasium, running track, playgrounds, and a series of curving paths with viewing desks of the Hudson River and the Palisades. The park’s centerpiece was a children’s farm garden, which operated from 1902 to 1932. The farm, which was the first of its kind in New York City, was championed by Frances Griscom Parsons (no relation to the landscaper Samuel Parsons). It featured flower beds, observation plots, a pergola, and 356 4' × 8' vegetable gardens each assigned to a "little farmer".
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