Marcus Garvey Park
Encyclopedia
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
in the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
borough
Borough (New York City)
New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...
of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. The 20.17 acres (81,625.2 m²) park interrupts the flow of Fifth Avenue
Fifth Avenue (Manhattan)
Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the center of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States. The section of Fifth Avenue that crosses Midtown Manhattan, especially that between 49th Street and 60th Street, is lined with prestigious shops and is consistently ranked among...
, which is routed around the park via Mount Morris Park West. The park is bounded by 120th Street
120th Street (Manhattan)
120th Street runs from Riverside Drive, overlooking the Hudson River, to the East River, through the New York City borough of Manhattan. It traverses the neighborhoods of Morningside Heights, Harlem, and Spanish Harlem; the street is interrupted by Morningside Park...
and 124th Street and by Madison Avenue
Madison Avenue (Manhattan)
Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, United States, that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square to the Madison Avenue Bridge at 138th Street. In doing so, it passes through Midtown, the Upper East Side , Spanish Harlem, and...
on its east side. The park is operated and maintained by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
The City of New York Department of Parks & Recreation is the department of government of the City of New York responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecological diversity of the city's natural areas, and furnishing recreational opportunities for city's...
.
History
Originally named Mount Morris Park (and still part of the Mount Morris Park Historic DistrictMount Morris Park Historic District
Mount Morris Park Historic District was designated to be a historic district by New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1971. It is a large 16-block area in east central Harlem. The boundaries are West 118th and West 124th Streets, Fifth Avenue, and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard...
), in 1973 the park was renamed for Marcus Garvey
Marcus Garvey
Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr., ONH was a Jamaican publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator who was a staunch proponent of the Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements, to which end he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League...
. The name change did not arise from a grass-roots movement in the community, but rather, it was political maneuvering by Mayor John Lindsay
John Lindsay
John Vliet Lindsay was an American politician, lawyer and broadcaster who was a U.S. Congressman, Mayor of New York City, candidate for U.S...
to ingratiate himself with the communities of upper Manhattan. The name has changed on maps but not in the parlance of the people in the neighborhood. The new name for the park honored Garvey, a publisher, journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
, crusader for black nationalism
Black nationalism
Black nationalism advocates a racial definition of indigenous national identity, as opposed to multiculturalism. There are different indigenous nationalist philosophies but the principles of all African nationalist ideologies are unity, and self-determination or independence from European society...
, and founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League
Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League
The Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League is a black nationalist fraternal organization founded by Marcus Garvey. The organization enjoyed its greatest strength in the 1990s, prior to Garvey's deportation from the United States of America, after which its...
(UNIA-ACL). The park was opened to the public in 1840. In the summer of 1969 the park was the site of the Harlem Cultural Festival, a series of concerts that came to be known as "Black Woodstock."
Watchtower
Harlem Fire Watchtower
The Harlem Fire Watchtower, also known as the Mount Morris Fire Watchtower, is the only surviving one of eleven cast-iron watchtowers placed throughout New York City starting in the 1850s. It was built by Julius H. Kroehl for $2,300 based on a design by James Bogardus. It is located in Marcus...
was designed by Julius H. Kroehl
Julius H. Kroehl
Julius Hermann Kröhl was a German-born American inventor and engineer. He built the submarine, Sub Marine Explorer, technically advanced for its era, but destined to failure, because of decompression sickness, which may not have been well understood at that time by Kroehl and others...
and erected in 1855-57 of cast iron
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
. The tower was fitted with a 10,000 pound bell cast by Jones & Hitchcock. The watchtower allowed observers to use the natural elevation of the park and the added height of the structure to search for fires, in an era when most buildings were made of wood. The 47 feet (14.3 m) cast-iron tower is the only one to survive of eleven that had been constructed in the city, and was designated as a landmark in 1967. The watchtower is located at the center of the park on an artificial plateau called The Acropolis.
Facilities
Facilities in the park include the Pelham Fritz Recreation Center and an Amphitheater (both located on the west side of the park at 122nd Street), and Swimming Pool (on the north side of the park), and two playgrounds designed for infants and disabled children, which were built in 1993. A Little LeagueLittle League
Little League Baseball and Softball is a non-profit organization in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, United States which organizes local youth baseball and softball leagues throughout the U.S...
baseball field occupies the southwest corner of the park. A dog run with wood chip footing is located on the southeast corner of the park.
See also
- List of New York City parks
- Charlie Parker Jazz FestivalCharlie Parker Jazz FestivalCharlie Parker Jazz Festival is a free, two-day festival in New York City that celebrates the life and musical genius of Charlie Parker. Produced by the nonprofit organization City Parks Foundation, the longstanding jazz festival takes place every August in the neighborhoods that Parker both...
- City Parks FoundationCity Parks FoundationCity Parks Foundation is the only independent, nonprofit organization to offer programs in parks throughout the five boroughs of New York City...