Pocket Parks of NYC

Is anyone else sick of the rain? I went into the city yesterday to find some of the pocket parks on my list. The weather forecasters said there would be scatter showers, but not the torrential rain I experienced when I walked out of Grand Central Station! I stood under an awning on 42nd Street with a bunch of other people for about 10 minutes waiting for it to let up before I gave up. I ended up going across the street to one of my favorite atriums, one of the first free spaces I found when I first moved to New York.

When it was apparent the rain was not stopping anytime soon, I decided to visit the Museum of the City of New York up on 103rd Street and 5th Avenue. I have wanted to go there for background information on Manhattan’s street grid system and to find out if their museum shop might be a good place to sell my book. I’m happy to say it will be and now I have two lovely docents at the information desk ready and waiting for it to be published!

I highly recommend a visit to this museum. It explains how the streets were laid out and has several other wonderful exhibits. While I was viewing the Stories the City Tells Itself exhibit that displayed the work of Neil Goldberg, I came upon a simple video of gay men brushing their cats, each saying, “He’s a talker.” I have no idea why Goldberg chose that phrase, but I was touched when I read more about the display. I believe it began as a simple project of a few friends petting their cat. It ended up being a record of several men who passed during the AIDS crisis. Right after that, I went to Timescape: A Multimedia Portrait of New York. It showed us the history of the creation of New York and runs through June 19th. The best part was the three old ladies who crashed the movie, complete with walkers and loud chatter while they found their seats. ‘Gotta love the elderly! They either didn’t care or didn’t realize that we could all hear them as they looked for seats about 5 minutes before the end of the 22-minute movie!


Despite my change of plans thanks to Mother Nature, I had a great day and learned a lot about the city I love so much.

Photo © 2012 Josef Pinlac 

A friend who worked nearby introduced me to Dag Hammarskjold Plaza in the early 1980’s. Since then, in 1997 to be precise, this plaza located at East 47th Street between First and Second Avenues has undergone a $2.3 million reconstruction creating a symmetrical layout complete with park benches, better lighting and a steel lattice dome not to mention the Katharine Hepburn Garden mentioned in an earlier post.

Dag Hammarskjold was a scholar from Sweden who held a number of governmental positions. In 1953, he was elected the United Nations asked him to become the Secretary-General and then was unanimously reelected for a second term in 1957. Some of his accomplishments included support of Israel and Arab Armistice Agreements, organizing the UN Emergency Force, and assisting in gaining the release of fifteen Americans from detention in China in 1954. He was awarded with the Nobel Peace Price posthumously for his service to the United Nations and his efforts on behalf of world peace. Dag Hammarskjold Plaza was dedicated in 1961 after his death in a plane crash en route to a diplomatic mission in the Congo.

Visit the NYC Parks for more in depth information on Dag Hammarskjold Plaza.

James P. Grant Plaza, located on 44th Street between First and Second Avenues, adjoins UNICEF House and honors this former Executive Director of UNICEF. A typical pocket park located between two buildings, Grant Plaza, as it is more commonly know, was dedicated in June of 1996 as part of UNICEF’s 50th anniversary celebration. James P. Grant worked tirelessly to combat easily preventable childhood illness and launched a ‘child survival and development revolution’ in 1983. His efforts created a ripple effect, mobilizing initiatives around the world which ultimately saved the lives of an estimated 12 million children.

The park contains a number of benches surround trees and plantings as well as the ‘Spirit of Audrey’ sculpture which was unveiled on May 7, 2002, to honor Audrey Hepburn’s work on behalf of the world’s children. When a USPS commemorative stamp was unveiled in 2003, the park was turned into a temporary post office complete with a special envelope to commemorate the event. 

I made a trip to New York City recently to confirm some of the pocket parks on the city’s inventory list and was baffled and surprised. I was baffled because so many of these public spaces are blocked and covered up by scaffolding. I was surprised because many of the addresses on the Privately Owned Public Space list do not fit the criteria for public space set forth by the Department of City Planning which states:

The current public plaza provisions enable the creation of high quality public plazas on privately owned sites that are inviting, open, accessible and safe. 

As I have said before, many are simply widened sidewalks or space next to an entrance that is obviously not meant for the public to linger. This photo is a screenshot of one such space that is listed as a plaza or an arcade. Does this look like an inviting space?  

“Pocket Parks of NYC” will highlight only the pocket parks that follow the public plaza design principles as determined by the Department of City Planning and, well, parks that look like great places to hang out. If you find such an inviting space, send me the location. I will be happy to check it out if I haven’t already, and may even include your name in my book (with permission, of course). In the meantime, enjoy springtime in the city!