Thomas Jefferson Park: Hidden Jem

Thomas Jefferson Park well situated in East Harlem serves a large community. The following post looks to access the resources, placement, and usage of the park, in order to ensure Thomas Jefferson is used to it’s full potential.  

By Hafeezat Azeez

The site I choose to visit was the Thomas Jefferson Park located adjacent to the FDR Drive. The park runs from East 112th St to East 115th St. The park is quite large and is located across the street from a large grouping of NYCHA houses; 18 buildings named the Thomas Jefferson Houses. On the north side of the park, there are two schools; Manhattan basketball Center for Science and Mathematics and Isaac Newton Middle School for Math & Science. The park is quite large and is home to many facilities, including a pool, soccer field, basketball court, track, baseball field and a recreation center. The section of the park nearest to the schools is currently under construction. Its close proximity to schools and housing projects ensures the park will be used regularly.

I completed by first observation was on Wednesday evening, March 29th, starting at approximately 7:30 pm, just nearing dusk. As I arrived at the park it was about 50˚F, but it quickly became colder as night began to fall. In the thirty minutes I was in the park, a majority of the people I observed were making their way through the park via the overpass and towards the NYCHA buildings. The rest of the people observed walking their dogs, a few stragglers were playing basketball and soccer, but aside from these people, the park was mostly empty. Although I couldn’t be sure of the age all park goer, everyone looked to be adults.My second visit to the park was the next day, Thursday, March 30 around 1:30 pm. Thursday afternoon was a bright, warm day. Even though it was during school hours the park was heavily populated, there were people playing basketball, and soccer and a group of kids in the playground. In the middle of my visit a group of about 30 kids; I believe they were elementary school kids entered the park with their teacher to play in the playground and on the soccer field, I am assuming they were from P.S. 102 located on E 113th St and 2nd Ave, since this school only has a basketball court.

 

My second visit to the park was the next day, Thursday, March 30 around 1:30 pm. Thursday afternoon was a bright, warm day. Even though it was during school hours the park was heavily populated, there were people playing basketball, and soccer and a group of kids in the playground. In the middle of my visit a group of about 30 kids; I believe they were elementary school kids entered the park with their teacher to play in the playground and on the soccer field, I am assuming they were from P.S. 102 located at E 113th St and 2nd Ave, since this school only has a basketball court.

On both visits to the park, a police car patrol car drove through. Although I did not see any problems with the park a quick google search revealed that the was a high crime rate, including murders which seem to have ended around 2011. One could assume this is the reason for the police patrol, which NYPD seemed to have under control. I also learned that the Park Department and the City Department invested money in building a skate park. The only issue or potential issue I could see with the park was the entrance near the busy FDR Drive, which could potentially be dangerous to wandering children or dogs as the barrier between the highway and the sidewalk was in poor condition.