Astoria Park
The home of the oldest public outdoor pool in the city, Astoria Park has experienced generations of family and community activity in its vicinity. Astoria Park is located between Ditmars Boulevard and Hoyt Avenue and sits right on the edge of the East River providing scenic views of Manhattan Island just across the river to its visitors. It was created in 1913 when, at the urging of the public for a way to access the East River, the City of New York purchased 56 acres of land along the river for Astoria Park. At the time of its creation, Astoria’s landscape was a place filled with industry and with only factories around the area was bleak. The public’s wish for its own park added to the wealth of Astoria visually as well as culturally even leading to the park hosting the summer Olympic swimming and diving trials of 1936 and 1964. Astoria park, through years of development, is now home to two playgrounds, six tennis courts, an athletic field, three baseball diamonds, a wading pool, a bandstand, and many walking paths throughout the park.
View from Astoria Park
http://weheartastoria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Astoria-Park-Hellgate-Bridge.jpg
What role does gentrification have on recreation in the park?
Prior to 1913 when Astoria was still transitioning into a residential area , the space where Astoria park is located today was home to factories, filming studios, and other industry and manufacturing related institutions. After the transition of the occupations of the area, Astoria park was built as a result of the improving neighborhood. Well developed parks reflect well developed areas and the mapping of activity in Astoria park over the years is a testament to that fact.
Parks are a symbol of wealth and leisure in communities. There are public spaces scattered all throughout NYC but most are just small plots of cement that include a few handball courts and jungle gyms. Only in the wealthier or gentrified neighborhoods are there parks spanning acres or demands for parks to be built/maintained. In more urban settings where gentrification is less likely to occur, there are usually apartment buildings and demand for housing that don’t permit the clearing of space to build parks. People are more condensed and are often too preoccupied with work to demand from the city a recreational space.
Outdoor pool, present
http://inqueens.com/parks/astoria_park/astoria_park_pool.jpg
In contrast, parks grow out of areas that have higher standards of living. The area that Astoria park now stands on used to belong to a group of elite families who had estates there, including the Barclay family, the founders of the Barclays Bank. The surrounding areas in the late 19th and early 20th century, although comprising of factories, were slowly transitioning into residential housing grids by development funded by factory owners such as the Steinway Piano company for “company housing.” This all means that without realizing it, the area was gentrifying in its own way. After the elite families moved away and sold their estates to the city, Astoria Park was created out of popular demand by the newly gentrified neighborhood.
Astoria Park Diving Tower, Past
http://aquamagazine.com/articles/images/AQ_Astoria_1211.jpg
This all may seem coincidental; however, if we track the development of the park over the years of its existence it is possible to see that whenever the area was being gentrified, there were new improvements and renovations brought to the park.
In what could be called the first wave of gentrification in Astoria from the 20s through the early 60s, the park was given many renovations. As a result of the movie industry’s prosperity of the 20s in the area with the studios, the area was a gentrified and popular pop culture destination. This push in gentrification allowed the neighborhood to grow enough to warrant a development in the park in 1936 even during the Great Depression. Astoria Park’s famous pool and Diving station were created during the summer of 1936 and in that year it hosted the Olympic Swimming and Diving trials.
During the stagnation in growth of Astoria from the mid 60s to the 80s, there was no change in the Park’s venues; however, when gentrification of Astoria started to pick back up in the 80s, development started again. In the 1980s, there was a three part project by the City of New York to revitalize the Park. According to the City’s Parks and Recreation Department, “Phase one rehabilitated the playground in the park’s southern section, the park fields, and the drainage system. Phase two restored the comfort station and installed new play equipment, swings, drinking fountains, and game tables. Phase three focused on restoration of the park’s northeast section and included repaving all the roads and walkways, rerouting pedestrian entrances, installing new benches, and planting trees, shrubs, and groundcover.”
Area where the planned Amphitheater will be built.
http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4002/4448368686_4c98b8abfa_z.jpg?zz=1
Today, as Astoria continues to gentrify there are new plans to renovate the area again. Due to the new hip/young generation moving into the area, there have been plans made to build a 500 seat Theatre in the area where the old Diving pool complex is. It is said to be a development for the Park to be able to hold concerts and events in the Area.
The development of Astoria Park overtime proves that gentrification really pushes for public space development and whenever the community grows, so does the quality of the Park. Today, new programs hosted by the Department of Parks and Recreation, people can even take yoga classes in the park. Events/programs like the Yoga classes also show a shift in culture and way of living in this gentrifying neighborhood which shows that the park is changing both structurally and logistically.
Further Reading:
http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/AstoriaPark/history
http://queens.about.com/od/thingtodo/tp/top_ten_Queens.htm
http://queenscourier.com/2012/a-history-of-astoria-park/
