This park area consists of Kelly Park to the West of the BMT Brighton Beach transit line and the smaller Kelly Playground to the East of the line. Both were developed by the WPA in 1940. Kelly Park was first acquired by Parks in 1924, but expanded and improved by the WPA in 1940 to include “new baseball diamonds and tennis courts (adaptable for ice-skating after flooding and freezing), shuffleboard and volleyball courts, game tables, horseshoe pits, and children’s play structures” (NYC Parks). Kelly Playground, just east of the tracks was first acquired in 1937 and developed as part of the same WPA renovation.
Part of the eastern section was later given to the Board of Education for the construction of P.S. 255. Both parcels have since been further upgraded.
NYC Parks - William E. Kelly Park NYC Parks -Kelly Playground Department of Parks, Press Release, May 4, 1940 New York City Parks Department New Deal Projects 1934-43
Project originally submitted by Frank da Cruz on November 27, 2016.
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