Soundview Park

History

Soundview Park was built on landfill over intertidal marshland under Parks Commissioner Robert Moses during the administration of New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia. The first 93 acre of the park were acquired by the City of New York in 1937. 66 acre more were acquired along the water's edge in December 1939. Plans to dredge and fill the shoreline had been developed by Moses and Sanitation Commissioner William F. Carey in 1938, and the New York City Board of Estimate approved initial funding for the construction project at Sound View Park in March 1939.

In the summer of 1942, a strange gas that caused silver to tarnish and gave people headaches and nausea was noticed in the Clason Point neighborhood. Experts and residents initially suspected that the garbage in the landfill under the parkland had not been handled properly, but finally the cause was determined to be dumping of sulphur from a Consolidated Edison plant into nearby stagnant pools.

The area remained largely undeveloped until the 1950s, and adjacent land was used in 1947 for a New York City Housing Authority temporary housing project made up of 947 apartments in 473 quonset huts. One remaining Quonset Hut is still visible on the south side of Seward Avenue at Croes Avenue. Further, more permanent public and private housing projects were built adjacent to the park in the 1950s.

Extensions of the park were made by purchase of adjacent land in 1952 and 1967, when the park reached its current size.

As part of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's PlaNYC city planning initiative, the park is slated to be redesigned by landscape architects Thomas Balsley Associates (TBA). The landscape architects describe their planned intervention at Soundview Park:

New York Road Runners hosts a weekly 2.60-mile Open Run.

References

References

1. Larson, Marit. (2006). "Restoring Soundview Park HEP Priority Restoration Site LI10". Harbor Estuary News.
2. (June 6, 1937). "BRONX AREA BENEFITED; New Park Will Stimulate Home Building, States Broker".
3. (December 15, 1939). "EXTENSION OF PARK IN BRONX APPROVED; Estimate Board Authorizes the Acquisition of 66 More Acres at Sound View".
4. (March 3, 1939). "FUNDS ARE VOTED TO START NEW PARK; DEVELOPMENT PLAN AND SITE OF PROPOSED PARK IN BRONX".
5. (July 3, 1942). "BRONX AREA FIGHTS TAINT; Classon Point Seeks Source of Hydrogen Sulphate Odor".
6. (August 18, 1942). "Sulphur Refuse Dumped Out by Gas Plant Said to Cause Odor That Nauseates Bronxites".
7. (January 17, 1946). "2,000 HOUSES GIVEN TO THE CITY BY U.S. FOR EMERGENCY USE".
8. (January 20, 1952). "TAXI DRIVER SAVES 7 FROM GAS POISON; Quonset Hut Resident Finds His Family and Neighbors in Bronx Unconscious".
9. "Soundview Park (project description)". Thomas Balsley Associates.
10. Staff, NYRR. (2023-08-23). "Soundview Park=NYRR".