Mystery Friday Foto #37 Solved: Play Ball! At Alley Pond Park!
Did you identify the ball fields in Alley Pond Park?
Identify;
- The park where these baseball fields are
Alley Pond Park, Queens
- Major roads
The construction of the extension of Union Turnpike can be seen in the lower left corner. Just above the turnpike is a section of the then still-active Long Island Motor Parkway with its bridge over Winchester Boulevard. Running diagonally across the photo is Grand Central Parkway.
- The date
The construction of Union Turnpike and the caption date this photo September 8, 1937.
- The Motor Parkway and any structure(s)
The Parkway runs along the left edge of the photo and the bridges over Winchester Blvd., under Grand Central Parkway and over Rocky Hill Road (Springfield Blvd.) along with the Rocky Hill Toll Lodge and entrance ramps can all be seen.
In Search of the Nassau Boulevard Toll Booth: Part I
In Search of the Nassau Boulevard Toll Booth: Part II
Comments (13)
Congrats to Curtis Pflug, Al Prete, Joseph Oesterle, David Miller, Steven Swirsky, Roy Warner, Steve Lucas, Alan Wunner, Art Kleiner, Al Velocci, Bob Barauskas, and Frank Femenias for identifying Alley Pond Park.
Greg O.
Comments
Lower Alley Pond Park. Winchester Blvd and Union Turnpike. To the North is Northern State Parkway.
Looks like Alley Pond Park.
Roads (top to bottom): Grand Central Parkway, Winchester Blvd., LIMP, Union Turnpike.
No idea about the date. Guessing some time in the ‘60s, before the GCP was widened and the GCP/Cross Island Parkway/Winchester Blvd. interchange was rebuilt.
Alley Pond Park. Winchester Blvd. Grand Central Parkway.
This looks like Alley Pond Park in Queens. It was officially opened to the public in 1935 so I’m going to say the picture was taken close to that time. The lack of an expanded Creedmore Hospital that should be in the lower right of the picture may substantiate this. Winchester blvd splits the photo from right to left horizontally. The wider road at the bottom left should be Union tpke. The straight diagonal road at the bottom left next to Union tpke is the LIMP with its overpass over Winchester blvd.
... I don’t know any place on LI today which has fields side-by-side!
Alley Pond Park.
Grand Central/Northern State Parkway under construction to the left of the baseball diamonds.
Union Turnpike on the other side of the baseball diamonds.
Motor Parkway just to the right of the GCP/Northern State.
Probably around 1936 given the parkway construction
Creedmore State Hospital at the far right across Union Turnpike.
It looks very familiar except for the lower left corner; appears as though a road is being constructed. I grew up in Fresh Meadows. In the late ‘50s and early ‘60s, my friends and I would take our Ross 3-speed racers on the Motor Parkway from Peck Ave all the way to what we thought was the end, which was on a rise that overlooked Creedmor. Then heading back we’d get off the Motor Parkway after a short distance to go to, what I think are shown, the ball fields; we wouldn’t have our bats, but we had our mitts and a one or two balls. From the looks of this, the photo must have been pre-War because I don’t see any housing. So, I’m not quite sure that these are the ball fields that I remember. I’m also guessing that the lower left corner shows Union Turnpike under construction. I know that Grand Central already was finished by 1928-30, and that Union Tpke was constructed in the ‘30s as part of the WPA. Oddly enough, the future 4-star general who headed the Army Services of Logistics/Supply during WWII, Gen. Somervell, headed the City of NY’s WPA projects, which included among other projects LaG Airport (‘39) and Union Tpke. I’m a Marine veteran (‘69-‘71) and have as one of my avocations American and some World history, with an emphasis on the US military, especially the Corps. Indeed, the CCC during the Depression was run by the military. I look forward to viewing the correct answers next week. Thank you.
Those ball fields are in Alley Pond Park. Major roads include Winchester Blvd., Grand Central Parkway, and Union Turnpike (under construction). Since the GCP looks fully operational, I’m guessing the date in the late 1930’s, maybe around 1937. The LIMP is visible in two places: running diagonal in the lower left corner and curving from the side to the top in the upper left corner. LIMP structures include the bridges over Winchester Blvd., under GCP and over Rocky Hill Road (Springfield Blvd.) along with the Rocky Hill Toll Lodge and entrance ramps. Also, I think I see the pedestrian tunnel under the LIMP and Union Tpke.
Alley Pond Park around the time of its opening in the 1930’s. The roads around it include the Motor Parkway and the under construction Union Turnpike on the south,Winchester Boulevard on the east,and the recently built Grand Central Parkway on the north. The north parking lot looks pretty full,I wonder what was going on that day. The overlook feature on the north side of the Parkway gradually became neglected and overgrown and much has changed and deteriorated over the years
Alley Pond Park
Grand Central Parkway, Union Turnpike
1940s
We are looking north west at the ball fields of Alley Pond Park , They were opened on July 26, 1935 and at the dedication the first batter was Babe Ruth. The pitcher was Mayor La Guardia, (Ruth popped up.) At the bottom left corner is Union Turnpike under construction, Above it is the Long Island Motor Parkway, At the western end of the Parkway is the new bridge over Winchester Blvd. Thats Grand Central Parkway across the top of the photo.
PHOTO IS OF THE ALLEY POND PARK
MAJOR ROADS - SPRINGFIELD BLVD
73 RD AVE.
76 TH AVE.
BEFORE 1932
WHEELER FRAMWAY BRIDGE #2
WINCHESTER BLVD MOTOR PARKWAY BRIDGE
Alley Pond Park ballfields looking west during Union Tpke upgrade, 1931. Winchester Bl
at bottom, Motor Pkwy bottom left with it’s new bridge. The GCP bridge and park house are still there! The GCP Bridge is now concealed by another GCP Bridge by roadway expansion. Queens was growing just before WWII
Roy Warner - A Fairchild aerial photograph of Fresh Meadows showing 50th Ave.
Click here to Download this file
I inherited a letter from 1950 from my equestrian uncle, Jim Walsh, who at the time boarded his horse at Alley Pond Stables for $1.58 per day. It was from the stable management informing him the stable (once part of the Taylor estate, The Oaks, circa 1873) had been condemned by the city to add the property to Alley Pond Park. The bridle paths, adjacent to the Oakland Golf Course and now the Queensboro Community College campus were built into a curvilinear neighborhood of homes. My family also had a connection with the golf club; at one time a cousin, George R. Easton, had been its pro. The stable was roughly located at East Hampton Road—once part of Rocky Hill Rd—and 56th Rd, now a shortened “dead end” street.
Yes, Steve. The Pedestrian Tunnel that was built for Creedmoor. The construction of Union Tpke made the Creedmoor Hwy Bridge not accessible anymore. Remember most of us visited the grounds there to check out the now closed tunnel. The Security Guard towards the end of the visit was none to happy with us being there, but it turned out okay. Below I’ll leave some screenshots. One is a comment by James Spina in 2016, a nice memory of his for this location.
Brian - it appears in your 1951 aerial, park goers were using the future site of Creedmoor for additional parking space