Colucci Playground

Hutchinson River Pkwy. E. bet. Wilkinson Ave. and E. 197 St.

Bronx

This text is part of Parks’ Historical Signs Project and can be found posted within the park.

This playground is named for community activist Florence Colucci (1921-1982), a resident of Pelham Bay for more than 38 years who worked tirelessly on behalf of her neighborhood. Born in Shrub Oak, New York, Colucci founded and presided over the Pelham Bay Taxpayers and Civic Association, the first organization of its kind in the Bronx. Colucci served as a member of Community Board #10, as chairperson of the Northeast Bronx Committee for Neighborhood Schools, and she was active in the Ladies Auxiliary of various veterans organizations and in several charitable organizations -- including the Cancer Fund, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the March of Dimes. Through her weekly column in the local newspaper The News Sentinel, Colucci also became known as “The Voice of Pelham Bay.”