Duke Park

New Jersey Ave. between Blake Ave. and Dumont Ave.

Brooklyn

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

This park was once the site of two apartment buildings, which were destroyed by vandals in the mid-1960s. The name Duke comes from a fusion of two nearby street names, Dumont and Blake Avenues.

In 1967, the Department of Real Estate leased this property to Parks. A 1969 report described the site as “in good condition, though not completely developed.” Equipment at that time included benches, sandboxes, and jungle gyms. In 1987, the site was given the official name of Hudd Park, due to the reception of a Federal Urban Beautification Demonstration Grant, issued by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (H.U.D.). The grant was awarded as part of the agency’s program providing small, urgently needed recreation facilities in densely populated areas.