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AccessibilityThis text is part of Parks’ Historical Signs Project and can be found posted within the park.
The City acquired the land that is now Spirit Playground on June 18, 1963, when Mayor Robert F. Wagner (1910-1991) condemned it. At the time, two- and three-story buildings in poor condition, housing thirty-five families and ten commercial tenants occupied the land. Wagner felt this particular Long Island City neighborhood was lacking adequate educational and recreational facilities, deeming the buildings for Public Schools 1 and 83 insufficient (constructed in 1898 and 1904, respectively). The City immediately drew up plans to construct a new public school, P.S. 76, and an accompanying playground, which would be jointly operated by Parks and the Board of Education.
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