Ciccarone Park
Park · Belmont, New York
A 0.553-acre neighborhood park whose full sign name is Vincent Ciccarone Playground. NYC Parks describes it as bounded to the north and south by East 188th and 187th Streets and to the east and west by Hughes and Arthur Avenues. Parks' own history text calls the block part of the Fordham section of the Bronx, while the Belmont Business Improvement District lists the park among Bronx Little Italy's attractions, so its neighborhood affiliation is not clean-cut.
History
It is one of nine New York City playgrounds opened on July 15, 1934, built from a $250,000 War Memorial Fund established in 1921 by the New York City Police Department, which by 1934 had grown, unspent, to $350,000. Commissioner Robert Moses obtained a legal ruling permitting the fund's use for playground development, on condition that each property honor by name a soldier who gave his life in combat and carry a commemorative tablet. Vincent Ciccarone, the youngest of seven children, was born in Italy on November 26, 1886. He was called to military duty in November 1917 and became a private in Company B, 305th Infantry, 77th Division; he was wounded in the Argonne Forest in 1918 and died of his wounds on January 10, 1920 at USA General Hospital Number 2 at Fort McHenry, Maryland.
Visit
East 188th Street between Arthur Avenue and Hughes Avenue, Bronx, NY 10458
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