Saturday, June 28, 2008

Holy Cow! Scooter gets namesake park

Smokey Oval Park, a 4.4-acre cluster of ballfields and playgrounds in Richmond Hall, Queens, was formally rechristened Friday morning for Phil Rizzuto, the Yankee great who died in August.

‘Smokey Oval’ in Queens Is Renamed for Rizzuto

The park had been informally known as Smokey Oval since it was acquired by the city in March 1938. That name — which referred to the soot and ash that once emanated from a nearby Long Island Rail Road terminus — became official in 1987. The name is also inspired by an oval-shaped mound at the front of the park.

The park is near the intersection of 126th Street and 94th Avenue, adjacent to Atlantic Avenue.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Checked out this part and several others via Google Earth. (played on many like Peter's field, Haggerty, Alley Pond, and Cunningham amonst others back in the 60s) The condition of these fields is deplorable.
Checked on the ball fields that the parents of our little league build on Hillside opposite creedmore and they look just fine.
Government vs Private ownership.
Nuff said.

Anonymous said...

I thought he already had a playground named after him:
http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=13128