A Flushing Playground On A Former Estate Site
A Flushing playground on Barclay Avenue, built on the site of a former mayoral summer estate that burned in 1925.
🏛️ The Mayor Behind The Name
Bowne Playground puts basketball, handball, and a piece of city history on the same patch of Queens. On Barclay Avenue, this public recreation space occupies the site of a former mayoral summer estate. The estate stood here until a fire in 1925, giving the playground a backstory that reaches beyond its courts.
The name honors Walter Bowne, who served as a state senator and as New York City mayor from 1828 to 1832. During the summer of 1832, reports of a cholera outbreak in a neighboring town prompted him to establish a strict quarantine policy, and that decision regulated travel into and out of the metropolitan area.
This Flushing playground runs from 6 AM to 9 PM with public restrooms on site, which makes a long afternoon of play workable.
