“A busy day at Heckscher Playground” reads the caption of this 1927 Parks Department photo, taken in Central Park.
It’s an old playground—the area that became Heckscher was set aside for play back in 1858 according to Central Park’s original design.
Check out that jungle gym (is that cement on the ground?) and those tall curlicue slides—they would never be allowed in playgrounds these days.
But these little New Yorkers look like they’re having a blast on gear deemed unsafe by today’s standards.
Tags: Central Park 1858, Central Park playgrounds, children in New York City, Heckscher Playground, New York in the 1920s, New York street, playgrounds of New York City, vintage NYC parks photos
September 2, 2011 at 5:03 am |
Around our neck of the woods, we called them “monkey bars” and “sliding ponds”.
September 4, 2011 at 2:10 am |
Yep, we call them by such names in southern Brooklyn. It might be a generational thing.
September 5, 2011 at 1:10 am |
I also remember them as monkey bars. And yes even in the 1960s underneath was concrete, not the rummber mats we see today.