Baisley Pond Park
Photo courtesy Great Ecology Inc.
Inside scoop: Added to the National Register of Historic Places
in 1974, King Manor hosts numerous seasonal festivals, classical
music concerts, and even swearing-in ceremonies for new
citizens.
Address: Rufus King Park, in the vicinity of Jamaica and 89th
avenues between 150th and 153rd streets, Jamaica,
www.kingmanor.org.
Public Gren Spaces
Baisley Pond Park is known in the West Indian community as
a great place to play cricket. But tennis, handball, and basketball
players use the almost 110 acres, too, as do bicycle riders,
rollerbladers, joggers, picnickers, and naturalists. Located near
the North Conduit Avenue, the grounds also host an annual
gospel festival and puppet shows.
Inside scoop: Inside the park, the Sutphin Playground has a
sculpture of an American mastodon, an extinct elephant-like
animal that recalls the 1850s, when workers dredging the pond
found the bones of an individual that lived in the area almost
10,000 years ago, just after the end of the last ice age. Plus, the
Mother Carter Garden, which is surrounded by an ornamental
fence and has seating with views of the pond, memorializes
Laura “Mother” Carter (1914-1999), a beloved community
leader.
Address: 118-21 Lakeview Boulevard, South Jamaica.
Cunningham Park is a 358-acre, wide open space known for
the Long Island Motor Parkway, which is actually a bike path,
and countless athletic fields and barbecue pits.
Address: Bounded by the Long Island Expressway, 73rd
Avenue, Union Turnpike, Grand Central Parkway, 193rd Street,
92 QUEENS IN YOUR POCKET • www.itsinqueens.com