Maria Hernandez Park

Maria Hernandez Park is a municipal park in Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York City. It is located between Knickerbocker Avenue on the southwest to Irving Avenue on the northeast, and Starr Street on the northwest to Suydam Street on the southeast. The park is 6.87 acres (2.78 ha) and is near the Jefferson Street station of the New York City Subway (L train). Maria Hernandez Park has four wheelchair-accessible entrances. It has a newly renovated basketball court, handball court, fitness equipment, spray showers and benches, and a newly built performance stage. The playground was rebuilt with brand new equipment as a result of funds from the Mayor and the City Council.[1]

Maria Hernandez Park
Entrance

Location	Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York City
Area	6.87 acres (2.78 ha)
Operated by	New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
Open	All year
Public transit access	Subway: Jefferson Street ()

History

The park was named after Maria Hernandez, who lived in Bushwick and fought against drug dealers in the neighborhood. Maria was born in Brooklyn in 1953 and lived in Bushwick until 1989. She was educated at public schools in the borough and went to New York University for Accounting. Maria Hernandez and her husband tried to evict drug dealers from her neighborhood of Bushwick. They tried to stop them by rallying support for their efforts and educating her neighbors about the need to evict the drug dealers. She organized block parties and community gatherings. On August 8, 1989 Maria was fatally shot five times through her window in her apartment on Starr Street, later dying of her wounds. Due to her brave and committed role in the community, the park was renamed in her honor.[2]

Previously, this was known as Knickerbocker Park. The City of Brooklyn purchased the land for the park from several landowners, including circus impresario Phineas T. Barnum. The park was transformed into a showplace park by 1896. Knickerbocker Park was a popular spot for neighborhood recreation, such as holiday celebrations, croquet matches, dancing, and baseball games.

In the 1930s sliding boards, sand boxes, and swing sets were installed in the playground. A new softball field with bleachers was constructed. In 1994, Maria Hernandez Park underwent an intensive five-day clean-up and repair campaign. Park workers removed broken glass, debris, and graffiti; repaired and painted benches and fencing; restored the ball field; and cleaned the sewer line.

Honors

The park was the chosen as the city's "Park of the Month" in December 2006. The city and community added a new basketball court and fences. They also added a stage for shows and painted benches. In January 2007, it was awarded the Lily Bartle Park of the Month award.

References

External links

Protected areas of New York City

Federal

National Historic Sites	Lower East Side Tenement Museum Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace
National monuments and memorials	African Burial Ground Castle Clinton Federal Hall General Grant Governors Island Hamilton Grange Statue of Liberty Stonewall
Other Protected Areas	Gateway National Recreation Area Floyd Bennett Field Fort Tilden Fort Wadsworth Great Kills Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Jacob Riis Miller Field

State

State Parks	Bayswater Point Clay Pit Ponds East River Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Gantry Plaza Riverbank Roberto Clemente Shirley Chisholm

City parks and preserves

Manhattan	79th Street Boat Basin Abingdon Square Albert Capsouto Asphalt Green Battery Bella Abzug (Hudson) Bennett British Garden at Hanover Square Bowling Green Bryant Captain Patrick J. Brown Walk Carl Schurz Central Diana Ross Playground Great Lawn Rec Center Heckscher Playground North Meadow Rec Center Chelsea City Hall Coleman Playground Collect Columbus Corlears Hook Dag Hammarskjold Plaza Damrosch Dante DeSalvio Playground DeWitt Clinton Drumgoole Plaza Duane East River Greenway East River Esplanade East River Pier 42 Stuyvesant Cove Elizabeth H. Berger Plaza Father Demo Square Finn Square Foley Square Fort Tryon Fort Washington Gorman Governors Island Gramercy Greenacre Hamilton Fish Hanover Square Harlem River Hell's Kitchen Herald Square High Line Highbridge Fort George Seating Area Holcombe Rucker Hudson River Ilka Tanya Payán Imagination Playground Inwood Hill Isham J. Hood Wright Jackie Robinson Jackson Square John Jay Liberty Louis Cuvillier Madison Square Manhattan Waterfront Greenway Marcus Garvey McKenna Square Millennium Mill Rock Mitchell Square Morningside Murphy's Brother's Playground Muscota Marsh Open Road Paley Peretz Square Peter Cooper Plaza Lafayette Queen Elizabeth II September 11th Garden Ralph Bunche Randalls Island Richard Tucker Square Riverside Robert Moses Playground Roosevelt Triangle Rucker Sakura Samuel N. Bennerson 2nd Playground Sara Delano Roosevelt Septuagesimo Uno Seward Sheridan Square Sherman Square Spring Street St. John's St. Nicholas St. Vartan Straus Stuyvesant Square Swindler Cove Teardrop Theodore Roosevelt Thomas Jefferson Thomas Paine Tompkins Square Tribeca Union Square Verdi Square Vesuvio Playground Wards Island Washington Market Washington Square West Side Community Garden William A. Harris Garden Winston Churchill Zuccotti
The Bronx	Baretto Point Bicentennial Veterans Bridge Bronx Castle Hill City Island Wetlands Claremont Concrete Plant Crotona Devoe Estella Diggs Ewen Ferry Point Givans Creek Woods Grant Haffen Harding Harris Hart Island Henry Hudson Hunts Point Jerome Joseph Rodman Drake Joyce Kilmer Julius Richman Macombs Dam Mill Pond Mosholu Parkway Mullaly North and South Brother Islands Pelham Bay Hunter Island Orchard Beach Rodman's Neck Pelham Parkway Playground 52 Poe Printer's Pugsley Creek Rainey Raoul Wallenberg Forest Richman Riverdale Seton Falls Seton Soundview Spuyten Duyvil Shorefront St. James St. Mary's Starlight Taqwa Community Farm Tremont University Woods Van Cortlandt Vidalia Vinmont Veteran Washington's Walk Williamsbridge Oval
Brooklyn	Alben Square American Veterans Memorial Pier Amersfort Anthony Catanzaro Square Asser Levy Ascenzi Square Bath Beach Betsy Head Bensonhurst Bocchino-Dente Memorial Plaza Breukelen Ballfields Brooklyn Bridge Brooklyn Heights Promenade Brooklyn–Queens Greenway Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway Brower Bushwick Byrne Cadman Plaza Canarsie Carroll Calvert Vaux Chief Charles A. Joshua Plaza City Line Coffey Columbus Commodore Barry Coney Island Beach & Boardwalk Coney Island Creek Coney Island Cyclone Continental Army Plaza Cooper Domino Dyker Beach Eastern Parkway Fort Greene Four Sparrow Marsh Frank M. Charles Fresh Creek Nature Preserve Friends Field Fulton Golconda Skate Park Gravesend Green Central Knoll Herbert Von King Highland Irving Square JJ Byrne Jamaica Bay John J. Carty John Paul Jones Kaiser Kelly Leif Ericson Leon S. Kaiser Playground Lieutenant Joseph Petrosino Lincoln Terrace Linden Lindower Linton Macri Triangle Manhattan Beach Maria Hernandez Marine McCarren McGolrick McKinley Mt. Prospect Nellie Bly Ocean Parkway Owl's Head Paerdegat Basin Paerdegat Prospect Red Hook Robert E. Venable Russell D. Ramsey Triangle Saratoga Scarangella Seaside Seth Low Shore Spring Creek Steeplechase Sternberg St. Johns Sunset Tompkins Trinity Van Voorhees Walt Whitman Wingate WNYC Transmitter Zion Triangle
Queens	Admiral Alley Pond Andrews Grove Astoria Baisley Pond Bayside Fields Bayswater Beach Channel Big Bush Bowne Brant Point Wildlife Sanctuary Breininger Broad Channel American Broad Channel Broad Channel Wetlands Brooklyn–Queens Greenway Brookville Bulova Captain Tilly Catholic War Veterans Triangle Chris Postiglione Triangle College Point Fields Crocheron Cunningham Det. Keith L. Williams Det. William T. Gunn Dr. Charles R. Drew Dubos Point Wildlife Sanctuary Doughboy Douglaston Elmhurst Evergreen Feehan Triangle Flushing Fields Flushing Meadows-Corona Foch Sitting Area Forest Fort Tilden Fort Totten Francis Lewis Frank Golden Frank Principe Haggerty Harvey Highland Hillcrest Veterans Square Hinton Hoffman Hook Creek Hunter's Point Idlewild Jamaica Bay John Golden Judge Moses Weinstein Playground Juniper Valley Kissena Kohlreiter Square Kopytko Triangle Libra Triangle Linden Linnaeus Little Bay LoCicero Triangle Louis Pasteur Lynch Triangle Mafera Macneil Marconi Marie Curie Montbellier O'Donohue One Room Schoolhouse Overlook Park of the Americas Phil "Scooter" Rizzuto Playground Seventy Five Ofc. Edward Byrne Powell's Cove Proctor-Hopson Circle Queens County Farm Museum Queensbridge Rachel Carson Railroad Ralph Demarco Rochdale Rockaway Beach Rockaway Community Roy Wilkins Rufus King Seagirt Avenue Wetlands Socrates Sculpture Spring Creek Springfield St. Albans Travers Travis Triangle Triangle 54 Tribute Tudor Turtle Playground Udalls Cove Underbridge Dog Run Vleigh Playground Walter J. Wetzel Triangle Wayanda
Staten Island	Aesop Allison Pond Amundsen Circle Annadale Arbutus Woods Arden Woods Austen House Barrett Bayview Terrace Blood Root Valley Bloomingdale Blue Heron Blueberry Bradys Bunker Ponds Buono Beach Carlton Clove Lakes Clove's Tail Conference House Corporal Thompson Crescent Beach Deere Eibs Pond Faber Fairview Father Macris Forest Grove Fort Hill Fort Wadsworth South Beach–FDR Boardwalk Freshkills Gaeta Great Kills Graniteville Quarry Graniteville Swamp Hero High Rock Hoffman Island Huguenot Ponds Hybrid Oak Woods Ingram Woods Isle of Meadows Jones Woods Joseph Manna King Fisher Kingdom Pond Last Chance LaTourette Lemon Creek Long Pond Gen. MacArthur Maple Woods Mariners Marsh Meredith Woods Midland Beach Midland Field Miller Field Mount Loretto Unique Area New Dorp Beach Northerleigh Ocean Breeze Old Place Creek Olmstead-Beil House Prall's Island Reed's Basket WIllow Swamp Richmond Terrace Wetlands Sailors' Snug Harbor Staten Island Botanical Garden New York Chinese Scholar's Garden Saw Mill Creek Marsh Schmul Seaside Wildlife Nature Shooters Island Siedenburg Silver Lake Sobel Court South Beach Wetlands St. George Staten Island Greenbelt Staten Island Industrial Swinburne Island Tappen Tompkins Circle Tompkinsville Tottenville Shore Von Briesen Walker Wegener Westerleigh Westwood William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge Willowbrook Wolfe's Pond

Other

Nature centers	Alley Pond Belvedere Castle Blue Heron Crotona Dana Discovery Center Forest Fort Greene Fort Totten Greenbelt High Rock Inwood Hill Orchard Beach Prospect Salt Marsh Van Cortlandt
Zoos	Bronx Central Park Prospect Park Queens Staten Island
Botanical gardens	Brooklyn Botanic Conservatory New York Botanical Queens Botanical Staten Island Botanical New York Chinese Scholar's Wave Hill
Roosevelt Island	Lighthouse Southpoint
Other lists	World War I-related parks Vietnam War-related parks Hispanic and Latino-related parks

Category
Department of Parks and Recreation
New York State
Commons

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