Callahan-Kelly Playground

Callahan-Kelly Playground. 3.650 acres. , William E. Callahan and Edward E. Kelly, for whom this park is named, were local soldiers who died during World War I. Callahan's younger brother Thomas worked to keep their memory alive. He organized a local American Legion post, the Callahan-Kelly Post, and 25 years later this playground was founded in their honor., Callahan, who lived nearby at 98 Hinsdale Street, was a Corporal in Company L of the 305 Infantry and was killed in action at the Battle of the Argonne on October 2, 1918. Kelly who also lived only blocks away at 1330 Herkimer Street, was a Private in Company G of the 23rd Infantry, and later the 106th Infantry, and was killed in action at the Battle of Dickie Bush Farm on September 2, 1918. Kelly and Callahan were two of the more than 116,000 American men killed in World War I., Callahan-Kelly Park lies at the northern edge of the neighborhood of Brownsville, named for real estate speculators Charles S. and Harietta C. Brown, who began buying land in 1865 and eventually built 250 cottages there. First known as Brown's Village, the initial settlement of homes and shops was a remote area surrounded only by dairy farms and meadows., The opening of the Fulton Street elevated railway in 1889 and the completion of the Williamsburg Bridge in 1903 improved transportation from Brooklyn to Manhattan and made commuting simpler. Brown's Village grew, and by the late 19th century had come to be known as Brownsville. New York City developer Aaron Kaplan built dozens of tenements here to provide housing for garment workers in Manhattan's Lower East Side. By 1926, when over 300,000 of the 400,000 people in the neighborhood were Jewish, many of them having escaped persecution in Poland and Russia, Brownsville and become known as the "Jerusalem of America.", Brick tenement once stood on the park site, and a street, known as Brooklyn and Jamaica Plank Road (later as Norman Place), used to run through what is now the baseball field. The transformation of neighboring blocks into a major rail hub altered the nature of the space in the early 20th century, and eventually the city acquired the title for this land in 1938. Local Law 115 of 1939 named it a War War I memorial site, and NYC Parks received the land from the city in 1945, with some portions set aside for sewers, subways, and railroads. A subway vent still stands in the park today., With its wide variety of athletic facilities and community spaces, Callahan-Kelly Park is an invaluable asset to the neighborhood. Between 2004 and 2006 NYC Parks reconstructed the park, providing new fencing, safety surfacing, and play equipment. With its towering Pin oaks and Littleleaf linden trees, Callahan-Kelly Park is a peaceful oasis in the midst of a neighborhood bustling with energy.