Open Road Park facts for kids

Open Road Park is a cool little park in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. You can find it just east of First Avenue, between 11th and 12th Streets. This park is one of the bigger green spaces in the East Village that was created because people in the community worked together to make it happen.

The land for this park was taken over in 1993 by a local group called Open Road. They turned the empty space into a fun community garden and a playground for everyone to enjoy. Before it became a park, this spot was used for many different things, which tells us a lot about the history of the area around it.

A Place of Rest: The Old Cemetery

Back in 1833, East 11th Street was considered the very edge of New York City. Because of this, it was chosen to be the city's third Roman Catholic cemetery. The older burial ground at Old St. Patrick's Cathedral on Mott Street was full.

Many people were buried here. By August 1848, about 41,016 individuals had been laid to rest, and the cemetery reached its limit. The church then started burying its members at Calvary Cemetery in Queens. For the next forty years, the cemetery was used less and less.

In 1883, the church suggested selling the property. They planned to move the buried individuals to Calvary Cemetery. However, some relatives of those buried there filed a lawsuit to stop the move, so the sale was put on hold.

In 1907, the church decided to sell the cemetery again. By this time, the land was worth a lot more money. Also, the neighborhood around it no longer had mostly Catholic residents. After the last bodies were moved in 1909, the land was sold three years later. It was bought by the New York City Board of Education and the Fifth Avenue Coach Company.

From Garage to Green Space: The Park's Story

After the land was sold, the eastern part of the property became Public School 60, which is now East Side Community High School. Mary Help of Christians Church was also built there and stood until 2013. The rest of the land was turned into a garage for public buses.

When the bus garage was torn down in 1987, it left behind an empty lot that was not very clean. The Open Road group saw this as a chance to create a new park. In 1993, with money from the city's Department of Sanitation, the group covered the lot with a special liner. Then, they added gravel, soil, and compost to get it ready for a garden.

Two years later, a greenhouse and a turtle pond were built. Local high school students helped with this project. The pond even gets some of its water from a special design called a bioswale. This helps collect rainwater from all over the garden. The northern two-thirds of the site was developed into a playground. With help from the Trust for Public Land, the site was bought to protect it from being used for other buildings.

The Parks Department took over Open Road Park in 2003. They continued to develop it as a place for fun and relaxation. The garden is also part of the USDA Forest Service Living Memorials Project. This is a special way to remember the victims of the September 11 attacks. The memorial garden was designed by Cornell University, Open Road, and the USDA Forest Service.

In March 2015, a mini-soccer field was started at the playground. This was made possible with help from the New York Red Bulls soccer team and the U.S. Soccer Foundation.

As more homes are built in the East Village, Open Road Park is important. It makes sure that people living there have plenty of space for sports. It also gives students chances to learn about nature by helping to take care of the park's garden. The playground has basketball courts, a soccer pitch, and swings.

Around 2016, the garden was reorganized and renamed the East Side Outside Community Garden. It also started a compost program run by Reclaimed Organics. The East Side Outside Community Garden is part of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation GreenThumb Program, which supports community gardens.

Images for kids

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  The playground in December 2020.

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  Another view of the playground in December 2020.