BY JASON COHEN
Up the block from Yankee
Stadium lies Mullaly Park, a
place that is named after a man
known as the father of Bronx
parks, but was also known to
be a racist.
John Mullaly was an agitator
and instigator of the NYC
Draft Riots during the Civil
War. This was one of the darkest
incidents in NYC history,
where at least 11 Black residents
were lynched, Blackowned
houses and churches
were burned, an orphanage
for Black children was burned
and in the aftermath of the riots
over 5,000 Black Manhattan
residents fl ed the borough
to settle in Brooklyn.
On July 2, Parent Action
Committee, the Bronx Council
for Environmental Quality
(BCEQ) and residents held a
rally to demand the changing
of the name of the park. About
30 people stood outside in the
sweltering heat with signs saying
“Rename Mullaly Park”
and chanted “Mullaly is a racist.”
“BCEQ calls upon DPR to
recognize the impact of this
19th century history on our
government and our city and
to support the renaming,”
said the BCEQ in a letter sent
on June 29 to Parks Commissioner
Mitchell Silver. “Like
all parks throughout NYC, this
park is beloved, and actively
maintained by communities of
color who work together with
DPR to keep their neighborhoods
healthy and green. We
can no longer allow Mullaly’s
racist history to stain this
parkland and confront our
Bronx communities with the
daily reminder of his contribution
to racial violence.”
The research into the history
of the name of the park began
four years ago, when Alan
Singer, a former resident, published
a piece about Mullaly on
the Huffi ngton Post.
Chauncy Young, a board
member of the BCEQ, said after
BRONX TIMES R 26 EPORTER, JULY 10-16, 2020 BTR
bringing this to the attention
of the Parks Department
a year ago, they are glad Parks
is fi nally listening.
On June 19, Parks announced
plans to rename
parks for Black Americans
with local, national or historical
relevance.
New names will be revealed
on Black Solidarity Day on
Nov. 2, 2020. In concert with
the November renamings,
Parks will temporarily change
out its offi cial park signs with
specially designed signs in the
colors of the Pan-African fl ag.
Young hopes Parks heeds
their request and realizes Mullaly’s
name does not belong on
the park.
“There’s a history with the
name Mullaly and we’re here
today to say that knowing this
history is important,” Young
said. “Someone who thought
that black people were inferior
should not be the name of
a park in a community that is
mainly Black and Latino.”
On Thursday morning, Parent Action Committee, the Bronx Council for
Environmental Quality (BCEQ) and residents held a rally to demand the
changing of the name of the park Photos by Jason Cohen
Several residents spoke out
against Mullaly and in favor of
a name change. One attendee
wanted the name changed to
Elston Howard Park, after the
fi rst Black man to be hired by
the Yankees.
Resident Yees Filizs said
he recognizes that Mullaly
helped create many parks, but
that should not overshadow
the racist things he did.
“John Mullaly has caused
great harm and great pain
for the Bronxites of today,” he
said. “We are asking to evolve
and remove the name Mullaly.”
He suggested renaming
the park after a person of
color who impacted the community.
Sandra Mitchell has lived
in the Bronx for 50 years and
was ashamed the park was
named after Mullaly. She
urged people to do research
and fi nd out who is behind the
names of parks and streets.
“How can you name a park
after someone who burned
an orange,” she said. “Why
would you put that name on
this park?”
Rally to rename Mullaly Park
Bronx residents demand park, named
for known racist, be renamed
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Family Owned & Operated for over 60 years
3535 East Tremont Avenue
Bronx, New York
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