WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES MARCH 21, 2019 31
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
At left, the NYC Sanitation Department posted a sign indicating that it was dumping refuse to reclaim city property at Juniper Valley Park. At right, the
Juniper North Playground as it was being constructed in October 1940.
At left, a view of the Juniper Swamp in the 1930s before it was transformed into part of Juniper Valley Park. At right, two children on the pathways
near the ballfi elds at Juniper Valley Park in 1940.
of empty shell houses which gave the
appearance as being a development.
It became a case celebre when the
“Rothstein Phantom Village” was
uncovered as a fraud.
Rothstein was shot to death in 1928,
and his estate sold the property to
the city for approximately the same
amount equal to the back real estate
taxes owed. When he became aware
that the swamps contained valuable
peat moss, Robert Moses, who was in
charge of the 1939-40 World’s Fair,
had it removed and used for top soil
on the fairgrounds in Flushing.
Little did Arnold Rothstein know
that the peat moss was worth over a
million dollars.
The cliche “crime doesn’t pay”
certainly fits with regard to
Rothstein’s episode of housing fraud
in Middle Village. Ironically, he was
called “The Brain” in many corners
because of his business acumen,
which he applied to criminal
ventures in the 1910s and 1920s.
Gambling was one of Rothstein’s
obsessions, and there were rumors
that he was involved in the infamous
“Black Sox Scandal,” in which
eight members of the 1919 Chicago
White Sox were paid to throw the
World Series that year against the
Cincinnati Reds.
Rothstein vehemently denied
accusations that he helped bribe
White Sox players, and he was
never indicted in connection of the
scheme. Eight White Sox players
were indicted for the conspiracy
and ultimately acquitted at trial —
but banned from the game for life
by Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw
Mountain Landis.
Rothstein would meet his demise
in 1928, shot dead during a business
meeting at a Manhattan hotel, in
retaliation for falling into heavy
debt with a fellow gambler, George
“Hump” McManus, who was tried for
the Rothstein hit but acquitted due
to a lack of evidence.
In truth, the 88 acres of land which
the city acquired from Rothstein’s
estate was just a portion of the
Juniper Swamp land. Part of the area
had, by the 1920s, been converted
into a racetrack for horse, dog,
automobile and motorcycle races.
The track, known as Metropolitan
Heights, was about 7/8 of a mile in
circumference and occupied what’s
today the western corner of the park,
from the tennis courts to the gated
baseball diamonds.
There’s also the portion of the
park which includes the Pullis
Farm Cemetery, located off the
present-day intersection of Juniper
Boulevard North and 81st Street. The
cemetery is said to be one of the few
remaining farm burial grounds in
New York City. Three graves remain
in place at the cemetery, which is
surrounded by a stone wall and a
wrought-iron gate.
Construction of Juniper Valley
Park began in 1938 under the
direction of Moses, who realized
that the swamp not only had valuable
peat moss but also major potential as
a beautiful community park. Using
workers funded through the Works
Progress Administration, a New
Deal program under the direction
of the Franklin D. Roosevelt
Administration, the city created
an oasis that included two major
playgrounds, four baseball fields,
handball courts, tennis courts and
a sprinkler area. More than 160
shade trees were planted along with
thousands of bushes.
As of 1949, the city developed twothirds
of the 55-acre site as an active
park land; the remaining third, on
the western end near 71st Street
and Lutheran Avenue, remained
largely undeveloped until 1967. At
that point, the last of the swampland
was cleared to make room for more
baseball fields and Brennan Field,
a soccer/football field enveloped
within a running track.
Today, Brennan Field is a
popular venue for various sports
organizations such as Blau Weiss
Gottschee, a youth soccer club, and
is home to the annual Relay for
Life, a 24-hour fundraiser for the
American Cancer Society.
Sources: “Our Community:
Its History and People,” Greater
Ridgewood Soci et y, 1976;
Brownstoner and the Juniper Park
Civic Association.
* * *
If you have any remembrances or old
photographs of “Our Neighborhood:
The Way It Was” that you would
like to share with our readers,
please write to the Old Timer, c/o
Ridgewood Times, 38-15 Bell Blvd.,
Bayside, NY 11361, or send an email
to editorial@ridgewoodtimes.com.
Any print photographs mailed to
us will be carefully returned to you
upon request.
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