WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES OCTOBER 18, 2018 29
— sought to build the monument in
honor of 42 victims from Glendale
and the surrounding communities
of Ridgewood, Middle Village and
Woodhaven.
Initially, the Parks Department
bucked at the idea of having a monument
within the memorial garden, but
aft er much public pressure from the
committee, local elected offi cials and
civic activists, the agency agreed to the
memorial in February 2007.
TRACK AND BANDSHELL
Victory Field opened on April 27,
1927, at the corner of Woodhaven
Boulevard and Myrtle Avenue. It was
dedicated to the veterans of World
War I and had six baseball diamonds,
a quarter-mile cinder track and several
handball courts. In the winter,
the track infi eld was fl ooded for ice
skating. In the fall, several of the fi elds
were used for football and soccer.
Used by athletes of all kinds through
the years, Victory Field was renamed
in honor of former Assemblyman
and Judge Frederick Schmidt in April
2007. The renaming coincided with
the completion of a multimillion-dollar
renovation of the facility.
Forest Park also boasts the George
Seuff ert Bandshell, constructed in
1920. It is named for George Seuff ert
Sr., a music teacher and concert violinist
who went on to become the popular
leader of the Concordia Military
Band, later renamed the Seuff ert Band.
For years, the Seuff ert Band played
to parkgoers atop a bandstand where
the bandshell is now located. Seuff ert
continued leading performances
before thousands of people aft er the
bandshell’s completion in 1920; ultimately,
he would pass the baton to his
son, George Jr., who kept the Seuff ert
Band performing for decades to come.
Renovated twice in 1977 and 1999,
the Seuff ert Bandshell accommodates
up to 3,500 people and hosts a wide
variety of free concerts each summer,
including performances by the
Queens Symphony Orchestra.
A ROAD RUNS
THROUGH IT
In 1912, talk started about building
a 150-foot-wide roadway through
Forest Park from Highland Park, with
the road to cut also through Cypress
Hills Cemetery. However, there were
objections and nothing came of it.
For years, the only road through
Forest Park was the eponymous Drive,
designed by Frederick Law Olmstead,
the famed architect best known for
designing Central Park.
Forest Park Drive winds its way
from Myrtle Avenue in Glendale to
Park Lane near Union Turnpike on
the Forest Hills/Kew Gardens border.
Two segments are open to vehicular
traffic today: one between Myrtle
Avenue and Woodhaven Boulevard,
and the other between Park Lane and
Metropolitan Avenue. The segment
between Woodhaven Boulevard and
Metropolitan Avenue is reserved for
bicyclists and pedestrians.
In the 1930s, master builder Robert
Moses succeeded in constructing
the Interboro Parkway through both
Forest and Highland Park and Cypress
Hills Cemetery, linking the Grand
Central Parkway in central Queens
to Highland Boulevard and Jamaica
Avenue in Brooklyn.
The road was a branch of Moses’
parkway system, built at a time when
driving was more of a leisure activity
than a routine. The “ribbon parks,” as
they were called, were lined with trees
and featured slopes and curves to give
drivers and passengers an enjoyable
scenic experience while motoring.
During his more than 40 years in
city and state government, Moses
developed a reputation of letting almost
nothing stand in the way of his
vision. If he wanted a road built, he was
going to build that road regardless of
the obstacle — including landmarks,
parkland, homes and people.
In the case of the Interboro Parkway,
many graves were in Moses’ way — but
not for very long. His parkway carved
a long, winding path through the heart
of Cypress Hills Cemetery. Thus, it
was necessary to dig up and removed
hundreds of caskets and relocate them.
A large number of laborers were used
to perform this grim task.
A number of the old picnic parks
were also torn down by the construction
of the parkway, including Banzer’s
Cypress Hills Park at Cypress
Avenue and Cypress Hills Street;
Florida Park, on the southwest
corner of Myrtle Avenue and 88th
Place; and Sportland (aka Glendale
Schuetzen Park) on the north side of
Myrtle Avenue adjacent to 88th Place.
The buildings were torn down
in August 1933, and the parkway’s
construction reduced Forest Park’s
acreage from 534 to 508.
The Interboro Parkway opened in
1935, but within six years’ time, city
planners recognized the parkway’s
dangerous curves. A 1941 New York
City Planning Department report declared,
“At two points in the parkway,
there are bad curves that are a serious
hazard and impair the usefulness
of the parkway. While realignment
would be diffi cult because the parkway
passes through cemeteries, it is
nevertheless urgently necessary.”
The Interboro was renovated
from time to time in the decades
that followed, and speed limits and
lane restrictions were instituted
along the curves to keep drivers safe.
That has not, however, entirely eliminated
accidents along the stretch
— nor the ensuing traffi c jams and
rubbernecking.
Good news for the Interboro came
with a new name in 1997, as the city declared
it the Jackie Robinson Parkway,
honoring the great Brooklyn Dodger
second baseman who broke baseball’s
color barrier 50 years earlier.
Reprinted from the Oct. 30, 2014, issue
of the Ridgewood Times.
If you have any remembrances or old
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Way It Was” that you would like to share
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Timer, c/o Ridgewood Times, 38-15 Bell
Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361, or send an
email to editorial@ridgewood-times.
com. Any print photographs mailed to
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request.
Robert Moses, the master builder of New York in the 20th century,
wouldn't let a few graves stop him from building the Interboro (Jackie
Robinson) Parkway
Children still revel in the Forest Park Carousel today.