Hattie Carthan Playground
Monroe St. to Madison St. between Marcy Ave. and Tompkins Ave.
Directions via Google Maps
This playground is named to honor Hattie Carthan (1900–1984), a Bedford-Stuyvesant resident who always had an interest in trees, but whose environmental conservation efforts stemmed from watching the natural environment in her neighborhood deteriorate. When she moved into her home on Vernon Avenue, the street was lined with trees; by 1964 only three remained. Mrs. Carthan began replanting trees in the neighborhood and, in the process, helped create the Bedford-Stuyvesant Neighborhood Tree Corps as well as the Green Guerillas, a group that worked to beautify the city by planting seeds in abandoned lots.
Learn about the trials and triumphs of the black experience in the United States and how New York City honors black history in our parks today.