James J. Walker Park, Urban park in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, United States
James J. Walker Park is an urban park in Greenwich Village with baseball fields, handball courts, bocce courts, and playgrounds on about 2 acres. It stretches between Varick Street and Hudson Street, offering recreational facilities for visitors of different ages and interests.
The site served as a burial ground for St John's Chapel of Trinity Church from 1799 to 1858, with over 10,000 interments. After this period, the land underwent several transformations before receiving its current name in 1947.
The park's name honors Jimmy Walker, mayor of New York from 1926 to 1932, whose family moved to 6 St. Luke's Place in 1886. The adjacent Tony Dapolito Recreation Center carries the nickname of Anthony V. Dapolito, a long-serving Community Board 2 president called the "Mayor of Greenwich Village."
The park has public restrooms and free Wi-Fi for visitors. Houston Street station of the IRT Broadway-Seventh Avenue Line is located nearby, making it easy to reach by public transportation.
Writer Edgar Allan Poe lived near this location, connecting the park to the neighborhood's literary past. The site was previously known as St John's Park and later Hudson Park before taking its current name in 1947.
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