Montefiore Square

Public park in New York, New York

Montefiore Square

Montefiore Square from its northern entrance. August 31, 2023.

Location| Hamilton Heights, New York, NY
Coordinates| 40°49′17.688″N 73°57′13.104″W﻿ / ﻿40.82158000°N 73.95364000°W﻿ / 40.82158000; -73.95364000
Area| 0.34 acres
Created| 1906
Operated by| New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, Montefiore Park Neighborhood Association
Open| 24 hours
Status| open

Montefiore Square is a 0.34-acre public park in the Hamilton Heights neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The park is operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation in conjunction with the Montefiore Park Neighborhood Association.[1][2] Montefiore Square is of the triangle or plaza park type, and is bordered by Broadway to the west, and the intersection of West 138th Street and Hamilton Place to the north. It abuts the 137th Street–City College station of the 1 train. It has a sloping grassy field with stone seating, a large paved plaza and a garden.

## History

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### Before condemnation: 1825-1905

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The land on which the park now lies was part of a 35-acre (14 ha) farm purchased by John A. Meyer in 1825, which was eventually split into lots and auctioned off.[2] In 1884, the Hebrew Orphan Asylum of New York was built on the south side of West 138th Street bounded by Hamilton Place to the west and Amsterdam Avenue to the east.[3][2] The orphanage closed in 1941, and the land is now occupied by the east side of Montefiore Square and a middle school campus including a playground.[3][2]

The Montefiore Home for Chronic Invalids, was initially situated at East 84th Street and Avenue A[4] moved to the corner of West 138th Street and Broadway (then "Boulevard") in 1888.[5] This institute was conceived by representatives of New York's Jewish community and was named in honor of its first contributor, the Jewish philanthropist Moses Montefiore.[4]

### Early days of the park: 1906-1993

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The wooded and unoccupied triangle of land between West 138th Street, Boulevard and Hamilton Place was condemned by the parks department in 1906.[1] This triangle constituted the whole of Montefiore Park from its inception and through a renovation in 1993.[1] It was named Montefiore Park after the neighboring sanitarium, which moved to the Bronx in 1910.[6] Following several name changes, it is now known as Montefiore Medical Center.[7]

### Park redesign and renovation: 1994-present

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In 1994, the Montefiore Park Neighborhood Association (MPNA) was founded as a volunteer group with the vision of revitalizing the park and its surrounding area.[1] According to the MPNA, the area housed "illicit activity," as well as garbage dumps and graffiti which volunteers from the organization helped to clean. Alongside this physical maintenance, the MPNA (in tandem with the New York City Department of Transportation Plaza Program) drafted an expansion and redesign of the park.[8]

In October 2019, the renovation of Montefiore Square was announced.[8] In 2020, traffic through the portion of Hamilton Place between West 138th Street and Broadway was permanently shut down and renovation began on the park. The renovations, which cost $18.4 million, were completed in January 2022.[9] It consisted of three main features: a paved plaza for markets and live events, a garden, and a grassy field with stone seating. The closed roadway was repurposed as a pedestrian walkway, and a small triangle of land to the old roadway's east was also acquired making for the park's current 0.34-acre (0.14 ha) area.[1]

## References

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1. ^ a b c d e "Official Website of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation - Montefiore Square". NYC Parks.
2. ^ a b c d "Official Website of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation - History of Montefiore Square". NYC Parks.
3. ^ a b Bogen, Hyman (1992). The Luckiest Orphans: A History of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum of New York City. Chicago: University of Illinois Press – via Google Books.
4. ^ a b "The Home for Chronic Invalids". The New York Times. October 27, 1884. p. 5. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
5. ^ Levenson, Dorothy (1984). Montefiore: The Hospital as Social Instrument, 1884–1984 (1 ed.). New York, N.Y.: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-21228-5.
6. ^ New York (State) Court of Appeals (1914). New York Court of Appeals. Records and Briefs. pp. 7–13. Retrieved July 30, 2023. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
7. ^ "Montefiore to Change Name". The New York Times. October 12, 1964. p. 24. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
8. ^ a b "$15.5 Million Project to Expand and Revamp Montefiore Square in Upper Manhattan". NYC.gov. October 23, 2019.
9. ^ "City Completes $18.4 Million Project to Expand and Revamp Montefiore Square in Harlem". The official website of the City of New York. January 27, 2022. Retrieved September 2, 2023.

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Montefiore Square.

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