NYC Parks has officially started work on a $1.8 million revamp of Doughboy Plaza in Woodside (NYC Parks/Daniel Avila)
Nov. 6, 2020 By Michael Dorgan
The New York City Parks Dept. has officially started work on a $1.8 million overhaul of the plaza at Doughboy Park.
Queens Parks Commissioner Michael Dockett and Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer officially broke ground at the plaza Thursday, which is located on the corner of Woodside Avenue between 54th and 56th streets.
The plaza, which pays tribute to fallen soldiers who gave up their lives in combat, is undergoing a major revamp more than three years after Van Bramer allocated city funds for the project.
The city is replacing the pavement with a bluestone surface and the distinctive white and green-colored walls are being covered with a granite veneer.
A new water fountain is being installed and other features include additional benches, two additional planting areas and more trees.
The area will have better lighting, with a focus on illuminating the U.S. flag. There will be retro-style lamps added and the Doughboy statue restored, according to the plans.
NYC Parks has officially started work on the $1.8 million revamp of Doughboy Park (NYC Parks/Daniel Avila)
Dockett said that the plaza will serve as an inviting green space for passive recreation and reflection once the work is completed.
“Doughboy Plaza is a charming and historic neighborhood jewel that offers a peaceful green oasis in Woodside,” Dockett said.
The 1.71-acre park was established in 1923 and includes the “Doughboy” monument that commemorates local residents who served in World War I.
Other monuments have been added since. A stone panel was installed in 2001 listing the names of the eleven major WW1 campaigns in which Americans fought, and then in 2006 a Sept. 11 memorial plaque was added dedicated to the 34 people who died in the attacks from Woodside.
The Doughboy statue was last restored in 1990 and the plaza surrounding the statue was last renovated in 2001. A Doughboy is an informal term for an American infantryman, particularly those who fought in the trenches during WW1.
Van Bramer said that the plaza honors those who have died in service to the nation and the revamp will make the space much more inviting.
“I’m thrilled to have fought for this great park in Woodside and excited to see construction start,” Van Bramer said.
The total cost of the project is $1.87 million and it is expected to be completed in Sept. 2021.
Ground was officially broken at Doughboy Plaza on Nov. 5 (NYC Parks/Daniel Avila)
Rendering for Doughboy Plaza (NYC Parks)
Doughboy-2018_01_03 by Queens Post on Scribd
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10 Comments
Park is ver functional. Needs a good sweep once in a while.
Corona virus could use tat $1.2 million.
Deeper in debt. Insane.
Re do of library for more millions is also insane at this time
can we please get the homeless people into shelter and out of the park?
What’s the betting this turns into another archeological dig. Give me ten good Irishmen and I’ll bang this out for 100,000 in three weeks, minus materials (water fountains are expensive these days). Every time these politicians get silly money for these parks, they get the Parks dept to drag it out so as not to make it so obvious that someone is making a pretty penny. The dog park in Sunnyside and the bums park opposite Saints and Sinners are perfect examples. Guarantee they won’t finish on time and then complain that they went over budget.
You wanna clean it up? Start with the clientele!!! The patrons of the so called public park!!! Clean it the freak up?
This park is an outside hotel for all the day laborers. They sleep, eat, and use it as a bathroom. Disgusting. I wouldn’t walk my dogs there.
Shame Trump lied about the “one-time payment” from Mexico 4 years ago
Grade 0%. Off topic. No correlation between answer and the topic.
Fail. Repeat grade.
I lived 5 years on 39th Ave. and 55th Street, and another 5 years on 54th Street and Woodside Ave. I loved living in Woodside, and very near a big green space, have fond memories of my time in the neighborhood. Happy to see the plaza getting the much needed TLC.
This is a complete waste of money. Doughboy Plaza looked fine, and all it needed was better maintenance and just minor investment, not $1.8 of our money. In addition, Woodside residents will be inconvenienced due to the closure of the pathways leading from 54th Street to Woodside Avenue for God knows how long.
This happens all the time in Woodside: The Parks Dept. does not maintain the parks, and then after several years of neglect, it spends millions of dollars on some unnecessary project. The same thing happened with the hill adjacent to Doughboy Plaza: Several years ago, the city spend millions of dollars to improve it, and in the intervening years the hill has been neglected, and now it looks like a wasteland; it’s just a matter of time before the city spends millions of dollars on it again, rather than investing a little each year to maintain it.
Van Bramer is useless, and he is all about these phony projects that he can stamp his name on so that it appears he is doing something for the neighborhood. Rather than waste money that the city does not have, how about Van Bramer do something about our neighborhood in regard to the rise in crime and the sense of lawlessness that prevails. He needs to go!
It must eat them up when they have to do something like this especially a veteran on a statue.