Within this magnificent city called New York are open spaces of nature. Though surrounded by skyscrapers and brownstones, these spaces provide city dwellers with green lawns and acres of what once was. There are more than 1,700 parks in New York City covering more than 28,000 acres. From your small neighborhood park to the biggest park in NYC, Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx, there is a haven for everyone.

Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx is the largest park in NYC covering 2,765 acres. Rich in history, the land on which it sits was purchased in 1639 from the Native Americans by a Dutch West India Company. European settlers made several unsuccessful attempts to settle the area as it was still controlled by the Siwanoy Indians. In 1654 an Englishman by the name of Thomas Pell signed a peace pact with Siwanoy leader, Chief Wampage. Pell was successful in settling the area including the tract that is now known as Pelham Bay Park.

Historic features of Pelham Bay Park can be viewed by visitors. There are remnants of walls that surrounded the Pell Estate that during the Revolutionary War, Massachusetts Patriots hid behind and stopped the British and Hessian soldiers from making their way north. Parts of Hunter Mansion, once visited by president Martin Van Buren, remain on Hunter Island. A fully preserved mansion built by Robert Bartow, a descendant of Thomas Pell, is now a museum.

Bartow Powell Mansion

For someone interested in seeing the environmental side of the park, one can take up bird watching at the Central Parks Swampland to view the migrating songbirds and ruby throated hummingbirds. Take a self guided tour of the parks wetland border, rocky shore and interior forest along the Kazimiroff Nature Trail.

Kazimiroff Nature Trail

For more information about Pelham Bay Park, please visit:
NYC Department of Parks & Recreation