Russell Pedersen Playground

What was here before?

This property has been in the Van Brunt family since 1635, when they “purchased” it from the Indigenous Lenape peoples. Generations of Van Brunts farmed this land until Nicholas R. Van Brunt (1797-1867) sold 70 acres to Jacob Bergen (1767-1845), a Gowanus farmer descended from the prominent Brooklyn family, in 1835. Jacob, in turn, gave the property to his son Isaac E. Bergen (1811-1988), who started his own farm. 

Both the Van Brunts and Bergen sold some of their holdings to the Crescent Athletic Club, originally a football club founded in 1884 in Brooklyn Heights. Its Bay Ridge location was a prestigious resort for summer sports. It included a clubhouse, tennis and lacrosse fields (Van Brunt property, where Ft. Hamilton High School now sits), a boathouse, and baseball fields (Bergen’s property and current site of this playground). The impacts of the Great Depression and a new facility in Long Island overextended the club, which sold its Bay Ridge location in 1936 and was bankrupt shortly thereafter. 

How did this site become a playground?

The City purchased this land from the Bowery Savings Bank for school purposes in March 1938.  The Board of Education built a high school on a large portion of the land, with the remainder divided between an athletic field and a playground.  The park opened in 1941 with a public bathroom, a wading pool that could be drained for basketball and volleyball, and play equipment. The neighboring ballfield was completed shortly after. 

In 1985, new handball courts were dedicated and named in honor of Frank P. Daly.  Daly, a World War II veteran, prominent local attorney, and local athletic program leader until he died in 1984. 

The playground was renovated in 1998, and in 2025 new play equipment, water features and adult fitness areas were installed, seating added, and new entrances to the playground were created to provide easier access. 

Who is this playground named for?

Russell Pedersen (1947-1968) was a frequent volunteer in the playground that now bears his name. As a young man, Pedersen often assisted Parks staff in what was then known as the 83rd Street and Colonial Road Playground. He helped maintain the park and program it with activities until he graduated from the adjacent Fort Hamilton High School in June 1964 and joined the United States Army.

Pedersen, an infantryman, was designated for a tour of duty in Vietnam and promoted to Staff Sergeant in 1968.  On September 11th that year, Pedersen was killed by an enemy mortar in the Quang Ngai region of Vietnam.  Following his death, Parks officials recommended that the playground be named in his honor, a proposal adopted by a local law in 1969.