Murphy Brothers Park, A Fav of Youngest Baseball Players, Finally Reopens

Play ball!

Murphy Brothers Park–long a favorite of the youngest Little Leaguers–is finally back in business nearly a year behind its original reopening date due to the East Side Resiliency Project.

The park’s two baseball fields are now covered by all weather artificial turf, it contains new playground equipment, a new handball court, a new basketball court and, for the first time ever, dog runs– one for small dogs and one for large dogs.

The park on E. 17th St. and Avenue “C” in the shadows of the elevated FDR Drive and the nearby Con Edison power plant, had long been a favorite of the neighborhood’s youngest baseball players.

“Seeing the newly renovated Murphy Brothers Playground with the Tim McGinn Fields come to life fills us with immense pride and excitement,” said Nick McKeown, president of the Peter Stuyvesant Little League which draws players from Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper, the East Village and up to East 72nd St. The two fields are used by the league’s tee ballers and the seven and eight year old divisions.

“For over 25 years, this park has been an integral part of our little league—a place where young athletes grow, learn and create lifelong memories,” said McKeown. While the league in the past spent money laying down new grass sod every spring, the fields always had drainage problems from runoff from the nearby FDR. But no longer. “This renovation is a game-changer, providing a safe and inspiring space for our kids to play the sport they love while fostering a strong sense of community,” McKeown said.

Sandra McKee, the chair of Community Board 6 was also overjoyed that the park is finally back in action. “Community Board 6 cherishes all of our parks, especially those that connect us to our waterfront,” she said. “Our parks are the jewels of our neighborhoods and are highly used,” she added. “The new dog run will attract new users to Murphy Brothers Playground, and we know the youngest residents of our district are overjoyed to have their local ballfields back.” Due to the East Side Resiliency project, the field was not able to be used for the past two spring LIttle League seasons, forcing PSLL to move the games to various other neighborhood parks.

City Council members Keith Powers and Carlina Rivera turned out for the recent ribbon cutting along with Parks and Recreation Commissioner Sue Donoghue and the head of the Department of Design and Construction, Tom Foley.

“Thanks to this innovative project, Murphy Brothers Playground reopens with improved recreational spaces, new measures to increase climate resiliency, and additional amenities that will keep our urban landscapes vibrant and green for all New Yorkers,” said Donoghue.

And Powers, who played in the PSLL while growing up in Stuyvesant Town added, “We will be getting bathrooms.”

The new park includes two baseball diamonds dubbed Tim McGinn Field, named after a lawyer who lived in nearby Peter Cooper Village and coached two boys in the Peter Stuyvesant Little League but died from cancer

Since its last renovation in the early 1990s, the playground has faced new challenges, including climate change and the impact of Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

The updated infrastructure has been designed to withstand potential flooding and intense summer heat, ensuring it is resilient for the future.

The park has a long history dating back to 1857, when the City of New York first acquired the land. It became part of the city’s Parks Department in 1903 when it was fenced in and simply designated as the “17th Street Park.”

For years, the park was known quietly by its original name until 1921, when the name “Murphy” first emerged. A Tammany Hall board member wanted to honor his deceased colleague, John J. Murphy, by renaming 17th Street Park after him. John J. Murphy, an Irish immigrant and one of eight siblings, grew up on Manhattan’s East Side and made a name for himself as a successful trucking business owner and Democratic leader of New York’s 12th Assembly District. So the park was named John J. Murphy Park for years.

John was the younger brother of Charles Francis Murphy. John’s success running the New York Contracting & Trucking Co. was said to owe much to his brother who was the sachem of Tammany Hall. Charles Murphy, who was considered more “colorful” than his younger brother, had left school at fourteen to work in factories and shipyards before opening a saloon in 1878. Serving soup and beer for a nickel in the Gas House District, as the area was known at the time before Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper were built, he gained popularity and the support of Tammany Hall politicians. Eventually, Charles was elected district captain for the Democratic organization, serving as leader of the 18th Assembly District and as the powerful Dock Commissioner, when NYC was the nation’s busiest port. The New York Times said he was a behind the scenes power broker known at the time as “Silent Charlie.”

At one point in 1941, the NYC Parks Dept. decided to pay homage to Charles Murphy. But for whatever reason, his name was never officially incorporated into the park’s title. It became officially, Murphy’s Brother’s Park. Maybe it was a joke at “Silent Charlie’s expense? There is no clear reason for the odd name, but it still known by that name on some Parks Dept web sites.

In 1947, after the Gas House District was replaced by Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, Murphy’s Brother’s Playground saw increased demand, particularly during the Baby Boom of the 1950s and 60s.

The old plaque with the “Murphy’s Brother’s Park” name disappeared during an earlier reconstruction. The new park erected by the Parks Department now calls it simply Murphy Brothers Playground [dropping the apostrophe’s which to those who did not know about “Silent Charlie” appeared to be a grammatical error–even though it wasn’t.]

The park up until a renovation in 1941 had featured a bathroom. But while plans called for a bathroom to be installed during the current renovation, a Parks Dept. spokesperson told us that is still a year away.

And how much did all this cost the city? A Parks Dept. spokesperson did not have an answer, but referred us to the City’s Department of Design and Construction. A week later, we’re still waiting for an answer from the DDC, but it was clearly a seven figure renovation. DDC Commissioner Foley at the ribbon cutting said the park opened “on time and under budget.” Little Leaguers who were forced to play elsewhere might dispute the “on time” reference, but it was likely beyond the Parks Dept control once East Side Resiliency project began storing equipment there. Foley added he’d like to be back. “I can’t wait to throw a first pitch at a Peter Stuyvesant Little League game there this spring.”