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    St. Vartan Park

    4.1 (22 reviews)

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    Phil H.

    Large spacious park with plenty of benches to relax on, basketball and hardball court, equipment for the kids to play on, and even a nice green space area. In face, the green area was named Garden of the Month back in 2009. Also, there are actually working bathrooms here.

    Big Jenga
    Mei C.

    Came here for family fun day sponsored by NYC parks and a local councilman. Park is clean and big with new swings and kiddie slide on one side and the handball court across the other side. Because its located so close to NY Presbyterian; many times the hospital hold special events at this park for the local community. This event was fun and used up the entire space of the park. Tents were set along the park for free face painting, photobooth, free popcorn and ices. They were able to setup three bouncy houses and the line formed was ordered and controlled. Children can also play other games in the big open space of the park. What a great day to spend at the park.

    Jeremy S.

    So Google Maps thinks this is St. Gabriel's Park, but it was renamed in 1978 to St Vartan Park after St. Vartan Cathedral of the Armenian Orthodox Church. Go figure. It's a rather dumpy park, not much green and it's in a very high traffic area given it's proximity to the Queens-Midtown Tunnel. There is a lot of concrete and asphalt which means some basketball and handball facilities. It's not a great place for eating lunch (oops, my bad). On the more positive side there was a well populated kids jungle gym area which looked ok. I'm sure it's better than nothing for those who live in the neighborhood, but it sure isn't a shining example of the best in NYC park facilities.

    Minimal little splash pad area but still fun!
    Catherine S.

    We are from out of town and were just walking around shopping exploring this area of the city. We are always looking for playgrounds to let my son burn off some energy. We were so happy to stumble on this one. It has a very large playground set that has many different parts to it. There is a smaller play set for the younger ones too. There are tire swings and regular swings that many were enjoying while we were here. One of the best parts of this park is it is under really tall, old trees and so most parts were shaded. This is a huge plus! There was also a small little water part/splash area. It was very minimal compared to some splash pads out there nowadays but was still fun for my son to run around and get wet. There were probably 4 spraying spigots. There were other kids obviously from the area that came to play and brought buckets to fill up and play with in the sprays. We spent about an hour here and my son really enjoyed it. They also have a bathroom right in the park and it wasn't all that dirty considering.

    Leaped over this fence once...ouch
    Paul M.

    NOSTALGIA TRIP - or - WHERE I PERFECTED MY "KILLER-SHOT" !!! TO MY OLD RACQUETBALL WEEKEND HANGOUT!!! Decades ago, when I used to live on 20th street & worked long weeks at the nearby NYU Med Center, this park was it, for releasing my pent up stress & energy from life. Being one of the top Brooklyn players (at least in the Marine Park area), WHEN I teamed up with my German friend, we held the court all day. From early morning till when you could no longer see the ball. The only draw back of constantly WINNING...was that you had to keep winning hour after hour all day to keep the court..... & we almost always did. The only break was to drink some gatorade, readjust our sneaker laces, & such.....or beat all the competition to a pulp. Boy, was I am former hot-shot (but not now at 55....lord am I out of shape!). Besides the obvious appeal of a FREE SPORT in the middle of NYC.... it was also a good place to make some dates. Some super-hot, some just Psychotic! IN THE WINTER (AS IN BROOKLYN) SOMETIMES THE DIE-HARDS LIKE ME WOULD BRING A SHOVEL TO GET RID OF THE SNOW & STILL PLAY!!! THOSE WERE THE DAYS! Even thought these & other NYC courts were originally intended for handball for new immigrants.....latter Paddleball, & then Racquetball prevailed. I was first weaned at 12 year of age in the ART of PADDLEBALL in Marine Park in Brooklyn...with my JHS 278 friends, Donald, Ronald, & sometimes Frank. One was Chinese, one was Irish/Jewish, one was Italian, & I completed the mix, being Slovak. We were friends for at least a decade, but gradually lost touch. Sad, but true. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Anyway, in the great MELTING POT of NYC, these FREE City Courts were a great blessing to the immigrants brats, that called NYC home! Like US! THANKS NYC !!!!!!!! 10 BILLION STARS *****************************etc... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Besides the court, I rarely explored much of the Park except at recent visit when I took a short-cut through it in the snow/ice.....loaded down with over 1,360 pages of medical records from my mom's horrid 2 week stay at NYC Med Center. Those 25+ or so pounds of crap in my backpack did not make enhance the safety of my trek across the unplowed park...but it did give an idea of how the untouched snow did look in NYC. Unfortunately, some A-hole Yuppy girl was left her two crappy mutts take a crap on my old court while I tried to imagine the past. What an A-hole! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SOME background about this park, from the NYC Parks Website: "St. Vartan Park, between East 35th and 36th Streets on Second Avenue, is named for the St. Vartan Cathedral of the Armenian Orthodox Church in America. Vartan was an Armenian who lived during the fourth century, remembered for his martyrdom at the Battle of Avarayr in 451AD between Armenian and Iranian forces in present-day Albania. In June 1897, Mayor William L. Strong (1827-1900) appointed an advisory committee that became known as the Small Parks Commission. That commission selected this site for a park in 1901, and they acquired the land through condemnation two years later. This park opened as St. Gabriel's Park in 1904, named for nearby St. Gabriel Church formerly at 310 East 37th Street. The park was reconstructed in 1936, and a playground, wading pool, roller skating track, and courts for handball, shuffleboard, and horseshoe pitching were added, as well as a field house and comfort station."

    EunSung K.

    A pretty parK with an amazing playground, and also has a big open area for basketball or bmx practice.

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    10 months ago

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    7 years ago

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    8 years ago

    Came for a movie in the park screening (Coco). There was no grass - just concrete. Bathroom was super duper clean at 9pm on a Thursday!

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    5 years ago

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    17 years ago

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    13 years ago

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    8 years ago

    We like this park a lot. Lots of things for kids to play on. Some shady areas. And half way ok bathrooms for a park are a plus.

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    13 years ago

    A nice small dog park near the UN and the East River. Small.

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    12 years ago

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    11 years ago

    Pretty solid patch of green in a not so solid area, dig it for a quick stop to eat or relax when in the area.

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    8 years ago

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    Review Highlights - St. Vartan Park

    Even thought these & other NYC courts were originally intended for handball for new immigrants.....

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    Evelyn's Playground

    Evelyn's Playground

    4.8
    (5 reviews)
    1.1 mi

    Soooo many bodies!…read more I'm guilty of visiting this playground only on weekends, but "crowded", here, takes a new meaning. Make sure to repeatedly warn your child of paying attention to kids running wild in all directions. Parents seem to be MIA... The playground is quite modern... there's even a half sphere kids can climb on (bare feet, or it won't work). Plenty of swings and climbable options. The place is divided into two areas for children of different ages... both very crowded (did I mention that?). There's a slide kids can use after climbing over big rocks... not the safest option when there are too many kids lining up (and pushing each other) to do it. With little else around to have your child move, this is the forced option. The silver lining is that you're in freaking Union Square, with all sorts of food (or booze... you may need some after a visit to this place) available to you.

    This is my daughter's favorite playground in the city. We came back for a quick week holiday, our…read morefirst tri since moving to California, and every day we had to listen to a 6yo pleading to go to Evelyn's. The shiny dome climbing structure is amazing, as are the slides. It's always busy here, no matter the season or weather, but to me that just means the kids love it and are having fun. Definitely recommend for locals and visitors alike.

    Photos
    The only day the park will ever be empty is because it is freezing outside. 16 Dec 2013
    The only day the park will ever be empty is because it is freezing outside. 16 Dec 2013
    The only day the park will ever be empty is because it is freezing outside. 16 Dec 2013
    The only day the park will ever be empty is because it is freezing outside. 16 Dec 2013
    The only day the park will ever be empty is because it is freezing outside. 16 Dec 2013

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    The only day the park will ever be empty is because it is freezing outside. 16 Dec 2013
    Billy Johnson Playground

    Billy Johnson Playground

    4.2
    (13 reviews)
    1.7 mi

    This is one of the cleanest parks I've ever been to in my entire life. The slides are very clean…read moreand you can slide down them really well without halting. They are sparkly clean with a big reflection from the sun! It burned my eyes looking at them in the sun. One good thing about this park is the number of spider webs that you can climb onto besides the steps that you can go onto. This park also has clean sprinklers at the feet level and big sprinklers that come and go. Very clean and safe. Most important thing is the safety issue. I have a stroller with belongings and they were untouched the whole time I was in the park so that's a plus! Also this park is gated from the public and only families with toddlers and kids can go in. Very family oriented. Will definitely stop by more when I'm in this area.

    Billy Johnson Playground is very cool blending in with the area full of trees and wooden…read morestructures. This is a quiet peaceful area with easy access to and from Fifth Avenue. The day I visited there were many Nannies with small children going in and out of the gate. It's a place I will not enter unless I'm with a friend that has small children. There's bucket and tire swings, an amphitheater spray feature, two granite slides set into a hill, a rustic net climber, and a sandbox and sand table. As I said I love this landscape with rustic structures and stone bridge. You need to visit and enjoy! By the way, no restroom!

    Photos
    This is a nice beam for balance
    This is a nice beam for balance
    Wooden logs
    Wooden logs
    Beautiful Wood Entrance To Park

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    Beautiful Wood Entrance To Park

    St. Vartan Park - parks - Updated June 2026

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