You are reading

City Completes Revamp of Historic Stretch of Vanderbilt Motor Parkway in Alley Pond Park

The Parks Dept. has completed a $1.85 million revamp of a section of the Vanderbilt Motor Parkway in Oakland Gardens. Pictured are attendees at a ceremonial ribbon-cutting event Friday (NYC Parks/ Daniel Avila)

The Parks Dept. has completed a $1.85 million revamp of a section of the Vanderbilt Motor Parkway in Oakland Gardens. Pictured are attendees at a ceremonial ribbon-cutting event Friday (NYC Parks/ Daniel Avila)

Dec. 22, 2021 By Michael Dorgan

The Parks Dept. has completed a $1.85 million revamp of a historic section of pathway that goes through Alley Pond Park in Oakland Gardens – and several officials visited the area last Friday to hold a ceremonial ribbon-cutting event.

The section of pathway — which runs 0.8 miles from the entrance of Alley Pond Park on Winchester Boulevard to Springfield Boulevard — has undergone a major overhaul with a new asphalt pavement, guide rails, benches, trees and shrubs put down.

The pathway forms part of the Vanderbilt Motor Parkway, which was one of the first concrete roads in the nation for automobiles having been built more than a century ago, according to the Parks Dept.

Council Member Barry Grodenchik allocated $1.44 million in city funds toward the project, with Mayor Bill de Blasio adding $415,000 from the city budget.

Grodenchik said that the parkway had not been repaved in decades and was in desperate need of an upgrade.

“The path provides a clean, safe, quiet place for exercise and recreation,” Grodenchik said at the ceremony. “The ongoing pandemic only reinforces the importance of access to outdoor public space.”

The city has revamped a section of the Vanderbilt Motor Parkway in Oakland Gardens (NYC Parks/ Daniel Avila)

NYC Parks Commissioner Gabrielle Fialkoff, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, State Senator John Liu and Assembly Member Nily Rozic also attended the ceremony.

The project forms part one of a two-phase redevelopment of the Vanderbilt Motor Parkway that connects Alley Pond Park to Cunningham Park.

The second phase, which is expected to cost $3.7 million, will see the renovation of two additional miles of parkway from Springfield Boulevard to 199th Street. Funding for this phase is coming from the mayor’s office.

The Vanderbilt Motor Parkway has a rich history and was originally built as a private racetrack in 1908 by William K. Vanderbilt, Jr., a railroad mogul and financier. Vanderbilt was the great-grandson of the railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt.

The private parkway was opened to the public as a toll road in 1912 and stretched 45-miles from Fresh Meadows in Queens to Lake Ronkonkoma in Suffolk County.

It was the first long-distance concrete highway in the U.S. to have bridges and overpasses — and was used primarily by the city’s elite commuting to their Long Island estates, according to the Parks Dept.

The parkway acquired the nickname “Rumrunner’s Road” during Prohibition as bootleggers often used it to dodge the police. The parkway was closed down in 1938 after becoming outdated and insolvent.

The route was then deeded over to New York City as well as Nassau and Suffolk counties. The Queens section was turned into a bicycle path.

Fialkoff said that the current redevelopments will preserve the pathway for generations.

“The Vanderbilt Motor Parkway is both a recreational asset and a living piece of New York City history and… has received the makeover it deserves,” Fialkoff said.

Community Board 8 Chair Martha Taylor and Long Island Motor Parkway Preservation Society President Howard Kroplick also attended the ceremony.

Attendees at a ceremonial ribbon-cutting event Friday marking the revamp of a section of the Vanderbilt Motor Parkway in Oakland Gardens.(NYC Parks/ Daniel Avila)

William K. Vanderbilt, Jr.

William K. Vanderbilt, Jr. pictured in 1911 with his racing cap and goggles on (Photo via Wiki Commons)

The parkway once stretched 45-miles from Fresh Meadows in the Queens to Lake Ronkonkoma in Suffolk County (Google Maps)

email the author: news@queenspost.com
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Queens Council Members celebrate $2.5 million in funding for AAPI curriculum

Jul. 3, 2025 By Shane O’Brien

Queens Council Members Shekar Krishnan, Linda Lee, Sandra Ung and Julie Won gathered on the steps of City Hall Wednesday afternoon alongside Manhattan Council Member Carlina Rivera to celebrate the “historic” $2.5 million budget investment to support the implementation of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) history curriculum in NYC schools.

Woman attacked and strangled in anti-LGBTQ assault in Far Rockaway: NYPD

The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating an anti-LGBTQ attack on a woman in Far Rockaway on the night of Tuesday, June 24, and three suspects remain at large.

The 28-year-old victim was walking in front of 18-26 Village Lane just north of Mott Avenue at around 8:30 p.m. when she was approached by the three men who shouted anti-LGBTQ rhetoric before they punched her multiple times, and one of the assailants placed his hands around her neck, and strangled her into unconsciousness, police said. The three men fled the scene, just down the street from the Rockaway Village development, to parts unknown.

Forest Hills home invasion leaves man hospitalized after brutal assault and robbery: NYPD

Police from the 112th Precinct in Forest Hills are looking for three suspects who beat and robbed a 28-year-old man during a home invasion on the afternoon of Saturday, June 21. The three intruders slipped into an apartment building at 102-40 62nd Ave. at around 4 p.m.

The perpetrators allegedly forced their way into the victim’s apartment, punched him repeatedly in his body with closed fists, and forcibly removed $60 in cash and medication before fleeing the building in an unknown direction, police said Monday. EMS responded to the crime scene and transported the victim to Long Island Jewish Forest Hills, where he was listed in stable condition.