As part of its on-going program of modernizing and upgrading the 84 city parks in Yonkers, the Spano Administration has dedicated an upgraded Kinsley Park and Playground at Park and Chase Avenues. The park covers 3.4 acres and features a baseball diamond, basketball courts, a playground, tennis and pickleball courts, an area for stickball, benches for sitting and lots of open grass space.
During a ceremony culminating in a ribbon-cutting, Yonkers Parks, Recreation and Conservation Commissioner Steve Sansone explained that the park is named for Edward Wetmore Kinsley, who was born in New York in 1889 and moved to Yonkers in 1896. Kinsley attended St. Mary’s School, then went on to work for the New York Central Railroad where he became assistant comptroller.
Kinsley was active in sports and recreation, especially with the Mercury Athletic Club. In 1907 he founded the Yonkers Marathon. In 1908, he played a key role in organizing the Yonkers Schoolboys Race. He served as an official for scholastic track and field meets throughout Westchester County.
Kinsley served for 30 years on the Yonkers Recreational Commission, a post he held for 30 years including several years as its president. He was the inaugural chairman of the Yonkers Youth Council when it was formed in the early 40s. In 1945, the Yonkers City Council named the park in honor of Kinsley.
“This is one of he parks I grew up in playing ball,” Sansone said, explaining that the budget to renovate the park was $550,000 and what was done included “a new playground, new safe surfacing, new basketball courts and hoops. We also added new sidewalks to include new walkways, improved drainage, landscaping, a few new trees and site furniture. We’ll also be doing some additions in the future.”
Mayor Mike Spano said that none of the improvements to parks in the city would be possible without funding and he thanked the City Council for issuing the bonds necessary to cover the costs.
“We care about our city, we care about our parks,” Spano said. “If you want to be part of a good, solid growing community you want to make sure that your kids can go to nice schools, you want to be able to know that they can walk in the neighborhoods and certainly know that they have good parks for a healthy environment.”
