New Parks Act

The New Parks Act is a New York state law passed in 1884. It provided for the creation of parks in the future New York City borough of the Bronx. The West Bronx had recently been annexed and was largely undeveloped, as was the yet unannexed East Bronx. Three parkways and six parks were established as part of the New Parks Act.

Bronx Park is at the center of the system, and is now mostly occupied by the New York Botanical Garden and Bronx Zoo. The new system of Parkways in New York connected it to Van Cortlandt Park in the northwest via Mosholu Parkway; to Pelham Bay Park in the east via Pelham Parkway; and to Crotona Park in the south via Crotona Parkway. There were no direct parkway connections to Claremont Park and St. Mary's Park, the other two parks in the system.