Nice big park great for different age groups! Entrance on 1st ave for big playground and bathroom. Plenty of benches and equipment to play on. There is also a basketball quart and small field. Pretty clean and safe. read more

Slowly trying to hoop at all the basketball courts in the city, so I came here after work before a long weekend. We were on our 4th game of 5 on 5 on this slanted, slippery court with double rims as the Midtown skyline looked over us. We had gone 3-0 and already on wobbly legs but wanted one more to really push ourselves to exhaustion and be WHOOPED. A group of 5 17 year olds showed up and I was lowkey like damn I don't wanna play these little kids for our last game but whatever, they got next. We were going back and forth, and to be fair they were actually pretty good but just too frail to give us any problems. At 5'10 174 lbs, I'm a BIG guard. I'm left handed, but shot a right handed floater fading to my right as I'm trying to get better. If you can hit a weak hand floater on the run you will be tough to stop. I bricked it and this little 17 year old kid goes "that's a TERRIBLE shot" looking at me dead in the eyes. Like bro y'all are losing and you suck why you talking? He woke me up and I started actually trying really hard and lowkey busting their ass... but tbh normally I'm not even that good. It was just one of those days where everything was falling. I hit a 3 and yelled out "THAT'S A LAYUP." I drove hard left, euro stepped and hit a tough finish through 2 and yelled "I"M TOO BIG," while flexing. I switched onto little homie and he took a terrible stepback shot after I turned him 3 times and bricked it. I just whispered to him "I don't even gotta say nothing after that one it speaks for itself" which really pissed him off. Then I hit the game winning 3 and did the Dame wave to him as he walked off the court PISSED as hell. I sat down and then he got the courage to say "STOP TALKING SO MUCH" while he put his hand together to mimic me YAPPING. I almost stood up and said "HOW BOUT U GET WIN?" But then I realized I'm a grown ass man and there is absolutely no reason to be jawing at this little kid on a beautiful Friday in New York City. I just kind of laughed at myself and asked what is wrong with me lol. All in all, these runs were kind of weak and this court is in horrendous condition. The court on the westside highway is still my favorite in the city. IG @jnov_ Tiktok @jnov_reviews read more

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St. Vartan Park is Murray Hill's biggest playground. It's great for families because it's spacious and has plenty of room to play. This park offers a variety of play features and activities for kids of all ages under large trees that provide shade. The western half of the park contains a number of asphalt fields, and closer to First Avenue there's a field house that offers occasional activities. There's basketball courts and handball courts and a playground. There's restrooms too. The park is named for the nearby St. Vartan Cathedral of the Armenian Orthodox Church in America. I originally visited last fall when I had a doctor appointment nearby. Recently I was in the neighborhood and decided to take a closer look and get some photos. I didn't linger long as I saw a police car parked there. I didn't want to appear to be loitering since I was alone. There's very nice benches on the perimeter of the park if I decided to sit. I really had no reason to hang around. I am glad I checked it out. I'd like to go inside the cathedral eventually. It's beautiful on the outside. read more

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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. read more

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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. read more

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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. read more

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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. read more

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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." read more

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Oh my god they have the best tires swings ever!! I'm a tire swing connoisseur and these are the best I've ever ridden on. They've got top notch coated rubber tires that are closed on the inside- so no leg burns or gross rainwater getting trapped inside. And there's three in a row so you don't have to wait forever for your turn. But the best part are the turning mechanisms - these things go fast and they have a mind of their own. Once you get momentum you'll start going faster and faster and it's actually a little hard to stop! So much fun! Watching my friend fly around in a panic for a few moments while he got the hang of it was hilarious. Bathrooms were gross. Who cares?! Tires swings! read more

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

St. Vartan Park - Parks Near Me - New York, New York

nice family park in the murray hill section of manhattan and its named for a church nearby. plenty of space for the kiddies to play via the playground section , plenty of benches for the adults or lazy souls to sit , basketball, handball courts as well and its spacious so you can enjoy the weather while listening to a music event or kiddie show. they have restrooms but i prefer to wait until i get home as sometimes the homeless hang inside and make a mess or whatever. thumbs up to the nyc parks dept who keep the park clean and the flowers around the park blooming for us to enjoy. overall a nice family friendly neighborhood park. read more

A genuinely nice playground that happens to be only a stones throw from Tisch hospital. Anyone who has kids when they are in or visiting the hospital may want to consider this spot. read more

St. Vartan Park - Parks Near Me - New York, New York

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!

I had a blast at this park and I would love to go again and explore more parks in New York! I got lost in New York because I don't know the area too well. I stumbled upon this park and said to myself, 'why not?' So I went inside the park and sat on a bench. I walked around and saw some courts with people playing on it, which was nice. This park really put me in the relaxing mood by then, so I knew I wanted to stay for a few hours. I did end spending 5-6 hours their because the park was so chill axed and peaceful. Can't wait till my next visitation to the park! read more

I love this park. I bring my two girls here (both under 3) whenever I can grab someone else to come with me. There's so much to do for them here....too much, in my opinion. And I don't mean too much in a bad way; in a bad way for me as one parent, by myself, with two high-active, adventurous toddlers; hence, the extra person to come along. There's, I would say, about 10 baby swings (give or take), a rather large jungle gym with bridges, slides (a spiral one and a straight one). Tire swings, a big area that has sprinklers running in the summer months....so much. Too much! In a good way. There's also a playschool house that seems like you need to know someone to get into. So, other than that (the elusive entrance into the playhouse) I really love this place. read more

I don't live here, but I occasionally walk by this place on my way to soliciting another park or just cause. YOLO! All jokes aside, it is very nice to have access to a rather large open space for anything from tossing frisbees or playing catch. On an average weekend day, you will probably see a handful of youths running around the hard court throwing legally and socially appropriate objects at each other repeatedly. read more

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.

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

This park although mainly for children, has 4 large picnic style tables for lunch an plenty of benches to sit on. It doesn't have much greenery with the exception of the entrance on first avenue they have a beautiful but small garden. They have a rec-room/preschool type of program. You can google that if you're interested. It's kids and nanny central! I just sit here and have lunch sometimes enjoy the nice breeze and shade. It's a small getaway from the office if only for just lunch. For the sports/fitness buffs, they have a pretty decent size field (for like little league) and handball/basket ball courts as well. read more

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.

Good place for kids in the area. Large with a few attractions. There are not many children playgrounds in Midtown so this park is good enough. read more

beautiful, well maintained-fun safe park for your kids-just be wary of the fence line and bushes toward dusk- rats..which is usually a nyc problem in general- the basketball/handball courts are top notch-but there is no water fountain in this part-so bring your own- the park is nice size-playground area has sprinklers, swings-things to climb-kids everywhere! put your kids in a bright shirts so you can find em easy-connected to that is huge concrete area/field for baseball..skating..bikes..whatever-and across tunnel approach street are the basketball/handball courts this park really is a good one-all the kids-teens, athletes, adults will enjoy themselves here across street on 2nd avenue 35th st is pizza and diner-on 1st ave 34th st-deli deli and deli-just watch out crossing streets-tunnel and hospital traffic-hold your kids hands-and if driving, read signs carefully-traffic agents are like shadow ninjas read more