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Heavily laden with a large tract of old-growth forest, and also containing playing fields, a track and tennis courts, Forest Park is a park with a split personality.
The third-largest park in Queens is not only known for its nature trails, bird watching and glacial hills, but also for its athletic and entertainment facilities. While Forest Park, with 538 acres, including about 200 developed for fields and sitting areas, retains much of its original rustic beauty, it has not been immune to urban sprawl. The park contains the largest tract of old-growth white oak trees among the city parks.
When the land for Forest Park was purchased in 1895 by Brooklyn, no roads ran through its timberland, which contained large numbers of quail, rabbit and various songbirds. But since 1898, when Brooklyn Forest Park became Forest Park of Queens, various transportation arteries have sliced through the park, bringing the realities of a crowded city closer to the woodlands.
Today the Interborough Parkway, the Union Turnpike, Woodhaven Boulevard, Metropolitan Avenue and Myrtle Avenue all run through the park. And in 1974, urbanization of the park took a severe turn when the state Metropolitan Transportation Authority, over objections from environmentalists and the city Department of Parks and Recreation, built a rail spur through the park.
But development in the park was nothing new. In 1912, the Chestnut Blight, which devastated woodlands throughout the Northeast, struck Forest Park. Many trees were removed, and Victory Field, named in honor of World War I veterans, was built in its aftermath. The field, which was refurbished in 1941 and again in the early 1980s, consists of six softball diamonds, an athletic field and a track.
Though the...