College Point Fields

{{Short description|Public park in Queens, New York}}

File:College Point Fields td (2019-08-03) 146 - Jimmy Sandorf Field.jpg

College Point Fields is a public park in College Point, Queens, New York City. It is bounded by Ulmer and 130th Streets to the west, 23rd Avenue to the north, Linden Place to the east, and 26th Avenue and the remains of Mill Creek to the south. The park contains two fields each for Little League Baseball and regular baseball; a soccer field; a roller hockey rink; and bleachers.{{cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/college-point-fields/history|title=College Point Fields Highlights : NYC Parks|date=June 26, 1939|website=nycgovparks.org|access-date=January 15, 2020}}

College Point Fields is named after the College Point neighborhood, which in turn was named after St. Paul’s College, which operated between 1838 and 1850. To the east of the fields is the abandoned Flushing Airport, which operated from 1927 to 1984.{{cite news |last=Kaiser |first=Emily |url=https://issuu.com/queenschronicle/docs/32ndanniversary |title=German visionary the father of College Point |work=Queens Chronicle |date=November 11, 2010}} South of the airport was the College Point Corporate Park, which opened in 1960.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1960/03/19/archives/city-to-study-flushing-airport-as-site-for-an-industrial-park.html|title=City to Study Flushing Airport As Site for an Industrial Park|last=Stern|first=Walter H.|date=1960-03-19|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-01-15|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} The northwestern corner of the corporate park was leased to the College Point Sports Complex. The fields were closed in 1997 due to illegal dumping of waste on the site. Several individuals associated with the contractor who performed the dumping, Enviro-Fill, were later charged with criminal mischief for the dumping.

{{Cite web|url=https://www.qchron.com/news/north/more-indicted-for-dumping-at-college-point-sports-complex/article_cfb56bc9-c740-5f41-a4ea-36da4126dd41.html|title=More Indicted For Dumping At College Point Sports Complex|last=Rhoades|first=Liz|date=November 29, 2001|website=Queens Chronicle|access-date=2020-01-15}}

The New York City Parks Department took over the site in 1996. Eight years later, on April 17, 2004, the Little League fields were reopened.{{Cite web|url=https://qns.com/story/2004/04/14/shuttered-college-point-ballfields-slated-to-open/|title=Shuttered College Point ballfields slated to open|last=Ben-Yehuda|first=Ayala|date=2004-04-14|website=QNS.com|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-15}} Field 4 was renovated in 2016.{{cite web|url=https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20160727/college-point/mets-help-give-college-point-baseball-field-makeover|title=Mets Help Give College Point Baseball Field a Makeover|last=Honan|first=Katie|date=July 27, 2016|website=DNAinfo New York|access-date=January 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200115234942/https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20160727/college-point/mets-help-give-college-point-baseball-field-makeover/|archive-date=January 15, 2020|url-status=dead}} Several other fields were renovated starting in 2017 and were originally supposed to reopen in January 2018, but was delayed to November 2018.{{Cite web|last=Brady|first=Ryan|date=2018-11-01|url=https://www.qchron.com/editions/north/delays-mar-college-point-fields-project/article_07f529f7-b520-51f3-8576-6be2553a1fc7.html|title=Delays mar College Point Fields project|website=Queens Chronicle|access-date=2020-01-15}}