There Is Now an Adam Yauch Park: And the Stories Behind the Names of 10 Other Brooklyn Places.
David Ruggles Playground
David Ruggles (1810-1849) was, in addition to being an academic and a writer, a freedom fighter during an era when his own freedom was constantly questioned. He was born into a free black family at a time when slavery was still legal in New York City. Ruggles was educated from a young age and, as an adult, worked tirelessly to bring enslaved people from the south to freedom in the north. One of the people he was said to have helped escape was none other than Fredrick Douglass. So. There you have it. Ruggles also operated a printing press and founded a journal called The Mirror of Liberty. He kind of did it all, and the very least this city can do is name a playground after him. Like, the very least.
David Ruggles Playground; Tompkins Ave. between Halsey St. and Macon St., Bed-Stuy