There Is Now an Adam Yauch Park: And the Stories Behind the Names of 10 Other Brooklyn Places.
Calvert Vaux Park
Calvert Vaux (1825-1895) designed, along with Frederick Law Olmsted, many of the most celebrated parks in New York City, including Central Park, Prospect Park, Fort Greene Park, and Morningside Park. So, why then, is this little park in Gravesend named after Vaux (which, by the way, rhymes with fox) ? What’s the connection? Well, unfortunately, it’s a sad and weird one. Vaux was apparently out on a boat in Gravesend Bay one foggy, late autumn night and drowned. Even at the time the circumstances were mysterious and were never made clear. And now? Now the answers seem completely lost to the churning waters on that cold and desolate night. A sad end for the man who not only designed the city’s most iconic parks, but was also responsible for the design of institutions like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Natural History. Yeah. He was a pretty big deal.
Calvert Vaux Park; Gravesend Bay, Bay 44 St. to Bay 49 St., Shore Pkwy., Gravesend