Bowling Green 1733

Bowling Green Park, the first official park in New York, was established and named by a resolution of the Common Council on March 12, 1733. It was leased at an annual rent of one peppercorn to John Chambers, Peter Bayard, and Peter Jay, who were responsible for improving the park with grass, trees, and a wooden fence "for the Beauty and Ornament of the Said Street as well as for the Recreation & Delight of the Inhabitants of this City."

Following a public reading of the Declaration of Independence in City Hall Park, a patriotic mob surged down Broadway and tore down the gilded lead statue of George III that had stood in Bowling Green since 1770.

via NYC Parks