Abe Lebewohl Park in New York City occupies an expanded corner of Stuyvesant Street in Manhattan. It can be found at the intersection of 2nd Avenue and East 10th Street.
The place is very little more than a small triangular plot of land with some trees and a historic flagpole. It is just beside St. Marks on the Bowery Church in the historic East Village of Manhattan.
Who is Abe Lebewohl Park Named After?
Abe Lebewohl (1931-1996), whom the park is named after, was a Ukrainian immigrant to America. He had quite an event journey that led him to America. His father was sent to Siberia when the Soviets invaded western Ukraine while he and his mother were sent to Kazakhstan. The family managed to reunite and made for Poland, travelling through Austria to an Italian refugee camp, where they spent five years before making their way to the United States in 1950.
Lebewohl worked first at a Coney Island deli, making his way around different deli kitchens. Eventually, with a few thousand dollars he managed to set aside, the family bought a property in 1954 and gradually transformed it into the Second Avenue Deli.
Abe Lebewohl was shot and killed on March 4, 1996, while delivering his daily receipts to a nearby bank.
At his funeral, which was held at the Community Synagogue on East 6th Street, more than 1,500 mourners showed up.
At the suggestion of Council Member Antonio Pagan and the 10th and Stuyvesant Streets Block Association, Abe Lebewohl Park was named as a memorial to him.
What’s at Abe Lebewohl Park
The space in front of the St. Mark’s-in-the-Bowery Church dates back to 1799. It was first developed as a sitting area in 1938.
You can find small scale music concerts on Thursdays during the summer at the Abe Lebewohl Park.
One of the features of the park is a flag pole. The Ukrainian American flagpole is dedicated to Ukrainian-Americans who died during the World War II. It was installed on July 4, 1944.
A flower bed is located around the flag pole with seating all around.
Across the street is the Abe Lebewohl Triangle, a small garden at the corner of Stuyvesant Street and East 10th Street.
Another park that you may be interested in is the ABC Playground along East Houston Street and the A. Philip Randolph Square in Harlem.
