Brooklyn · Kings County
Von King Cultural Park
NYC Parks
- Location
- Within Herbert Von King Park, Marcy Avenue at Greene Avenue, Bed-Stuy
- Size
- Part of Herbert Von King Park (7 acres) acres
- Hours
- 6 AM - 1 AM daily
- Type
- NYC Parks
Von King Cultural Park is the community arts and cultural programming area within Herbert Von King Park in Bedford-Stuyvesant, one of the most culturally significant African American neighborhoods in the United States.
Herbert Von King Park hosts the annual Bed-Stuy Alive! festival, the Restoration Dance Festival, and numerous community events that celebrate the neighborhood's African American and Caribbean heritage through music, dance, art, and food.
The park is named for Herbert Von King, a community activist who fought for improved parks and recreation in Bed-Stuy during a period when the neighborhood suffered from severe disinvestment and neglect by city government.
Bedford-Stuyvesant's cultural contributions to American music, film, and literature are extraordinary, with artists from Jay-Z to Spike Lee to Notorious B.I.G. drawing on the neighborhood's energy, history, and streetscape for their work.
Von King Cultural Park serves as the cultural living room of Bed-Stuy, a community gathering space where the neighborhood's artistic traditions are celebrated and its future is shaped through creative expression.