Samuel Seabury Playground

Samuel Seabury Playground is a playground on Lexington Avenue between East 95th and 96th Streets on the Upper East Side. The playground is named for Samuel Seabury, the jurist and reformer who led the investigation that exposed the corruption of Mayor Jimmy Walker's administration in the early 1930s.

Seabury's investigation, known as the Seabury Commission, uncovered systematic graft, bribery, and corruption throughout the city government and the magistrate courts. His findings forced Walker's resignation in 1932 and paved the way for the election of Fiorello La Guardia, the reform mayor who would transform city government and build much of New York's modern parks infrastructure.

The playground serves the Carnegie Hill and East Harlem border area, a transitional zone between the affluent Upper East Side and the historically working-class neighborhood of East Harlem. The playground provides common ground for families from both communities.

Facilities include play equipment, safety surfacing, and seating. The playground's location along Lexington Avenue, a busy commercial corridor, means it is easily accessible to families from the surrounding blocks of residential buildings.

Samuel Seabury Playground honors a man whose pursuit of government accountability helped clean up one of the most corrupt administrations in New York history. The reform era he helped initiate led directly to the creation of many of the parks, pools, and playgrounds that still serve New Yorkers today.