John Jacob Astor once had a villa, was used as a picnic ground when the northern section was acquired by the City of New York in 1891. The easternmost block of 86th Street was acquired subsequently, and the street de-mapped. A new landscape design by Calvert Vaux and Samuel Parsons was completed in 1902, several years after Vaux's death. The Park was reconstructed in 1935 by Robert Moses, due to the creation of the FDR Drive, with revised landscaping by Maud Sargent. The Park's restoration from a neglected state in the early 1970s was due to the energies of a neighborhood group, the not-for-profit Carl Schurz Park Conservancy (incorporated 1974), formed originally to clean up the Park's single playground. Carl Schurz Park served as the location for the climactic fight scene in Spike Lee's 2002 film 25th Hour, starring Edward Norton and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Notes References The WPA Guide to New York City, (1939, 1982; p. 250f) Frank Bergen Kelley and Edward Hagaman Hall Historical Guide to the City of New York (City History Club of New York) 190, p. 135 http://www.carlschurzparknyc.org/the-history-of-the-conservancy External links Carl Schurz Park Conservancy Official Website Carl Schurz Park: Brief History Carl Schurz Park: Photos Parks in Manhattan Robert Moses projects Yorkville, Manhattan East River