By Carla Zanoni
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — Families and friends of Fort Tryon Park sang, danced and ate their way through a birthday bash in honor of the neighborhood's most celebrated park on Sunday afternoon.
The anniversary marked the day John D. Rockefeller Jr. gifted the city his former estate in northern Manhattan back in 1935.
The "giant homecoming party" featured performances by the Astrograss Band, Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre, which usually performs in Central Park, and the Mother Cabrini Marching Band, as well as face painting and fishing for kids.
The Fort Tryon Park Trust displayed photos of the Billings Estate, which sat on the more than 60 acres of land that now make up the park, as well as images of the grounds as it was restored and developed through the years. Partygoers also took part in historical tours of the park.
Along with numerous families and their four-legged friends, celebrants included Assemblyman Denny Farrell; Borough Commissioner William Castro; Molly Michaels, wife of the late City Councilman Stan Michaels; and former Parks Commissioner Henry Stern, who each took turns praising the more than 60-acre landmark park.
"This park is so majestic," Jennifer Hoppa, the Trust's executive director and Washington Heights resident said. "It’s phenomenal that we all get to enjoy it and celebrate it and amazing that people will get to for future generations."
