Excelsior District Improvement Association
Cayuga Park and Playground
Cayuga Park is located at Cayuga and Naglee in the Cayuga Terrace neighborhood. It borders Alemany Boulevard to the east, and the 280 freeway to the west. It is slightly north of the Spanish Cultural Center and several blocks south of Geneva.
It has a small ball field, playground, and a basket ball and tennis court. BART is a somewhat overpowering presence when trains pass and the 280 freeway does not add to its rusticity. On a summer afternoon you may well discover the profound meteorological influence the" Alemany Gap" can exert. But also within this neighborhood park are some wonderful, diverse plantings of plant materials from around the world that work here, many eccentric, wonderful uses of those plantings to create numerous special environments and most of all the unique sculpture garden created by gardener, gardening artist, sculptor, and philosopher, Demetrio Bracerous. The sculpture is whimsical, organic, thoughtful, fun and generous and transforms what might otherwise be a somewhat inhospitable locale into one where adults want to linger and children play. We marvel and applaud the rec and park folk who have allowed this park to quietly blossom and thank particularly Demetrio, for his creation as well as on site Park Director Jeri Randall for helping foster the environment where all this so comfortably fits. If you have not been to Cayuga Park, you well may be missing the Watts Tower of the outer Mission. We offer the photographs above by Sonja as an inducement to go visit and a hint of what you are missing if you cannot.