In the early 1950s, a portion of the vacant land above the east end of the station was relinquished by the New York City Board of Transportation (BOT) in order to construct the New York Public Library's Mosholu Branch. The site, which had been purchased by the BOT in the 1930s for the construction of the station, had first been earmarked for a library in 1945. The library was opened on August 6, 1954. That year, the remainder of the land, now controlled by the New York City Transit Authority, was transferred to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation in order to construct Whalen Playground.