Lincoln Terrace / Arthur S. Somers Park

Who is are these courts named for?
Carlos Lezama (1923-2007) was known as the King of Brooklyn Carnival and was instrumental in preserving Caribbean culture and history through the collection of archives and art.

Lezama was born in Venezuela and raised in Trinidad, where he learned to play the melodious tenor steel-pan -- first fashioned by hammering dents into the lids of oil drums left by ships that had refueled in Trinidad. He married his childhood sweetheart, Hilary Yolanda Charles in 1950 and had two children. They departed for the United States during the 1950’s, before their children joined them.

In 1967 Carlos became employed with the New York City Transit Authority as a machinist until he retired in 1988.   During this time, He also began to work with a small committee responsible for the West Indian Carnival Parade in Harlem led by Rufus Gorin (1909-1983).  Lezama was elected President of the West Indian American Day Carnival Association (WIADCA) in 1967 when the Carnival was a small gathering of a few hundred persons.  In 1969 Carnival came to Eastern Parkway and grew to more than 2 million spectators from around the world. The start of the parade is along this park.

During Lezama’s 34-year tenure as President of WIADCA his work had a positive social, cultural, educational and economic impact in the borough of Brooklyn and the Caribbean community.    His legacy lives on in his family, the work of the West Indian American Day Carnival Association (WIADCA) & the Carlos Lezama Archives & Caribbean Cultural Center (CLACC-C) established in his name and housed in his former home in nearby 1028 St. John’s Place.