NYC Parks Acting Commissioner Liam Kavanagh and Randall’s Island Park Alliance (RIPA) President Deborah Maher today announced funding for multi-use pathway repairs and living shoreline restoration at Randall’s Island Park. The $4.3 million project, funded by a $3.72 million grant from NYS Department of State and $660,000 from RIPA, will address erosion, stabilize the shoreline, and improve the park’s coastal resiliency along a half-mile stretch of the park’s Water’s Edge Pathway.
Being a lifeguard is a rewarding and challenging job that requires split-second decision making and develops valuable skills that can last a lifetime. NYC Parks is looking for New Yorkers who have the physical and the mental discipline to become part of our team for Summer 2022. Qualifying tests begin January 31, through February 19; sign up online today to take a qualifying test!
Continue reading “Lifeguards Wanted for NYC Parks! Qualifying Tests Begin this Month”
As New Yorkers start the New Year, NYC Parks’ GreenThumb is taking a look back at another successful community gardening season with a review of 2021. Over the past year, GreenThumb added three new gardens to its portfolio and completed significant upgrades and renovations at 24 community gardens across four boroughs, which included 10 projects installing ADA pathways, increasing accessibility by 1,000 linear feet; and eight renovations in partnership with NYCHA. The three new gardens include Sweetgum Garden in the Highbridge section of the Bronx; and two soon to be named gardens in Bushwick, Brooklyn, and Ridgewood, Queens.
Continue reading “NYC Parks’ Greenthumb Continues Support for Community Gardens”
As temperatures continue to drop, NYC Parks urges parkgoers to exercise caution while near lakes, ponds, and rivers in New York City’s parks this winter. New Yorkers are reminded to follow ice safety guidelines and to stay off water bodies that appear frozen – they are likely not, and venturing onto them is extremely dangerous.
Continue reading “NYC Parks Department Warns ~ Don’t Venture Out Onto the Ice in Parks”
The holidays are fast approaching, and so too is NYC Parks’ annual Mulchfest tree chipping celebration! Beginning December 26, 2021, New Yorkers can “tree”-cycle their holiday trees at local parks, with convenient drop-off sites in all five boroughs.
This year, Parks will be hosting one Chipping Weekend, where New Yorkers can actively mulch their holiday trees – January 8 & 9. At any one of Parks’ 35 Chipping Weekend locations, residents can watch their tree get chipped, and those who would like nutrient-rich mulch can take some home with them!
Continue reading “Get Ready for NYC Parks’ Annual Mulchfest 2021/2022”
NYC Parks Commissioner Gabrielle Fialkoff announced, in response to increasingly frequent storms like Hurricane Ida, a commitment to expand Parks’ green roofs by 50,000 sqft–bringing the agency’s total to 250,000 sqft–and the creation of a brand new Youth Sustainability Corps (YSC) giving NYC school students hands-on training in green job skills. This marks a major step forward in greening and stormwater management atop City owned buildings and reaffirms Parks’ commitment to a greener future for New York City.
Continue reading “NYC Parks Green Roof Development + New Youth Sustainability Corps”
NYC Parks’ annual Wreath Interpretations exhibition is back on display at the Arsenal Gallery, welcoming the holiday season with a variety of inventive and surprising wreaths! After going virtual last year, the 39th exhibition has returned in person and includes wreaths by nearly 40 artists, designers, and creative individuals of all ages who have used unconventional materials to reinvent the traditional holiday symbol. The NYC Park’s Annual Wreath Interpretations exhibition will be on view through January 6, 2022.
Continue reading “NYC Parks’ Annual Wreath Interpretations Exhibition Returns to Arsenal Gallery”
Is your 2022 New Year’s resolution to get active or exercise more? NYC Parks has you covered with free one-year memberships at recreation centers across the city! New Yorkers who sign up by December 31, 2021 will have free access to indoor sports courts, sports and educational programs, Shape Up NYC classes, media labs, fitness equipment, and much more. The membership term will last for one year from the registration date and grant access to facilities citywide.
NYC Parks Commissioner Gabrielle Fialkoff joined Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, Congresswoman Grace Meng, Senator John Liu, Assembly Member Edward Braunstein, Council Member Peter Koo, District Attorney Melinda Katz, and Co-Chair of The Olde Towne of Flushing Burial Ground Conservancy Robbie Garrison, to cut the ribbon on a new commemorative plaza at the Olde Towne of Flushing Burial Ground. The $1.76 million plaza honors the site’s past as a burial ground for 500 to 1,000 people, mostly African Americans and Native Americans, with a memorial wall. The project design was guided by input from local community members, historians, and the Olde Towne of Flushing Burial Ground Conservancy.
NYC Parks is proud to support the reopening of some of the city’s most iconic holiday markets this season. Now through January, you can find holiday markets welcoming New Yorkers and visitors back to shop for clothes, trinkets, arts and crafts, and so much more in some of New York City’s famous parks. Last year, due to COVID-19, some of the City’s most notable markets did not open or opened with reduced capacity and restrictions, but this year NYC’s holiday staple is back in full swing.
Continue reading “Holiday Markets are Opening in NYC Parks for 2021”
This year marks the 245th anniversary of the Battle of Fort Washington, a key event during the Revolutionary War. NYC Parks and The Fort Tryon Park Trust will commemorate this event with an historic reenactment, arts & crafts, colonial music & games ~ along with an artist talk by Zaq Landsberg, creator of ‘Tomb Effigy of Margaret Corbin‘ on November 14, 2021 from Noon to 3:00pm
NYC Parks today reopens the Arsenal Gallery in Central Park with “Paul Hunter: Confinement Gardens.” Created during the COVID-19 pandemic, Paul Hunter’s series was inspired by his walks through New York City’s public parks and gardens during lockdown. As he sought refuge from these restrictions in the city’s greenspaces, he experienced the restorative power of flowers in bloom, which gave him hope despite the surrounding pandemic and political turmoil.
Marcus Garvey Park has a plethora of art over this past few months, with the installation of Susan Stair: Ascending the Mountain and Thomas J. Price: Witness, added to the park’s weekly music and dance. Now, we look forward to the unveiling of Alice Mizrachi: Renaissance Women, an abstract, figurative sculpture that honors women of the Harlem Renaissance ~ paving the way for many of the artists today, including Mizrachi.
Continue reading “Renaissance Women by artist Alice Mizrachi unveiled in Marcus Garvey Park, Harlem”
Parks will kick off autumnal celebrations with the #FallforNYC photo campaign, fall foliage hikes, and more!
Fall in love with New York City’s parks all over again! With the season’s crisp, cool weather and vibrant hues making an entrance, Parks today announced the return of its #FallForNYC initiative, with its fourth annual fall photo campaign, Leaf ID guide, suggestions for the most scenic spots to leaf peep, and fun events across the five boroughs to get New Yorkers in the autumn spirit.
As part of City Hall In Your Borough, NYC Parks Acting Commissioner Margaret Nelson joined Council Member I. Daneek Miller, Community Board 12 District Manager Yvonne Reddick, Reverend Phil Craig of Greater Springfield Community Church, and community members to announce a $21 million allocation from Mayor de Blasio to develop Gwen Ifill Park into a community greenspace in Jamaica, Queens. Located in Ifill’s childhood neighborhood, the park is one of 28 park spaces recently named in honor of the Black experience in New York City.
Continue reading “Gwen Ifill Park in Jamaica to Receive $21 Million for Development”
NYC Parks and Chess in the Schools once again hosted the City’s most anticipated annual public chess tournament, The 20th Annual Chess in the Park Rapid Open, free and open to everyone who loves the game. Cancelled last year due to Covid-19, Chess in the Park Rapid Open is back!
The Metropolitan Opera announced today that it will present a free, live simulcast of the Opening Night performance of Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones-the first opera by a Black composer ever performed by the Met-on Monday, September 27 at 6:30pm ET in Harlem’s Marcus Garvey Park. The performance will also be seen on multiple screens in Times Square, a tradition that returns for its 15th season. Approximately 1,700 seats will be available in Marcus Garvey Park, and 2,000 seats will be available in Times Square, all on a first-come, first-served basis. These audiences will be joining the 3,600 audience members who will be attending inside the opera house.
NYC Parks Acting Commissioner Margaret Nelson today joined Camilla Mellander, Consul General of Sweden in New York, Heidi Olufsen, Consul General of Norway in New York, and 2020 Nobel Prize recipient Dr. Harvey J. Alter to unveil eight new inscriptions to the Nobel Monument at Theodore Roosevelt Park.
Continue reading “American 2020 Nobel Laureates Honored on NYC Parks Monument”
With the help of specially trained City Cleanup Corps (CCC) staff, NYC Parks’ monuments crew is fully conserving the famed statue of Dante Alighieri by Ettore Ximenes, using blow torches and boom lifts to treat the bronze sculpture in advance of the 700th anniversary of the Italian poet’s death in September.
Here’s a piece of old New York for you ~ The Collyer brothers – Homer, born in 1881 and his brother Langley, born in 1885. They were the children of an eccentric gynecologist and a former opera singer. The family moved to a four-story brownstone, located at 2078 Fifth Avenue in 1909, where it is said that Dr. Collyer would occasionally paddle his canoe to work at the City Hospital on Blackwell’s Island. The canoe, his preferred method of transportation, he would carry to and from his home in Harlem at 128th Street.
Continue reading “The Incredible History Behind The Collyer Brothers Park in Harlem”
NYC Parks today announced that a Request for Proposals (“RFP”) has been issued for the renovation, operation and maintenance of a cafe in Hunter’s Point South Park, a popular waterfront destination in Long Island City, Queens.
“Hunter’s Point South is a treasured waterfront gem that offers some of the best views of New York City,” said Queens Parks Commissioner Michael Dockett. “This is an amazing opportunity for qualified and experienced professionals to establish a fresh take on the in-park dining experience, and create a destination that will attract parkgoers and visitors for years to come.”
In response to the National Weather Service’s announcement that New York City is at an enhanced risk of severe weather—high winds, thunder and lightning—this evening, NYC Parks recommends New Yorkers exercise caution as the expected 25 – 30 mph winds can impact street and park trees.
Continue reading “NYC Parks offers Proactive Tips for Reporting Fallen or Damaged Trees”
NYC Parks today announced it has selected Wollman Park Partners, LLC for the operation and maintenance of Central Park’s Wollman Rink. Wollman Park Partners, LLC (WPP) has committed to reinvesting all net proceeds back into the Rink, upgrading the facility’s aging infrastructure, and offering inclusive and accessible programming. The group is a joint venture between Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, Related Companies, and Equinox, with official community partners including Great Performances + Melba’s Restaurant, YMCA, Ice Hockey in Harlem, Figure Skating in Harlem, The Boys’ Club of New York, and Green City Force.
Continue reading “Yes, We’ll Be Skating in Wollman Rink this Winter beginning November 14th”
NYC Parks is celebrating the retro redesign of Waterside Pier along the East River Esplanade. The “New Wave Pier” activation, which was partially inspired by the success of Parks’ Cool Pools NYC initiative, has transformed the grey, underutilized concrete walkway into a fun waterfront space with new features and a bright technicolor treatment.
NYC Parks’ outdoor pools will open beginning Saturday, June 26 through Sunday, September 12. Daily hours of operation are 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., seven days a week. Pool capacity will not be limited for the upcoming season. Social distancing is still recommended, and face coverings will be required to enter the facility.
Continue reading “NYC Parks’ Outdoor Pools will Open June 26th ~ Ready-Set-Jump!”
Just in time for World Pollinator Week, June 21 – 27, NYC Parks today announced the completion of 8 brand new ‘Pollinator Place’ gardens, featuring native flora and fauna! With the newly planted gardens, Parks is looking to strengthen the city’s population of native pollinators including caterpillars of butterflies and moths — an essential part of the city’s ecosystem!
Continue reading “NYC Parks Unveils 8 New ‘Pollinator Place’ Gardens”
NYC Parks has unveiled “Tomb Effigy of Margaret Corbin” by artist Zaq Landsberg, the 2020 recipient of the Clare Weiss Emerging Artist Award. The artwork will be displayed on the upper plaza of David Rockefeller Linden Terrace at Fort Tryon Park through June 12, 2022.
Continue reading “Zaq Landsberg: Tomb Effigy of Margaret Corbin on view at Fort Tryon Park”
Riverside Park Conservancy announced a free, world-class musical lineup to help celebrate the organization’s 35th Anniversary on Thursday, June 10th from 6-9pm.
From thought to reality, Ann Buttenwieser was inspired by the floating baths of late nineteenth century New York. Establishing The Neptune Foundation, she moved forward with her mission to design and construct a prototype for a new generation of movable waterfront pools for recreationally underserved communities. The Foundation purchased a barge, which was retrofitted to include a half Olympic-size pool ~ and the rest is now history (and in a new book!)
Continue reading “The Incredible Floating Pool Lady Located in The Bronx”
The 22nd annual Amazing Bronx River Flotilla is a celebration of the Bronx River as a revitalized resource for recreation, education, and enjoyment. On Saturday, May 15th, over 50 paddlers journeyed 5 miles down the river in canoes and kayaks, traveling past new and restored parks including the Bronx River Forest, River Park, and Concrete Plant Park, ending at Starlight Park.
Continue reading “NYC Parks + The Bronx River Alliance Celebrate the Annual Bronx River Flotilla”
Save the Dates! The New York Philharmonic’s NYPhilBandwagon2 will be popping up in Marcus Garvey Park, East Harlem from May 14-16. Three days of concerts in the park along Madison Avenue from 123rd to 124th Streets. This event is part of a series of four weekend-long festivals across New York City in May.
Continue reading “#NYPhil Bandwagon 2 Coming to Marcus Garvey Park East Harlem, May 14-16”
This week, the new and improved Almer G. Russell Pavilion in Conference House Park on Staten Island was officially unveiled. The original Conference House Pavilion was built in 1935 to honor Almer G. Russell, a community resident killed in battle during World War I. The pavilion was last remodeled in 2002 and eventually deteriorated due to damage from several storms. Following infrastructural devastation caused by Hurricane Irene in 2011, it was closed to the public. Located at the southernmost point of New York State, Conference House Park houses four historic buildings that trace the history of the borough over the course of three centuries.
Today, just in time for Arbor Day, NYC Parks rolled out its brand new Hug A Tree campaign inviting New Yorkers to go out and (yes, really) hug their trees! Beginning today and running through the end of the summer, Parks is hanging 1,000 “It’s Okay to Hug Me” signs on trees in parks across the city, encouraging New Yorkers to go out and hug their trees and learn about these vital resources – on Arbor Day and beyond!
Continue reading “NYC Parks Launches Hug a Tree Campaign on Arbor Day”
Prospect Park Alliance would like you to put the Spring in your step, with park events from roller skating and carousel rides to boating, bike riding ~ and volunteering.
NYC Parks Queens Borough Commissioner Michael Dockett today joined Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, New York City Council Member Barry Grodenchik, Community Board 8 District Manager Marie Adam-Ovide and community members to cut the ribbon on new upgrades to Redwood Playground in Cunningham Park. The project is one of more than 800 completed under Commissioner Silver’s leadership, advancing the City’s mission to build a more equitable 21st century park system.
NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver, FAICP today joined Staten Island Deputy Borough President Ed Burke, New York State Assembly Member Charles Fall, City Council Member Debi Rose and community members to cut the ribbon on new amenities and upgrades to Faber Park through the Parks Without Borders (PWB) Initiative, funded by Mayor Bill de Blasio. The project is one of more than 800 completed under Commissioner Silver’s leadership, advancing the City’s mission to build a more equitable 21st century park system.
NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver, FAICP, yesterday joined elected officials and community members to officially cut the ribbon on improvements to playgrounds at Morningside Park and Thomas Jefferson Park in Harlem. The projects are two of more than 800 completed under Commissioner Silver’s leadership, advancing the City’s mission to build a more equitable 21st century park system.
Continue reading “NYC Parks Celebrates $5.6 Million Investment in Two Harlem Parks”
NYC Parks Queens Borough Commissioner Michael Dockett today joined Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, City Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer, and Queens Community Board 2 District Manager Debra Markell Kleinert to unveil the brand new sports and children’s play areas at General Hart Playground in Woodside.
“With these new upgrades, General Hart Playground is now better equipped to meet Woodside’s recreational needs,” said Commissioner Dockett. “I’m thrilled to unveil these new amenities that will serve the children, families, and residents of the surrounding communities for years to come. We’re grateful to the Borough President’s Office and Council Member Van Bramer for their continued support and dedication to providing New Yorkers with equitable, open greenspaces.”
Since the Artist in Residence program’s inception in 2017, artists have yielded an array of unique installations that reflect the cultural, ecological and built landscape. These include Mary Mattingly’s Swale, a floating food forest built atop a barge to advocate for healthy food and gardening, and Katie Holten’s New York City Tree Alphabet, which assigned drawings of local tree species to letters of the alphabet to generate public engagement with nature and conservation. This year, the residency has expanded to support artists across the United States and internationally, with plans to continue expanding in the coming years.
NYC Parks, in partnership with the Bronx River Alliance, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), will livestream the release of 250 alewife fish into the Bronx River. The annual event will take place on Tuesday, April 6th at 11:45am on NYC Parks Facebook.
Continue reading “NYC Parks to Livestream ‘Running of the Fish’ on April 6th”
NYC Parks will kick-off the Anti-Litter campaign by hosting its first “Love Your Park” pop-up event ~ a new facet of the Anti-Litter campaign in 2021.
NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver, FAICP, will join staff to clean the park and educate the public on the importance of doing their part to keep our parks clean by joining one of the many volunteer activities hosted as part of the campaign.
Continue reading “Anti-Litter Campaign Kicks-Off in Morningside Park, Harlem on April 2, 2021”
As the cold weather fades, the days get longer, and the sunshine grows stronger, NYC Parks is welcoming spring’s warm embrace with a blooming guide to show you where and when to find flowers around the city, a spring Spotify playlist, Ranger-led park tours, and much more! In addition to the thousands of plants blooming across the city that Parks maintains, the department also cultivates trees, perennials, shrubs, and live plants in its nurseries, with close to 270,000 in various stages of growth preparing to be planted!
NYC Parks today launched the City’s first-ever orienteering course, an outdoor recreational experience that builds wilderness survival skills. New Yorkers are invited to download Parks’ orienteering maps to develop their navigational skills while discovering Alley Pond Park’s forested areas, wetlands, scenic spots and wildlife.
Turn off your GPS and follow along……
Continue reading “NYC Parks Launches First-Ever Orienteering Course at Alley Pond Park in Queens”
NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver, FAICP, today announced that he is stepping down as commissioner on July 31, 2021.. Silver has served as Parks Commissioner since May 2014 – the fourth longest serving NYC Parks Commissioner. An internationally recognized, award-winning, visionary planner, Silver has brought the New York City park system into the 21st Century through design and capital process reform delivering more than 800 capital projects representing a $1.85 billion de Blasio Administration park investment, equitably benefitting New Yorkers of all means, ages and abilities.
Continue reading “Mitchell J. Silver Announces Departure From NYC Parks Department in Summer, 2021”
NYC Parks reinterred the fragmentary remains of early New Yorkers found during construction in and around Washington Square Par this past March, 2021.. Green-Wood Cemetery volunteered their services for excavation, which was overseen by the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission’s Director of Archaeology. The human remains were placed in a wooden box and buried five feet below grade within a planting bed in the park. An engraved paver marks the site, near the Sullivan Street and Washington Square Park South entrance.
Continue reading “Remains of Early New Yorkers Reinterred from Washington Square Park”
In celebration of Black History Month, NYC Parks will host a virtual panel focused on the ongoing effort to name park spaces in honor of the Black experience. NYC Parks Presents Honoring Black History: The Parks Naming Project will take place on Wednesday, February 24th from 6:00-7:00pm.
NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver, FAICP, last week joined New York City Council Member Peter Koo, Central Park Conservancy President Elizabeth W. Smith, New York Road Runners Chairman George Hirsch and Vice President of Events Ted Metellus, USATF Road Running Technical Council Chairperson David Katz, friends of the Corbitt Family, and running groups and runners from across the city to celebrate the naming of the Central Park loop in honor of the first African American Olympian Ted Corbitt, who was a pioneer in long distance running and ran in the first New York City Marathon wearing the “No. 1” bib. To commemorate the naming, Parks will install six scenic landmark street signs donning ‘Ted Corbitt Loop’ along the 6-mile route, and a Parks branded routed sign at the base of Harlem Hill at 110th St. and Adam Clayton Powell Blvd. in Harlem.
NYC Parks today issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the operation and maintenance of Wollman Rink in Central Park and a separate RFP for the operation and maintenance of the Friedsam Memorial Carousel, also in Central Park.
Continue reading “NYC Parks Announces RFP’s for Central Park Carousel and Wollman Rink”
As the COVID-19 vaccine is distributed throughout New York City and the winter storm begins to fade, NYC Parks is remembering and honoring the 96th anniversary of the lifesaving Nome relay, which was completed on February 2, 1925. Following the iditarod trail, famed sled dogs Balto and Togo saved the children of Nome from a diphtheria outbreak by delivering the antitoxin to the remote Alaskan outpost, completing the last leg of a dog sled relay through blizzard conditions.
Union Square Partnership kicked-off 2021 with a transformative plan for the Union Square-14th Street area, concentrating on five key improvements with a focus on accessibility, district-wide connectivity, and substantial increases in public open space.
Save the date, Tuesday, January 26th for the virtual launch event. Let’s take a look at a few of the renderings.
Continue reading “Union Square Partnership unveils 14th Street District Vision Plan 2021”
