Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Riverside Park via NYC Parks Dept
The Mayor’s Office of the City of New York has released its preliminary 2024 budget, which includes $62.3 million in funding for the restoration of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument and Plaza in Riverside Park.
This huge milestone comes after years of advocacy from Riverside Park Conservancy, elected officials and the public. Among the project’s most active champions has been Council Member Gale Brewer, who launched a petition to save the monument last year that garnered thousands of signatures.
Riverside Park Conservancy Annual Spring Benefit 2022. Image courtesy Riverside Park Conservancy
At its annual spring benefit on June 7, Riverside Park Conservancy honored Lori Bassman and Mary Frances Shaughnessy, two members of the board who helped to create and grow the organization into what it is today. The Conservancy’s benefit, titled “Together Again,” was their first in-person annual fundraiser since 2019, and it was a great success.
In honor of the 20th Anniversary of September 11, 2001, Riverside Park Conservancy has secured the necessary funds for NYC Parks to repair The Firemen’s Memorial at 100th Street in Riverside Park this Fall.
With support from an individual donor, funding from the Conservancy will provide the equipment and supplies needed for NYC Parks’ monuments crew to clean, repoint, and repair the monument. The memorial is the site, each October, of the Fire Department’s annual memorial event honoring firefighters who have died in the line of duty.
Rather than carting off horticultural waste to landfills, the Conservancy will now keep it in the Park, turning it into nourishing, healthy compost that will be returned to the environment.
Riverside Park Conservancy installs housing for native bees! Image courtesy Riverside Park Conservancy
Riverside Park Conservancy announced this week that it installed special “houses” for native bees in Riverside Park.
In partnership with The Bee Conservancy, Riverside Park Conservancy placed bee houses in Riverside Park South and in the pollinator meadow at 119th Street, in order to provide safe shelter for native bee populations like Mason bees, Carpenter bees, Leaf-cutter bees, and Bumble bees. Bee houses can support bees through the hibernation season, and can help to increase the populations in coming years.
Adrian Sas Source to Spout can be seen throughout Riverside Park from 66th to 148th Streets. Image courtesy
Artist Adrian Sas augments our understanding of reality with an installation entitled ‘Source to Spout‘ in Riverside Park. by wrapping a series of panoramic photographs around drinking fountains throughout the park, Sas reveals the system of protected lands, reservoirs, and aqueducts which feeds these fountains. This new and very refreshing installation will be on view from 64th street to 148th street throughout Riverside Park beginning June 18, 2021.
Re: Growth, artist Dewitt Godfrey, curator Karin Bravin ~ Riverside Park Conservancy
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.
After a one-year hiatus, Riverside Park Conservancy announced that their best interns have come back to the Park this summer. 24 Goats arrived on July 14, 2021 at 11am on Riverside Drive at 120th Street for the ceremonial “Running of the Goats“, with 5 goats planning to stay through the summer in Riverside Park. Get to know the summer resident 5 goats, and be prepared to Vote for the Goat you love the most!
The results of the ranked-choice vote will be announced at a public ceremony on September 14, 2021 at 11am. (originally September 9th, but postponed due to rain). The winning goat will be presented with a medal and bouquet of weeds, with the ceremony overseen by Congressman Jerry Nadler, Assembly Member Danny O’Donnell; Borough President Gale Brewer; Council Member Mark Levine; Conservancy President & CEO Dan Garodnick; George Shea, co-Founder, Major League Eating; and You, their adoring public. The Event will be located at 120th Street and Riverside Park.
The public can review all of the five candidates’ platforms — and cast a vote using the new ranked-choice voting system on Riverside Park Conservancy’s website. Election highlights can be seen on Instagram,Twitter, and Facebook. As of today, nearly 1,000 votes have been case. Every vote will count!
Artist, Wendy Letven ‘Four Currents’ for RE: GROWTH. Image courtesy Riverside Park Conservancy
Riverside Park Conservancy will be celebrating its 35th Anniversary, and slow emergence from the COVID-19 pandemic, by hosting a summer-long art exhibition throughout the Park entitled, RE: GROWTH, a Celebration of Art, Riverside Park, and the New York Spirit.
“To offer hope and joy through the use of festive shapes and colors is my gift for a city that has lost too much during the pandemic.” –Blanka Amezkua
Out of an abundance of caution, and due to planned shoreline and path reconstruction work, NYC Parks temporarily closed the Cherry Walk path in Riverside Park from W. 100th to W. 125th streets. The closure began onMonday, September 28, 2020 and reopened to pedestrians and cyclists in January, 2021!
