Nyc Parks

October 11, 2018

City will spend $250M+ connecting and greening 32 miles of Manhattan waterfront

The NYCEDC, the NYC Parks department and NYC DOT announced today the results of a study on how to close the 32-mile loop of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway along with plans to invest over $250 million to get the project started in Inwood, Harlem, East Harlem and Midtown. The Manhattan Waterfront Greenway announcement outlines a strategy for connecting open waterfront spaces that total over 1,000 acres that will add about 15 acres of quality open space and integrate the Greenway into surrounding neighborhoods.
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October 1, 2018

LIC group wants to rename Hunter’s Point South Park to make it more recognizable citywide

A Long Island City parks group wants to change the name of Hunter's Point South Park, a waterfront green space in the Queens neighborhood, the LIC Post reported on Thursday. The Hunters Point Parks Conservancy, a nonprofit organization that manages the 11-acre park, says despite being a "gem of Queens," the park does not have "the city-wide recognition it deserves."
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August 10, 2018

INTERVIEW: Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver is making NYC parks accessible for everyone

Mitchell J. Silver, the commissioner of the New York City Parks Department, tells us he’s 58 years old. But with his vibrant enthusiasm and energy for parks, fitness, and life in general, it’s hard to believe. Only as he details a list of his achievements and accolades over the years does his age show. Silver, who oversees the management and operations of nearly 30,000 acres of city parks, calls himself the “commissioner of fun,” a title he strives to live up to every day. This summer, Silver launched “Cool Pools,” an initiative to renovate public pools, celebrated making Central Park car-free, and increased accessibility to parks for all New Yorkers. If you want to feel good, follow his Instagram and see him sliding, swinging, running, jumping, swimming, kayaking and more. Silver is training for his first marathon this November (with his best friend from college) after completing four half marathons. 6sqft jogged beside the commissioner and got his running commentary on the biggest challenges facing NYC parks, what he attributes his success to, what we can expect for the future and where he buys his running gear.
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July 12, 2018

Grow a green thumb this weekend with free activities at over 70 of NYC’s community gardens

Long Island City community garden, photo via Quench Your Eyes on Flickr With nearly 600 community gardens across New York City, picking just one to join can be difficult. GreenThumb, the largest community garden program in the country, wants to help connect New Yorkers with local gardens by hosting the first-ever Open Garden Day NYC. This Saturday, the organization will celebrate their 40th anniversary by opening more than 70 community gardens to the public, with lots of free, environmentally-friendly activities.
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June 28, 2018

See the colorful makeovers of five NYC public pools

To coincide with the opening of all 53 public pools yesterday, the city's ever cool and joyful parks commissioner Mitchell Silver launched the Cool Pools NYC pilot program. The initiative gave a colorful makeover to five outdoor pools, one for each borough, in underserved neighborhoods. Prior to Cool Pools NYC, none of these sites had a major renovation since they were built in the 1970s. In addition to the cheery paint jobs, these pools have been outfitted with polar-themed art, lounge chairs, and landscaping and will offer drop-in fitness classes for adults and obstacle courses and scavenger hunts for kids. 
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June 26, 2018

NYC needs to invest nearly $6B over the next decade to fix aging park infrastructure, report says

Photo via Geoff Stearns on Flickr A report released Tuesday by the Center for an Urban Future found that while city parks are seeing record use by the public, officials have underinvested in their basic maintenance and infrastructure for decades. The average city park underwent its last major renovation in 1997, despite being on average 73 years old. The think-tank estimates an investment of $5.8 billion over the next decade is needed to address the repair and replacement of existing infrastructure, a number which does not include the cost of constructing new structures. "The subway system isn’t the only vital piece of infrastructure in New York that is aging and in need of investment,” Jonathan Bowles, executive director of CUF, said in a statement. "Parks in every borough are experiencing infrastructure problems brought by age and magnified by record usage and decades of under-investment in parks maintenance."
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March 30, 2018

Celebrate Prospect Park’s opening weekend with an 1860s-style ballgame, a scavenger hunt and more

Image by Elizabeth Keegin Colley for the Prospect Park Alliance Spring has officially sprung. And what better way to welcome the season than celebrating with a weekend full of activities at Prospect Park? To kick off the park's opening weekend on April 7th and 8th, the Prospect Park Alliance will bring events like free yoga, a baseball parade and 1860s exhibition baseball game, a fair, history tour and much more. Although most events are free, a few require advance reservation and some cost a couple of bucks. Ahead, check out the full schedule of events.
More details here
February 28, 2018

Local artists will bring 10 public art installations to NYC parks this summer

New York City's parks department will bring art installations to 10 designated parks across the five boroughs this June. As part of "Art in the Parks: UNIQLO Park Expressions Grant Exhibit," public art will be displayed in parks that currently lack cultural programming. Japanese clothing company UNIQLO, as the initiative's sponsor, will give grants worth $10,000 to 10 emerging artists for the installations. The city's Art in the Parks program began in 1967 and is responsible for bringing over 2,000 public pieces of art to the city's parks.
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September 10, 2014

For One Day Only, Tour 300 Acres of Freshkills Park

Freshkills Park is the largest landfill reclamation project of its kind in the world, and aside from a weekly public (but escorted) program, it remains a closed site during its massive transformation. Now, the park is ready to give New York inhabitants a better look at what's underway, letting visitors roam free across more than 300 acres of the 2,200 acre park on September 28th from 11AM-4PM. The event, which celebrates the New Springville Greenway, will be like no other, offering up a flurry of fun outdoor activities and music and, above all, a chance to experience the impressive infrastructural project as it moves forward.
More on the sneak 'peak' event here