Join thousands of New Yorkers in caring for and celebrating New York City parks on It’s My Park! Day. Participate in clean up and planting projects, enjoy free events or just get outside to enjoy your park. Supplies are provided for all projects.
Here are a few highlighted projects and events out of the over 150 projects and events happening on the day. This It’s My Park! Day, Partnerships for Parks is pleased to highlight the achievements and ongoing contributions of the new *Immigrants & Parks Collaborative. Since November 2007, ten non-profit organizations working in eight parks citywide have been working to connect immigrant communities with neighborhood parks, identifying ways to keep neighborhood parks healthy and to bring larger communities into conversation with one another through park-based events. A joint initiative of Partnerships for Parks and The New York Immigration Coalition, the project is supported by the JM Kaplan Fund.
Act locally and globally! Bring your old cell phones, pagers, and accessories to select sites indicated below for recycling.
Bronx
Williamsbridge Oval, 10am to 3pm
Cell phone recycling site!
Volunteers needed for cleaning, weeding, planting, erosion control and painting benches, fences and inside recreation center. Projects coordinated by Mosholu Preservation Corporation. Projects followed by face painting, arts and crafts, board games, karate and Double Dutch exhibitions and a Play Mobile provided by Bronx Recreation. From 1pm to 3pm, City Parks Foundation will provide free tennis lessons for children ages 5 to 16. Free Yankee tickets! The first 12 people to recycle a cell phone will receive a pair of tickets for the June 3rd Yankee game against Toronto.
Location: Holt Place and Reservoir Oval East.
By subway: D Train to Norwood 205th Street. Walk three blocks north on Perry Avenue to Holt Place. Entrance to the park is one block west.
St. Mary's Park, 11am to 3pm
Volunteers needed to clean rock outcroppings and spread woodchips by the Recreation Center and to paint wrought iron fences on Jackson Avenue. Projects coordinated by St. Mary’s Recreation Center. Projects followed by face painting, arts and crafts, board games and other fun activities provided by Bronx Recreation. From 1pm to 3pm, City Parks Foundation will provide free golf lessons – chipping and putting – for children ages 5 to 16.
Location: St. Ann's Avenue and 145th Street.
By subway: 2 or 5 train to 149th Street and 3rd Avenue. Walk two blocks east on 149th Street to St. Ann's Avenue, then walk 4 blocks south to 145th Street.
Brooklyn
Fort Greene Park, 10am to 1pm
Cell phone recycling site!
Volunteers needed for planting flowers at park entrances. Projects coordinated by the Fort Greene Park Conservancy. At 1pm, the Urban Park Rangers are leading a walking tour entitled "The Redcoats are Coming…and Hessians Too!" Take a step back in time as we retrace the history of the Continental Army & the Battle of Brooklyn.
Location: Visitor Center in center of park.
By subway: B, D, M, N, R trains to Dekalb Avenue. Walk five short blocks east on Dekalb Avenue. Enter park at Fort Greene Place and walk up hill to visitor center.
Kaiser Park, 12pm to 5pm
Volunteers needed for a clean up project. Also join us for a fun day for the entire family! Events and activities include a talent show, tennis and basketball clinics, giant inflatable rides for children, refreshments and much more. Events coordinated by Friends of Kaiser Park.
Location: Meet at West 31st Street and Neptune Avenue.
By subway: B, F, N or Q to Coney Island, Stillwell Avenue. Take the B74 to Mermaid Avenue and West 31st Street. Walk one block north to park.
Prospect Park, 10am to 2pm
Spend a day making the Park you love look even better. Join a great group of people who will be caring for the forest, sprucing up around the playgrounds, painting the wrought iron fence, and cleaning the paths.
Location: Meet at Ocean Avenue and Lincoln Road.
By subway: B or Q to Prospect Park. Walk south along park perimeter on Ocean Avenue to Lincoln Road.
For More Information: Call (718) 965-8960 or visit volunteers@prospectpark.org
Manhattan
Sara D. Roosevelt Park, 10am to 2pm
Cell phone recycling site!
*This is an Immigrants & Parks Collaborative site. Volunteers needed for cleaning, painting seating areas and play equipment, planting flowers, perennials, flowering dogwoods and cherry trees and spreading wood chips. Community members needed to participate in activities to share ideas for community designed paver blocks, a proposed art installation for the Hester St. Playground. The day will also feature educational workshops and tabling about housing opportunities for local residents. Coordinated by the Sara D. Roosevelt Park Coalition member organizations, including – the Hester St. Collaborative, MS 131, the Chinese-American Planning Council, the Chinatown YMCA and the Asian Americans for Equality. Additional participating organizations are The New York Immigrant Coalition and Accor Hospitality. For more information on The New York Immigrant Coalition, visit www.thenyic.org.
Location: Meet in front of the District 3 Parkhouse at Hester Street, between Forsyth and Christie Streets.
By subway: B or D train to Grand Street. Walk one block south along Forsyth Street to Hester Street. Turn right into Sara D. Roosevelt Park. The Parkhouse is on your left.
DeWitt Clinton Park, 9am to 3pm
Volunteers needed for cleaning and planting in garden areas. Projects coordinated by Manhattan Botanical Garden and DeWitt Clinton Park Conservancy. At 12pm, "Cinderella Samba" will be performed by Puppeteers from City Parks Foundation's Swedish Cottage Marionette Theater. The performance is followed by a free puppet making workshop at 1pm.
Location: Meet at park house in center of park. Enter park at 52nd Street and 11th Avenue.
By subway: C or E train to 50th Street, walk west to 11th Avenue and 52nd Street.
Marcus Garvey Park, 10am to 1pm
Join us at 9:30am for a Warm-Up Walk with Recreation fitness instructors.
At 10am - Volunteers needed for painting, spreading mulch and planting annuals. Volunteers also needed for cleaning and spreading wood chips in the dog run. Projects coordinated by the Marcus Garvey Park Alliance, the Marcus Garvey Park Dog Run Committee and the Harlem Children’s Zone. Projects followed by arts & crafts provided by Manhattan Recreation. Also join us for new member registration for the Marcus Garvey Park Dog Run Committee and a Pet Adoption Awareness event. WBLS 107.5 – Today's R&B and Classic Soul – will have a van on site to play music and distribute giveaway items.
Location: Meet at the band shell, behind Pelham Fritz Recreation Center located at Mount Morris Park West and 122nd Street.
By subway: 2 or 3 train to 125th Street. Walk three blocks south and one block east.
Highbridge Park
FIVE PROJECTS! THREE LOCATIONS!
Highbridge Recreation Center, 10am to 2pm
Join us at 9:30am for a Warm-Up Walk with Recreation fitness instructors.
At 10am, volunteer projects will begin.
Project 1 – Volunteers needed for general clean-up of meadow near the Tower Terrace, including removal of invasive plants. Project coordinated by the Friends of HighbridgePark.
Project 2 – Volunteers needed for cleaning and maintaining two ball fields near recreation center. Coordinated by Centro Deportive Francisco Alfonso, Inc.
Project 3 – Volunteers needed for removing litter and broken glass, raking leaves and spreading mulch around trees. Project coordinated by the Friends of Sherman Creek and CLIMB. From 10am to 12pm, the Urban Park Rangers are leading a tour entitled "Water You Talking About" Climb the Highbridge Water Tower and explore this landmark of NYC's first-class water system.
Location: Enter park at the entrance to the Recreation Center at Amsterdam Avenue and 173rd Street.
By subway: A train to 175th Street. Walk east 5 blocks to Amsterdam Avenue and two blocks south.
Highbridge Park, Quisqueya Playground, 10am to 2pm
Volunteers needed for general clean up, painting benches and wrought iron fence. Project coordinated by Alianza Dominicana.
Location: Amsterdam Avenue and 180th Street.
By subway: 1 train to 181st Street. Walk one block south to 180th Street and two blocks east to Amsterdam Avenue.
Highbridge Park Dog Run, 11am to 3pm
Volunteers needed for general clean up, painting benches and flowerpots, planting flowers and reinforcing park fences. Project coordinated by the Highbridge Canine Club.
Location: Amsterdam Avenue and 193rd Street.
By bus: M101 to Fort George Avenue and 193rd Street.
By subway: 1 train to 191st Street. Walk one block south to 190th Street, then two blocks east to Fort George Avenue, then approximately three blocks north.
Queens
Travers Park, 11am to 2pm (followed It's My Park! Day celebration at Queens Museum of Art)
*This is an Immigrants & Parks Collaborative site. Join us for Family Day! Arts and crafts, a soccer clinic, mural painting, bilingual storyteller, community group tabling , compost demonstration by Queens Botanical Garden and a marching band. Coordinated by the Friends of Travers Park, Queens Community House, Jackson Heights Beautification Group, New York Immigrant Coalition, JH Green, the Queens Botanical Garden, Girl Scouts of America, PS 69, IS 230, IS 145, Council on the Environment of New York City, Farm Spot, Music Together, Jackson Heights Learning Center, Super Soccer Stars, New Immigrant Community Empowerment, St. Joan of Arc Youth Council, Community Journal and Easy Espanol. Starting at 2pm, shuttle buses will transport participants to Queens Museum of Art, located in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, for a free celebratory gathering including cultural entertainment, educational walking tours and more.
Location: 34th Avenue, between 77th and 78th Streets.
By subway: 7 train to 74th Street – Broadway or E, F, G, R or V to Jackson Heights – Roosevelt Avenue. Walk three blocks north and three blocks east to park.
Rufus King Park, 10am to 2pm
Cell phone recycling site!
*This is an Immigrants & Parks Collaborative site. Volunteers needed for planting near Rufus King Manor and cleaning and raking throughout the park. Also join us for a Fun Family Day. Projects and events coordinated by Greater Jamaica Development Corp., Centro Hispano Cuzcatlan, the Jamaica Neighborhood Center, and the King Manor Museum.
Location: Jamaica Avenue and 153 Street.
By subway: E, J, or Z train to Jamaica Center. Walk north one block to Jamaica Avenue and one block west to park.
Staten Island
Wolfe's Pond Park, 11am to 3pm
Cell phone recycling site!
Join us for a pet fair coordinated by Wolfe's Pond Pooches. Activities include – dog adoption agencies, product presentations by local pet stores and posing for photos with the FDNY and their Dalmatian mascot. The Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals, Inc is providing pet microchipping and a steel drum band. Games and arts and crafts provide by Staten Island Recreation.
Location: Cornelia Avenue and Hylan Boulevard.
By bus: SI 59 or 78 to Hylan Boulevard and Cornelia Avenue. Follow park sign, which will direct you to walk south to park.
