NYC Parks Media Advisory

Parks Cuts Ribbon On Mill Pond Park Along Harlem River

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 06:00:00 GMT

As part of the Yankee Stadium Redevelopment Project, the City invested $64 million in funds to transform this decayed industrial waterfront into a lush new ten-acre park featuring picnic & grass areas, overlooks with waterfront views, sixteen Deco Turf tennis courts, and an esplanade to unite the site (Deco Turf is the surface used on tennis courts at the world's most prestigious events including the Olympic Games and the U.S. Open). The park also rehabilitated a sea wall, four piers, and the river's edge. Other amenities include an outdoor classroom, two runnels which are open pipe features to guide the flow of water, children's spray showers, and a sand play area. Landscaped plantings line the ADA-accessible pathways throughout the park.

Preview The Parks Department's Haunted Cruise Ship

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Get spooked at Parks' Haunted Cruise Ship! Find out what Staten Island Recreation is cooking up in the kitchen or find out who's haunting Brooklyn Recreation's "wreck" room. Have a ghoulish dance in Queens Recreation's ballroom, navigate through Manhattan Recreation's creepy cabin and prepare for a scare in the Bronx's prison!

The Haunted Cruise Ship, designed by Parks employees from each borough, will be open to the public on Friday, October 24, from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. and at the 2009 Pumpkin Festival on Saturday, October 23, from noon to 5:00 p.m. Entry is FREE!

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Parks Presents Pumpkin Festival 2009

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Get in the spirit of Halloween at the 2009 Pumpkin Festival. This year's festival will feature a Spooktacular Haunted House, a pumpkin patch with carving and decorating stations, and a Haunted Cruise Ship with one room designed by Parks & Recreation staff from each borough.

Come to the Bethesda Fountain to see the Scarecrow Contest, where up to 200 spooky scarecrows will be on display. New York Knicks player Larry Hughes and Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe will award first, second, and third place prizes to winners in each of four age groups. Winning scarecrows will be put on display at the Arsenal Gallery in Central Park.

Event partners include the NY Post, Radio Disney, KISS FM, and Hot 97. The festival is sponsored by Camp Sunshine, Walt Disney Studio's A Christmas Carol, and Cabot Cheese.

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Brooklyn MillionTreesNYC Volunteers Plant More Than 3,000 Trees

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 06:00:00 GMT

As part of MillionTreesNYC Fall Planting Day, more than 1,000 volunteers will participate and plant 20,000 trees at 15 sites across the five boroughs. Volunteers will be at parks throughout Brooklyn and planting trees at Gateway National Park's Floyd Bennet Field.

The MillionTreesNYC Fall Planting Day is sponsored by Home Depot, Toyota, Con Edison, and supported by Jamba Juice. In-kind donations provided by Rob Cano Events and Green Apple Cleaners.

MillionTreesNYC Fall Planting Day coincides with the semiannual It's My Park Day supported by Partnerships for Parks. As part of MillionTreesNYC Fall Planting Day and It's My Park Day, a total of 5,000 volunteers will participate throughout the city to plant trees and beautify our parks in other ways - including mulching, painting and cleaning.

Bronx MillionTreesNYC Volunteers Plant 3,000 Trees In One Day

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 06:00:00 GMT

As part of MillionTreesNYC Fall Planting Day, more than 1,000 volunteers will participate and plant 20,000 trees at 15 sites across the five boroughs. Volunteers will be at parks throughout the Bronx at Van Cortlandt Park, the New York Botanic Garden and Bronx River Park.

The MillionTreesNYC Fall Planting Day is sponsored by Home Depot, Toyota, Con Edison, and supported by Jamba Juice. In-kind donations provided by Rob Cano Events and Green Apple Cleaners.

Staten Island MillionTreesNYC Volunteers Plant 6,000 Trees In One Day

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 06:00:00 GMT

As part of MillionTreesNYC Fall Planting Day, more than 1,000 volunteers will participate and plant 20,000 trees at 15 sites across the five boroughs. Volunteers will be at parks throughout Staten Island at Ocean Breeze Park, Clove Lakes Park and Father Macris Park.

The MillionTreesNYC Fall Planting Day is sponsored by Home Depot, Toyota, Con Edison, and supported by Jamba Juice. In-kind donations provided by Rob Cano Events and Green Apple Cleaners.

Queens MillionTreesNYC Volunteers PLANT MORE THAN 1,000 TREES IN ONE DAY

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 06:00:00 GMT

As part of MillionTreesNYC Fall Planting Day, more than 1,000 volunteers will participate and plant 20,000 trees at 15 sites across the five boroughs. In Queens, more than 200 volunteers will plant 3,200 trees in Alley Pond Park, Bayswater Park and Norton Basin Natural Resource Area.

The MillionTreesNYC Fall Planting Day is sponsored by Home Depot, Toyota, Con Edison, and supported by Jamba Juice. In-kind donations provided by Rob Cano Events and Green Apple Cleaners.

Parks Unveils Concrete Plant Park Along The Bronx River

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 06:00:00 GMT

The new park features a waterfront promenade, kayak/canoe launch, green lawns, native tidal wetland plantings, landscaping, and established park entrances at Westchester Avenue and the Bruckner Boulevard. Silos from the former concrete plant are incorporated into the park's design.
When complete, the Bronx River Greenway will span 23 miles and extend the full length of the Bronx River, from Westchester County to the Bronx.
The site of Concrete Plant Park served as a concrete mixing plant which operated from the late 1940s through 1987. After the community, led by Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice, advocated in 1999 to secure the site as parkland and develop it as part of the Bronx River Greenway, the City acquired the site in 2000. Parks then collaborated with community groups to design the park. The developed park now offers enhanced amenities to support the on-going environmental education programs offered to the community by the Bronx River Alliance and several of its partner groups.
Funding for the 11.4 million project was provided by Mayor Bloomberg ($6.3 million), a federal grant secured by Congressman Jos/em> E. Serrano ($3.9 million), mitigation funds from the construction of the Croton Water Filtration Plant through the New York City Department of Environmental Protection and the Municipal Water Finance Authority ($592,000), Bronx Borough President ($540,000), and a grant from the Recreational Trails Program of the NY State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation ($100,000).