NYC Green Relief & Recovery Fund Announces $150,000 In Grants For 112 Grassroots Groups

Today, City Parks Foundation announced the selection of 112 grant recipients through the NYC Green Relief & Recovery Fund’s grassroots grants program. These 112 NYC-based community groups will each receive a grant of up to $3,000 to support environmental stewardship and health & wellness programs in parks, gardens, and open spaces. Grantees are distributed across New York City’s five boroughs with a focus on Environmental Justice Areas identified through the Mayor’s Office of Climate and Sustainability, where communities are disproportionately vulnerable to environmental injustices because of systemic racism and inequitable resource distribution.

The 112 recipients were selected through an open call and application process. Funded projects range from launching new gardens led by Mujeres en Movimiento in Corona, Queens and Ujamaa Garden in the Bronx to maintaining the dog runs at Saint Nicholas Dog Run in Harlem and Maria Hernandez Dog Run in Bushwick, Brooklyn with new tools, equipment, and gravel.

Additionally, grants are supporting open streets and street tree stewardship by community groups including West 103rd Street Open Street Community Coalition in Manhattan as well as NYCHA property beautification projects including expanding the garden areas maintained by Castle Hill Houses Tenant Associations in the Bronx.

The NYC Green Fund is administered by City Parks Foundation with the grassroots grants portion managed by Partnerships for Parks (PfP)—a joint program of City Parks Foundation and NYC Parks.

Grassroots grant recipients include

The Bronx

• Wakefield 4 Change – Wakefield Street Tree Revitalization Project
• Eastchester Road Community Garden – Eastchester Road Community Garden
• Havemeyer Garden Association – Havemeyer Garden
• Stewards of Ewen Park – Ewen Park
• Castle Hill Houses Tenants Association – Roxanne Reid Memorial Garden
• Bruckner Mott Haven Garden – Bruckner Mott Haven Garden
• Friends of Tremont Park – Walter Gladwin Park
• Bronx Sole – St. James Park
• Concrete Friends – Concrete Plant Park
• Friends of Garden Kitchen Lab – Hunts Point Recreation Center
• Bringing The Peace Incorporated – RFT Community Peace Garden / 169th Street tree beds
• Future Star Productions – Crotona Park, Playground #9
• Woodycrest Community Garden – Woodycrest Community Garden
• Friends of 4 Parks Alliance, Inc. – Andrew Freedman Home, Joyce Kilmer Park, Franz Sigel Park, Macombs Dam, John Mullaly Park
• Mill Brook Garden – Mill Brook Houses
• Kelly Street Block Association – Street Trees on Kelly Street
• Stewards of Henry Hudson Park – Henry Hudson Park
• Encouragement and Enrichment Motivational Services – Alexander Alley
• Ujamaa Garden – Ujamaa Garden
• Friends of Astin Jacobo / Mapes Baseball Field – Mapes Baseball Field
• BronxRockets – Mullaly’s Park
• Padre Plaza Success Community Garden – Padre Plaza community garden
• Woodlawn Collective – Muskrat Cove – Bronx Park – along the Bronx River

Queens

• Discovery Community Garden 1 – Discovery Community Garden 1
• Flushing Community Cleanup – James A. Bland Playground
• Ridgewood Community Garden – Ridgewood Community Garden
• Friends of Noonan Playground – Thomas P. Noonan Jr. Playground
• Friends of Alley Pond Park – Alley Pond Park
• Moore Jackson Community Garden – Moore Jackson Community Garden
• Edgemere Coalition Community Garden – Edgemere Coalition Community Garden
• Voluntad – Street Trees of Beach 43rd street and Beach Channel Drive
• Kissena Synergy Velodrome Friends Group – Kissena Park Velodrome
• Abuela Neighborhood Maintenance – Hollis Playground
• Mujeres en Movimiento – Salud en Movimiento
• Seagirt Ave. & Friends Block Association – Beach 30th Street Playground
• Tree of Life Organic Garden – Tree of Life Organic Garden
• The Community Serenity Garden – The Community Serenity Garden
• Friends of Francis Lewis Park – Francis Lewis Park
• SEQ Cleanup – Roy Wilkins Park & Recreation Center
• Two Coves Community Garden – Two Coves Community Garden
• Friends of MacDonald Park – Friends of MacDonald Park
• Ayan Consulting Inc. DBA Kew Kids Forest School – Forest Park
• Forest Hills Tree Stewards – Yellowstone Park, Ehrenreich Park, Willow Lake park, Annadale Park
• The Compost Collective – Queens 4 Block 3150 Lot 78
• Greater TriAngular Civic Association – Baisley Blvd. Foch Blvd Montauk Street
• Friends Of Benninger Playground – Benninger Playground
• Sunnyside Community Garden – Sunnyside Community Garden

Brooklyn

• Friends of Asser Levy Park – Asser Levy Park
• 1100 Block Bergen Street Community Garden – 1100 Block Bergen Street Community Garden
• Gates Garden – Gates Garden
• 57 Old Timers Inc – Jesse Owens Playground
• Cooper Street Block Association Garden – Cooper Street Block Association Garden
• Friends of Cooper Park – Cooper Park
• The New York State Marine Education Association – Kaiser Park
• Evergreen Lots (EL) Community Garden – Evergreen Lots (EL) Garden
• Triple R. Garden – Triple R Garden
• Imani Community Garden (Imani II) – Imani Community Garden
• Union Street Garden – Union Street Garden
• The Essence Of Jayce, Inc. – Weeksville Playground
• Friends of Saratoga Park – Saratoga Park
• Prospect Heights Community Farm. – Prospect Heights Community Farm
• Maria Hernandez Park Dog Run Pack – Maria Hernandez Park
• Canarsie Neighborhood Community Garden – Canarsie Park
• Owl’s Head Park Volunteers – Owl’s Head Park
• The Good Life Garden – The Good Life Garden
• HQ Tennis Foundation – Jackie Robinson Park Playground
• Woodbine Street Block Association & Garden – Woodbine Street Block Association Garden
• Slow Food NYC – Ujima Garden
• Sunset Park Tree Care – Sunset Park Street Trees
• O’dwyer Gardens Resident Association – O’Dwyer Gardens
• Phoenix Community Garden – Phoenix Community Garden
• Bullettrun – Wingate Park
• Pacific Street Brooklyn Bears Community Garden – Pacific Street Bears Community Garden
• Concerned Residents of Barbey Street Garden – Barbey Street & Glenmore Ave
• Ingersoll Garden of Eden – Ingersoll Garden of Eden
• Stewards for Shore Pkwy – Shore Parkway
• My Friends Place NY, Inc. – Seth Low Playground
• Friends of John Hancock Children Playground – John Hancock Children Playground
• Staten Island
• Conference House Park Conservancy Inc – Conference House Park
• Staten Island Therapeutic Gardens – Mahoney Park
• Port Richmond Strong Civic Association – Veterans Park
• New York Community League – Freshkills Park

Manhattan

• Friends of Corlears Hook Park – Corlears Hook Park
• Saint Nicholas Dog Run – St. Nicholas Park
• Morris-Jumel Community Garden – Morris-Jumel Community Garden
• PROJECT HARMONY, INC – The Joseph Daniel Wilson Memorial Garden
• William B. Washington Memorial Garden – William B. Washington Memorial Garden
• Friends of J Hood Wright Park – Haven Avenue, Fort Washington Park, J Hood Wright Park
• W. 132nd St. Community Garden – West 132nd Street Community Garden
• Art in the Park – Alice Kornegay Triangle Park
• Green and Blue Eco Care – East Harlem street trees and Thomas Jefferson Park
• Malcolm X Boulevard Beautification Group – Fred Samuel Playground, Malcolm X Boulevard Medians
• Neighbors United of West 132nd Street Block Association – Street trees stewardship in Harlem
• Friends of St. Nicholas Park – St. Nicholas Park
• Friends of Montgomery Triangle Park – Montgomery Triangle Park
• NYRP: The Herb Garden – NYRP The Herb Garden
• Washington Heights & Inwood (WHIN) Food Council – Riley Levin Children’s Garden in Swindler’s Cove
• Marcus Garvey Dog Run – Marcus Garvey Park Dog Run
• Friends of Pier 35 – Pier 35
• FLEX-N-POETTREE – El Barrio Community Garden
• Friends of Gulick Park – Luther Gulick Park and Playground
• Mobilization for Change Garden – Mobilization for Change Community Garden
• NYCHA-Dewitt Clinton Houses – Basketball Court NYCHA Dewitt Clinton Houses
• Friends of Colonel Young Park/Malcolm X Community Improvement Association – Colonel Charles Young Playground
• Friends of Art Park Alliance Inc. – Harlem Art Park
• St. Nicholas Miracle Garden – St. Nicholas Miracle Garden
• Jacob H. Schiff Playground Neighborhood Association – Jacob H. Schiff Playground
• West 103rd Street Open Street Community Coalition – West 103rd Street Open Street
• Green Oasis Community Garden – Green Oasis/Gilberts Community Garden
• Harlem River Community Rowing – Harlem River
• Carver Community Garden – Carver Community Garden
• New York City Mountain Bike Association – Highbridge Bike Park

The grants program also includes the launch of a new collaboration with ioby (in our backyards) for NYC Green Fund grantees to crowdfund for additional support. The NYC Green Fund Crowdfunding Challenge will launch in early October.

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis and will stay open as long as funds remain available. The NYC Green Fund will match funds raised up to $2,500 per grantee. For more information on the funding opportunity, please sign up for updates on City Parks Foundation’s website at cityparksfoundation.org/nyc-green-fund.

In May 2020, a coalition of national, family, and community foundations launched the NYC Green Relief & Recovery Fund to support stewardship organizations that care for New York City’s parks and open spaces. The Fund is intended to respond to the most urgent needs facing the City’s parks and open spaces, while spurring policy-makers to address ongoing systemic challenges and provide adequate funding to maintain and improve them.

The Fund was launched in response to the efforts of the Parks and Open Space Partners – NYC coalition to raise awareness of the financial impacts of the pandemic on open spaces. The Fund is intended to grow, and we encourage those interested in supporting the NYC Green Relief & Recovery Fund to donate now or contact NYCGreenFund@cityparksfoundation.org for more information.

Generous private support for the NYC Green Relief & Recovery Fund is provided by:

• The Albert Giving Fund
• Altman Foundation
• Booth Ferris Foundation
• Con Edison
• Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
• The J.M. Kaplan Fund
• The JPB Foundation
• Klein Family Foundation
• Leon Levy Foundation
• The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust
• Libra Fund
• Lily Auchincloss Foundation
• The New York Community Trust
• Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF)
• The Thompson Family Foundation & many philanthropic individuals

For more information on the NYC Green Relief & Recovery Fund, visit cityparksfoundation.org/nyc-green-fund.

City Parks Foundation

At City Parks Foundation, we are dedicated to invigorating and transforming parks into dynamic, vibrant centers of urban life through sports, arts, community building and education programs for all New Yorkers.

Our programs — located in more than 400 parks, recreation centers and public schools across New York City –reach 300,000 people each year. Our ethos is simple: thriving parks mean thriving communities.

Partnerships for Parks is a unique public-private partnership between City Parks Foundation and NYC Parks that supports and champions neighborhood volunteers by giving them the tools they need to advocate and care for their neighborhood parks and green spaces.

More information about Partnership for Parks is available at www.partnershipsforparks.org.