NYC Department of Parks & Recreation

Today, we mourn the loss of Dr. Ruth, a longtime New Yorker and friend of parks, who fought for Fort Tryon Park and the parks of northern Manhattan with the same fire and humor that she displayed in life.

New York City's parks are vital, and clean, green, and safe parks are a necessity. During this past holiday weekend alone, our staff collected over 22,000 bags of trash. Today, NYC Office of the Mayor announced an investment in Brownsville Rec Center and a second shift for park maintenance and operations. Our agency is committed to improving our living infrastructure and ensuring that every New Yorker has access to a Vital Parks System. https://lnkd.in/eHiN5CRd

It's the Summer of Possibility! You can prove your New York bona fides this summer by earning all ten of our new NYC Summer Merit Badges on Instagram! Visit https://lnkd.in/eHUcey7y to learn more about how you can use our filter to show off your achievements and to explore NYC.

These days, NYC playgrounds are more than basketball and handball courts. At Harold Ickes Playground, we've transformed an underused asphalt lot into a state-of-the-art new skate park! This $4.3 million investment includes space for all kinds of outdoor adventurers: skateboard and BMX features, a climbing boulder, a parkour space, game tables, and the first ever bike repair station and air pumps installed in a Brooklyn park. We were thrilled to skate through the ribbon at this morning's official opening. Come check it out! 🛹 📸 NYC Parks / Daniel Avila

“We know that knowledge is power." Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue takes us through our new initiative, Vital Parks for All. This program takes a fresh look at parks, starting with our $3.2 billion investment in new facilities and for restoring aging infrastructure, including $1 billion for our infrastructure related to swimming, and tree plantings aimed at heat vulnerable neighborhoods. We've also developed new tools that will be used both by our team and everyday New Yorkers to help us understand where improvements need to be made to strengthen the health, environment and communities of NYC. You can visit nyc.gov/vitalparks to see it for yourself.

Leave it to Glossier, Inc to give a great makeover ✨ We're thrilled to unveil the newly refurbished basketball courts at Tompkins Square Park, upgraded through our Adopt-a-Park program in collaboration with Glossier, Project Backboard, and artist Na Chainkua Reindorf. 📸 NYC Parks / Daniel Avila

Last week, NYC Office of the Mayor announced Let's Swim NYC, an investment of more than $1 billion in our city's pools. This marks the biggest investment in swimming infrastructure since the 1970s, with 39 pools, including two brand new indoor pools, and upgrades like at Astoria Pool, which is set to re-open this week!

Today, we were pleased to announce Vital Parks for All, our new framework to equitably invest in our living infrastructure, protect and expand our facilities, and equip New Yorkers with information to celebrate and support their parks. We launched the Vital Parks initiative with a forum which saw Commissioner Sue Donoghue joined by Dr. Lourdes Rodriguez, Chief Executive Officer, David Rockefeller Fund, for a "park bench chat," followed by a panel discussion with Thelma Golden, Director and Chief Curator of the Studio Museum in Harlem; Gregg Bishop, Executive Director of the Social Justice Fund; Erika Svendsen Ph. D., Research Social Scientist, USDA Forest Service; and Eric Sanderson Ph. D., Vice President for Urban Conservation Strategy, New York Botanical Garden, moderated by Michael Kimmelman, architecture critic for The New York Times. These experts came together to speak about the importance of our parks system and the myriad ways it strengthens our city's health, environment, and communities. We also launched our new Vital Parks Explorer, a digital map that lets you compare your community’s access to parks with other neighborhoods in the city, empowering New Yorkers with knowledge to ensure that everyone has access to a vital parks system. Learn more and explore the map at http://nyc.gov/vitalparks

Our summer monuments conservation apprentices are reaching new heights! At 125 feet up, they commenced work on the cleaning and coating renewal of the massive statuary group atop Brooklyn's Grand Army Plaza Arch, under the direction of Conservator John Saunders. The apprentices first remove any failing coating and active corrosion, then will reapply multiple coats of protective lacquer to make sure the statuary elements are in tip top shape as we prepare the Arch for visitors following its full restoration.

Sometimes our monuments need a bubble bath! Our summer monuments conservation apprentices have gotten to work cleaning and waxing our works of public art under the guidance of Monuments Conservator John Saunders. Seen here working on the Harriet Tubman Memorial by sculptor Alison Saar and the Seligman Fountain in Morningside Park by sculptor Edgar Walter, the team's efforts help ensure that our monuments are maintained and ready for visitors all year long, and for years to come.