Author: Cornershop

Alliance Launches Poetry Partnership with Writing the Land

February 23, 2022

Prospect Park Alliance is partnering with Writing the Land, which connects poets with land set aside for people and nature to foster collaboration between the environmental and creative communities. Prospect Park Alliance has partnered with Writing the Land to commission four poets to produce work about Prospect Park and share their work with the Brooklyn community: Black poet Rachelle Parker, and Native American poets Michaeline Picaro, Opalanietet and Ty Defoe.

This partnership is a stage for diverse voices to engage in a dialogue about the park and its history, an important part of Prospect Park Alliance’s community engagement work. The collaboration, while embracing the park as a whole, connects to the Alliance’s Re-Imagine Lefferts initiative, currently underway, which seeks to re-envision the mission and programming of the park’s historic house museum to recognize its role as a site of slavery and to elevate the voices of the enslaved Africans who lived and worked the land, and the Indigenous people that were forced to leave their ancestral lands at the time of Dutch colonization.

“Our partnership with Writing the Land fits incredibly well into the work of the Alliance,” says Maria Carrasco, the Alliance’s Vice President of Public Programs. “Poetry is empowering and the perfect vehicle for engaging our community in contemplating the viewpoints of traditionally unheard voices. The spoken word can provide members of our community with new ways of thinking, and hopefully will encourage them to actively participate in social change and civic engagement here in the park and beyond.”

“Writing the Land is excited to expand our work with traditional land trusts to more diverse organizations that protect land,” says director of Writing the Land, Lis McLoughlin, PhD. ”Prospect Park is an amazing resource for its community and beyond, and we were delighted to find they were very open to using poetry as a way to highlight the great work they do. Our poets are looking forward to building bridges between the park and those who love and use it.”

The poets will spend the next several months visiting the park and creating poems inspired by the land, which will culminate in a reading in the park in October. Prospect Park poets will be featured performers, and they will give a sneak peek of some poems they are preparing for the Writing the Land Anthology to be published in December.

From left to right: Michaeline Picaro, Opalanietet, Rachelle Parker, Ty Defoe

Michaeline Picaro is a member of the Ramapough Lunaape Nation Turtle Clan. As a traditionalist with knowledge of medicinal plants, Picaro is currently seeking to further her expertise and is enrolled at Chamberlain College to receive her nursing BSN to further assist the Turtle Clan with nursing needs and assessments. Picaro is also a co-founder of the Munsee Three Sisters Medicinal Farm which creates jobs and works toward food sovereignty. She is a co-founder of Ramapough Culture and Land Foundation, which preserves and restores the economic, social, cultural, sacred and environmental assets of the Ramapough Munsee ancestral lands.Picaro carries the Clan Mother title and is a Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for the Narragansett Indian Tribe and preservationist for ceremonial landscapes.

Opalanietet is a member of the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape tribal nation of New Jersey.  Since graduating from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Opalanietet has performed in workshops and productions at renowned New York theatrical institutions including New Dramatists, LaMaMa E.T.C. and New York City Opera at Lincoln Center. In 2012, Opalanietet founded Eagle Project, a theater company dedicated to exploring the American identity through the performing arts and Native American heritage. Opalanietet is currently studying for his doctorate in Theatre & Performance Studies at the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center.

Rachelle Parker is a Nassawadox-born, Brooklyn-bred writer. She was selected the winner of the Furious Flower Poetry Prize, was awarded third prize in the Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award and was a finalist in Rhino Founders’ Prize. She was recognized in the Arts By The People – 2021 Moving Words. Her work appears in About Place Journal, The Adirondack Review, Taint Taint Taint Magazine and she is a contributor to the anthology The BreakBeat Poets: Black Girl Magic. Her photography also debuted in Orion Magazine.

Ty Defoe is an Indigiqueer citizen of the Oneida Nation and Anishinaabe Nations. Defoe is a writer, interdisciplinary artist, and Grammy Award winner. Defoe aspires to an “interweaving and glitterizing approach to artistic projects with liberation and environmentalism.” Defoe’s global cultural arts highlights include the Millennium celebration in Cairo, Egypt; International Music Festival in Ankara, Turkey; and Festival of World Cultures in Dubai. The artist’s accolades range from the Global Indigenous Heritage Festival Award, Jonathan Larson Award, Helen Merrill Playwriting Award 2021, and Cultural Capital Fellowship with First People’s Fund 2021.

A Message from Sue Donoghue

February 4, 2022

A message from Prospect Park Alliance President Sue Donoghue:

I am writing to you today with exciting news: Mayor Eric Adams has announced my appointment as the next New York City Parks Commissioner. 

Serving as the President of Prospect Park Alliance and Park Administrator has been one of the great honors of my career. I’ve been so lucky to work alongside so many dedicated people, from Alliance and NYC Parks staff, to our incredibly hardworking volunteers and community advocates, and a devoted Board of Directors that has provided the Alliance exceptional guidance and leadership.

I’m honored to be taking on a citywide leadership role in caring for New York City’s most essential resource, its parks and open spaces, and I will continue to cherish and support Prospect Park as a neighbor and park advocate. It has been a great privilege to steward this breathtakingly beautiful space, and serve as only the third president of this thriving, 35-years-young organization.

During this time we’ve advanced the park in numerous ways: rebounding from the challenges of the pandemic through our Re:New Prospect Park initiative; restoring the Flatbush Avenue perimeter and creating the first new entrances of the park since the 1940s; revitalizing and expanding the park’s woodlands and natural areas; bringing back to the public the exquisitely restored Endale Arch and Concert Grove Pavilion; and securing funds for our next great phase of restoration, the 26-acre Vale in the park’s northeast corner. This work has only been possible due to the support of dedicated individuals such as you.

The last two years have tested our resolve in many ways, but they have also brought into clear focus the importance of our parks and open spaces. Prospect Park has served as both a respite and a gathering space, a great green oasis for the community during these challenging times.

I look forward to continuing to work alongside you, cheering for and supporting these glorious 585 acres. Thanks to our amazing staff and experienced leadership, the Alliance is in good hands today and in the years to come, in large part due to the dedication and support of all of you, our community of park lovers.

All the best,
Sue Donoghue

c. Brittany Buongiorno

WNYC Features Alliance Animal Pro Marty Woess

January 21, 2022

In Prospect Park, Marty Woess is a familiar fixture, whether she’s working with volunteers, zooming around in her cart, or performing impressive animal rescues. Woess is the Forestry, Wildlife and Aquatic Technician for the Prospect Park Alliance, and her work was featured on WNYC’s Morning Edition in an interview with host Michael Hill, and in a related story on Gothamist by Alec Hamilton.

Listen to Woess’s interview on WNYC:

Woess’s work is part of the Alliance’s mission to sustain the environment in Prospect Park, and she works alongside the dedicated Landscape Management team. These workers monitor the health of the park’s aquatic and woodland areas, look after more than 30,000 trees, and strategically care for the park’s natural habitats.

Prospect Park is 585 acres of rolling meadows, waterways and woodlands in the heart of New York’s most populous borough—and receives upwards of 10 million visits a year. Prospect Park also is home to Brooklyn’s only lake and last remaining forest, and is an important wildlife habitat that supports more than 250 species of birds and other fauna.

In her interview, Woess stresses the importance for proper park stewardship in order to keep the park wildlife safe, “Be responsible. Take your trash out with you. If you’re a fisherman, please do it responsibly. You need to clear up your line and your hooks. Make sure you have the right hooks, the legal hooks. It’s about taking responsibility for your actions in a park and cleaning up after yourself.”

If you see an animal in need in Prospect Park, please call 311. Learn more about our work and how you can help sustain Prospect Park’s environment. 

Marty Woess rescuing a racoon in Prospect Park. c. Marty Woess.

C. M. Pinckney/NYC Parks

Mayor de Blasio Announces Historic $40 Million To Restore The Vale

December 16, 2021

Today, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a historic $40 million allocation to restore the Vale in Prospect Park. This funding is the largest single allocation in the history of Prospect Park Alliance, the non-profit that sustains the park in partnership with the city, and will restore important landscapes within the 26 acres in the northeast corner of the park called the Vale. The Mayor was joined by NYC Parks Commissioner Gabrielle Fialkoff and Iris Weinshall, Chair, and Sue Donoghue, President of Prospect Park Alliance, and community leaders. 

Learn more information about the Vale restoration, and our extensive community outreach to develop this vision for the Vale.

“Prospect Park is Brooklyn’s backyard,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “It’s where I got married and raised my family, and where New Yorkers of all backgrounds come to spend time in nature. This historic $40 million in funding will ensure the Vale is restored to its full glory.” 

“On behalf of Prospect Park Alliance, we would like to thank Mayor de Blasio for his leadership and vision in advancing Prospect Park, Brooklyn’s Backyard, for the millions of New Yorkers the park serves every year. His support of this important restoration, in addition to the Grand Army Plaza arch and berms, and other projects, will be a lasting legacy in Prospect Park, and one that all New Yorkers can celebrate,” said Iris Weinshall, Board Chair, Prospect Park Alliance.

“Prospect Park Alliance was founded over 30 years ago to sustain, restore and advance the park for the entire Brooklyn community. Today, through this historic funding allocation from the Mayor, we will be able to realize the community’s vision for the 26 acres in the northeast corner of the park. Since its founding, the Alliance has restored significant landscapes in the park, from the 150-acre woodland Ravine to the 26 acres in the southeast corner of the park, Lakeside and the LeFrak Center. It is critical to advance this work to make the park fully accessible and welcoming for our community,” said Sue Donoghue, President, Prospect Park Alliance.

 “’How wonderful, how beautiful, when the community comes together…’ On many levels, this paraphrasing of a portion of Psalm 133 seems to encapsulate my experience as a civic leader and leader of a faith community, as I participated in the re-imagining of the ‘Rose Garden.’ Of equal importance is the funding for the restoration of the ‘Vale’ area of the park. This funding is truly an expression of commitment to making this park a park for all,” said Reverend Sheldon N.N. Hamblin, Rector, St. Paul’s Church in the Village of Flatbush, who participated in the community outreach effort that is guiding the Vale Restoration.

Conceptual Site Plan for Vale Restoration. c. Prospect Park Alliance

The Vale Restoration

The $40 million in capital funding from the Mayor will help to restore two historic landscapes: the Children’s Pool and the park’s former Rose Garden. 

Conceptual Rendering of the Vale Restoration. c. Prospect Park Alliance

The former Rose Garden has served many functions since the park opened in 1867. It was originally a Children’s Playground, complete with the park’s first, horse-driven carousel, and then became a formal Rose Garden at the turn of the 19th century. With the opening of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in 1911, the Rose Garden eventually fell into disrepair and the rose beds were removed. In 2017, Prospect Park Alliance, which sustained this landscape of the park for many decades, embarked on an intensive community outreach initiative, Reimagine Prospect Park, to create a new vision for this landscape, working with Hester Street and Grain Collective to engage over 2,000 community members. Through this process, the team identified several possible amenities for this area of the park, including a pollinator meadow and rustic arbor; a nature play area for families; and a landscaped amphitheater and small building with flexible gathering space and restrooms for the community’s enjoyment. With funding now in place, Prospect Park Alliance and NYC Parks will embark on the design process in early 2022, and the Alliance will partner again with Hester Street to engage the community in the process.

Conceptual rendering of the proposed Vale Restoration. c. Prospect Park Alliance

The site of the historic Children’s Pool  originally featured a small pond where children sailed miniature boats, surrounded by ornamental trees and shrubs. In the 19th century the Brooklyn Eagle described this spot as a “bird’s paradise,” which still holds true today.  In the 1890s, the renowned architects McKim, Mead and White replaced the pond’s soft edge with a formal marble and granite balustrade. Nicknamed the “Vale of Cashmere” after a Thomas Moore poem, it became famous for its lush, colorful foliage. Red-brick walkways, lights and benches were added in the 1960s, and in recent decades it has fallen into a state of disrepair but has remained an oasis for birds, which will remain a focus in the restoration.

The restoration of the Vale is the centerpiece of several restoration projects that have been achieved in recent years in this corner of the park. This includes the Flatbush Avenue Perimeter restoration through funding from Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and Majority Leader Laurie Cumbo, and the creation of two new entrances to this area of the park, the first since the 1940s, through Mayor de Blasio’s Parks without Borders initiative. Other improvements to the area include the restoration of woodland areas severely impacted by Hurricane Sandy and other recent storms through funding from the National Park Service and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation; restoration of the pathways and lighting to the area through funding from the Mayor; and the award-winning restoration of Endale Arch. 

Design of the Vale Restoration is slated to begin in 2022, and the project will proceed through the New York City Parks design and construction guidelines, which includes a year for design, a year for procurement, and 12-18 months for construction.

Conceptual rendering of the proposed Vale Restoration. c. Prospect Park Alliance

2021 Year in Review

November 17, 2021

This year the Alliance, through the support of our community, has accomplished so much to sustain Brooklyn’s Backyard. We invite you to make a resolution to stay involved in the coming year: volunteer in the park, plan a visit, or become an Alliance member. There are many ways to make a difference in your park. Learn more about our work this year:

Sustaining the Park

One of the biggest challenges the Alliance has faced during the pandemic is taking care of the park in the face of budget cuts, staff reductions and record use. Through the incredible support of our community, the Alliance launched Re:New Prospect Park, investing critical funds to revitalize the park after a period of significant wear and tear. 

This work included renovated barbecue areas, comfort stations, pathways and drainage; and a new park maintenance partnership with ACE New York, a non-profit that empowers the homeless, which provided an additional crew on peak weekdays and weekends during our high season. In addition, the Alliance brought on board four seasonal groundskeepers to help supplement NYC Parks maintenance crews during this busiest time of year.

The Alliance also expanded its Volunteer Services team and programs, including our popular Green and Go Kit and It’s My Park Monday cleanup events. These efforts engaged more than 1,295 community members over the course of 92 sessions, who cleaned up nearly 1,742 bags of trash and cared for 90 tree beds along the park perimeter.

A new Re:New Volunteer Corps worked alongside Alliance staff on park improvement projects. The crew removed 2.6 tons of invasive vines and weeds; filled 250 holes on the Long Meadow; replenished all playground sandboxes; and sanded and painted 270 linear feet of hand railing, 121 benches, 46 entrance bollards, and the 10 storage containers on Center Drive.

Critical support for this initiative is made possible through generous funding from Amazon, the Leon Levy Foundation, NYC COVID-19 Response and Impact Fund in the New York Community Trust, NYC Green Relief + Recovery Fund, and many generous individuals and community members who made first-time or increased gifts to the Alliance during this challenging time.

Caring for Brooklyn Nature

Following a challenging 2020, the Alliance Landscape Management team was back in action in 2021 conducting its annual plantings of 14,767 trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants of more than 68 native species, while battling the effect of extreme weather. This year Hurricanes Henri and Ida delivered record rainfall in Prospect Park, which resulted in significant erosion and stormwater runoff. Alliance crews cleared drains and protected landscapes in the lead up and following each storm. 

Through funding from NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, the Alliance’s Woodlands  Youth Crew, our signature youth employment program, restored a degraded woodland area by removing invasive plants,  planting native species and creating a new rustic trail with never-before-seen views of the Ravine. In addition, the Alliance had a record year of its commemorative tree program, with 110 new trees planted around the park this spring and fall. The Alliance also celebrated its ecoWEIR pilot program, funded by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, which naturally filtrates the park’s water supply to lessen the impact of harmful algae blooms on humans, pets and wildlife. 

The Alliance also participated in the Maya Lin “Ghost Forest” public art project, planting 65 native trees, 147 native shrubs and 500 native herbaceous plants at the new Flatbush entrance, the park’s first entrance to directly lead into its woodlands. Alliance designers created a new trail that connects the new entrance to this newly planted landscape, which will continue to be enhanced in coming years. 

Advancing the Park

Many improvement projects were unveiled in the park this past year to increase access and enhance use of the park by all communities. Notable new and revived destinations include scenic new entrances to the park—the first since the 1940s—along Flatbush Avenue through Mayor DeBlasio’s Parks Without Borders initiative, the beautifully restored Concert Grove Pavilion through funding from the Brooklyn Delegation of the New York City Council, and new pathways and lighting in the park’s Northeast Corner through funding from the Mayor. The restored Endale Arch, which debuted in late 2020, was honored this year with a Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award from the Landmarks Conservancy. The Alliance will soon begin work on the restoration of Long Meadow Ball Fields 2+3, the last of the seven fields funded under the leadership of Council Member Brad Lander. 

Engaging the Community

During the pandemic, the Alliance pivoted its popular Pop-Up programs to create Play-and-Go Kits, which families were able to borrow for socially distanced fun, with games and activities adapted from our programs at the Audubon Center and Lefferts Historic House. The program served 5,413 youth and families, who borrowed 1,500 games and activities.

2021 welcomed the start of Re-Imagine Lefferts Historic House, spurred by a restoration funded by the Brooklyn Delegation of the New York City Council. This initiative re-envisions the mission and programming at the museum to recognize the role the house played as a site of slavery, and tell the stories of enslaved Africans and Native Americans who lived and worked the land. This initiative kicked off with the debut of Juneteenth Way across from Lefferts, with interpretive signage and benches painted the colors of the pan-African flag; and the debut of Jamel Shabazz: My Oasis in Brooklyn with Photoville, which showcases 4 decades of portraiture by the acclaimed photographer. The Alliance also kicked off its first Community Conversation to discuss the future of Lefferts programming.

Many beloved partnerships and programs continued, including CaribBEING Prospect Park, a Caribbean-American Heritage Month celebration with caribBEING, University Open Air, presented with the Brooklyn Public Library, and park tours with Turnstile Tours. We also presented our second annual art installation at the Bandshell in partnership with BRIC and NYC Parks, and partnered with Creative Time for The Last Stand, an opera and sound installation inspired by the trees.

Again, we thank you for your support and invite you to make a resolution to stay involved in the coming year: volunteer in the park, plan a visit, or become an Alliance member. There are many ways to make a difference in your park.

Alliance Restores Northeast Paths

November 10, 2021

Through $2 million in funding by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, Prospect Park Alliance has completed the restoration of the pedestrian paths in the northeast corner of Prospect Park to make the area more accessible to the communities who use the park. The project kicked off in the summer of 2020 and wrapped up in August 2021.

“This project replaces broken and inaccessible pavement that’s been in poor condition for more than half a century as layers upon layers of asphalt have continued to erode,” said Svetlana Ragulina, Prospect Park Alliance Senior Landscape Architect. “Now visitors of all abilities will be able to more easily navigate the area and experience it for longer periods each day thanks to the newly installed lighting and benches.”

This project included the following:

  • The reconstruction of approximately 2,500 linear feet of paths, with new asphalt paving and traditional hex block pavers between Grand Army Plaza and the newly restored Endale Arch.
  • Installation of 15 new park benches and lighting along the paths through the addition of 60 light poles.
  • Much-needed tree care, seeding and new plantings to restore the natural areas.
  • Replacement of the play sand in the beloved Zucker Natural Exploration Area.
  • Clearing and reconstruction of 19 catch basins, which will help with drainage in heavy rain events.

The newly restored paths connect major points of interest in the northeast, including Grand Army Plaza, Endale Arch, the Park Drive, Vale of Cashmere, the Zucker Natural Exploration area, the Rose Garden and the new park entrances at Flatbush Avenue.

Learn more about park projects on our Captial Projects Tracker.

c. Steve Nanz

Birdwatching in Prospect Park

October 12, 2021

A key focus of the non-profit Prospect Park Alliance’s mission is to sustain and restore the park’s natural areas, including Brooklyn’s last remaining forest and only Lake, which suffered from significant erosion and neglect prior to the Alliance’s founding. Keeping the park green and vibrant is important to both humans and birds alike. During the fall migration, one of the peak birdwatching times of year, we sat down to talk to Alliance EcoZone Gardener and avid birder Peter Dorosh, recognizing the park’s important role as a haven for more than 200 species of birds.

“The most exciting season for birdwatching is now and in the spring, the biannual migrations when birds travel to and from their breeding grounds throughout North America,” Dorosh said. When asked why Brooklyn’s Backyard is a great place for birdwatching, he said: “Because it’s a contained green space surrounded by urban dwellings, birds migrating see a dark spot during their migratory travels at night (recognizing it as a green space), and come down from flight for shelter and food.”

The Alliance’s landscape management team, which includes gardeners, a forester and also a forest ecologist, focuses on sustaining our natural areas with native plantings that are specifically geared to providing food and shelter for birds and other wildlife.

Prospect Park takes on even more importance for birds in light of a recent study that found steep, long-term losses across virtually all groups of birds in the U.S. and Canada. How to nurture birds in Brooklyn’s Backyard? Please sustain our woodlands by staying on path, and not climbing or hanging structures on our trees. Have a dog?  Please keep your pet on leash, and on path, in woodland areas. Dorosh explained that birds, whether they are nesting, breeding or migrating, see dogs as a threat. “Most particularly during nesting season, the parent birds get unnecessarily stressed and hyper-vigilant in trying to protect their young even if the nest is high above.” Even if birds are not directly attacked by dogs, just the sight of dogs can send birds into a panic, causing unnecessary stress during this critical time in their survival.

To learn more about birdwatching, connect with our partners at the Brooklyn Bird Club. They offer free, year-round programming to novices and avid birdwatchers alike. Find out more about bird watching in Prospect Park on our website.

Help spread the word about good park stewardship: Dogs are allowed off leash in the park from 6 am to 9 am and 9 pm to 1 am on the Long Meadow (not ballfields), Nethermead, and the Peninsula Meadow. At all other times and locations, dogs should be on their leashes. Birds and park wildlife will thank you!

Reimagining a Historic House: A Community Conversation

Prospect Park Alliance hosted a Community Conversation with Meredith Sorin-Horsford, Director of the Dyckman Farmhouse Museum, as part of its Re-Imagine Lefferts Historic House initiative to re-envision the mission and programming of this historic house museum while it undergoes restoration, recognize the role the house played as a site of slavery, and tell the stories of enslaved Africans and Native Americans who lived and worked the land.

In the lead up to the event, we asked Meredith a few questions about Dyckman DISCOVERED and her team’s approach to sensitive historical research.

Can you tell us a bit about your Dyckman DISCOVERED  Initiative?
The Dyckman DISCOVERED initiative investigates the stories of the enslaved and free people that lived and worked on the Dyckman Farm and the community that is now called Inwood in Upper Manhattan. This initiative brings an inclusive history to the community, fosters a sense of transparency and, we hope, engages visitors who have not seen themselves represented in the current narrative.

Where did you find information about the enslaved Africans and others who lived and worked the land apart from the Dyckman family?
We utilized the Dyckman papers at the New-York Historical Society as well as runaway slave ads, bills of sale and papers that relate to families that the Dyckmans did business with.

If you don’t have a lot of information about an enslaved person who lived in the house, how do you give visitors a sense of their lives?
Every piece of information that we find gives us an inkling into their lives, the languages they spoke, the skills they possessed, the food they ate, the spaces they would have occupied, etc. Additionally, information about the lives of enslaved people in the region might also help us to learn more about their lives.

How did you engage your community in your project?
We held community conversations during which we talked about the research that we found and used that as an opportunity to find out more from our neighbors about what they would like to learn more about. We have also held numerous public programs that relate to the Dyckman DISCOVERED initiative, including a lecture series and site-specific contemporary art installations.

Why is it important to preserve authentic and meaningful documents, artifacts, images, stories and places?
Authentic historic documents, images, stories, and places are so important to preserve because they tell us where we have been and how we ended up where we are now. Utilizing historic artifacts and stories are also a great way to engage our present-day community in conversation about the past and how it is connected with the present.

What kinds of programs help participants to see how their experiences in life are related to the interpretation of slavery?
I think that our lecture series, Talking About Race Matters: Join the Conversation, illustrates this best. This series, which we have hosted three times since August 2020, features professionals in the fields of history, archeology, anthropology, Africana and Latinx studies, women and gender studies, music and dance to talk about race from different perspectives. Through these community conversations, attendees are able to learn about, discuss, and ask questions about how the institution of slavery has shaped the history of this nation and the evolution of who and where we are today.

For those who couldn’t make it to the community conversation, the Alliance created a form where you can respond to the questions that were raised to our audience, and we encourage you to share your feedback. We do plan future community conversations in the coming months, and hope that you can join this continued dialogue.

The restoration of Lefferts Historic House is made possible through $2.5 million in funding from the Brooklyn Delegation of the New York City Council, and includes replacing the roof, restoring the exterior of the building, and repairing paths and drainage surrounding the house. The restoration is currently underway, and slated to be completed in 2022.

Learn more about Lefferts Historic House.

Catching Up with the Re:New Initiative

Back in May, Prospect Park Alliance launched Re:New Prospect Park, a new stewardship effort to help serve our community. The initiative was created to meet the challenges exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic—the Alliance and NYC Parks staff have struggled with budget cuts, coupled with a swell of park visitors. Thankfully, our community has stepped up to help in many ways, and there have already been many exciting achievements from the Re:New Prospect Park initiative.

Critical support for this initiative is made possible through generous funding from Amazon, the Leon Levy Foundation, NYC COVID-19 Response and Impact Fund in the New York Community Trust, NYC Green Relief + Recovery Fund, and many generous individuals and community members who made first-time or increased gifts to the Alliance during this challenging time.

Here are some of the highlights:

Park Improvements

The Alliance set out to re-invest in park places, spaces, and amenities, and there have been great improvements in all areas of the park. The Lincoln Road comfort station has received a complete makeover, new barbecues, furnishings and fixtures were installed at the popular Picnic House and Bandshell barbecue areas, new benches have been added to the beloved Drummer’s Grove, and broken ornamental brickwork at the historic Boathouse terrance has been repaired.

renew_park_improvements.png
The improved Lincoln Road Comfort Station and the new audience benches at the Drummer’s Grove.

Re:New Volunteer Corps

As part of the Re:New Initiative, a dedicated volunteer corps is focused on fixing areas of the park that have seen great wear and tear. On a weekly basis, these volunteers have showed up in the park to repair holes in the meadows, repaint park benches and fences, clean playgrounds and replenish their sandboxes, weed overgrown areas, cover unsightly graffiti and much more. This work could not have been more successful, among other accomplishments, volunteers painted 118 benches, removed 230 bags of invasive weeds, refilled sandboxes, mulched trails and tree beds, and filled hundreds of dog holes in our meadows.

renew_volunteer_corps_2021.png
Members of the Re:New Volunteer Corps working to improve the park.

The Re:New Volunteer Corps has many more opportunities coming up, sign up today to lend a hand in Prospect Park!

Park Maintenance

Prospect Park Alliance has partnered with Ace New York, a non-profit that empowers the homeless, to provide additional maintenance resources to help clean the park on peak weekdays and weekend evenings through October. The crew, which is partially funded via a grant from Amazon, has been in the park since April, and will wrap up their time with the park at the end of October.

renew ace crew summer 2021.png
The ACE Crew in Prospect Park.

Interested in getting involved with the Re:New Prospect Park initiative? Learn more about the ways you can contribute. 

FURI Sport’s Prospect Park Origins

September 29, 2021

Erick Mathelier, co-founder of tennis equipment brand FURI Sport, has a long history with the Prospect Park Tennis Center—he started playing on the courts at age 10. We spoke to Mathelier about his Brooklyn tennis roots, how his love of the game inspired him to start a company, and his reconnection with the Prospect Park Tennis Center. 

What is your background with the Prospect Park Tennis Center?
My first experience with the Prospect Park Tennis Center was at the age of 10, when I took my first tennis lesson and fell in love with the sport. I would take lessons there every Saturday. I didn’t realize it then, but Prospect Park Tennis Center was a magical place, at a time in my life that was integral to my development as a human being. For those five years that I played and took tennis lessons there, it served as my second home. I have nothing but fond memories of hanging out in the clubhouse all day, trying to play tennis whenever there was an open court; the lifelong friendships I made; the different types of personalities I interacted with. Prospect Tennis Center opened my eyes to a world I didn’t know existed, and I will be forever grateful for this time in my life. 

Tell us a little about FURI Sport and why you started it.
My business partner and I passionately believe that tennis has a diverse, rich culture. All different races love to play—at Prospect Park Tennis Center, you have a diverse clientele of players, but the public perception of the sport doesn’t reflect that diversity. FURI Sport was founded in 2016 to change this. We want to redefine tennis for the modern player, with a focus on value, inclusivity, and community. This means our equipment combines the most advanced technology with fair pricing; apparel that takes you from the court to the street; and through partnerships with nonprofits, we’re supporting the game at a grass-roots level in some of the most needy neighborhoods.

For me, the opportunity to work/collaborate with the Prospect Park Tennis Center is like coming home. I believe there’s a lot of alignment, so I’m excited about what’s in store for us in the future.

Stay tuned for more about FURI Sport at the Prospect Park Tennis Center, and learn more about tennis in Prospect Park.