Little Caribbean, a neighborhood located in and around Flatbush, Brooklyn, has been a major hub of Caribbean-American-Latinx life in New York City since the 1960s. It is home to the largest and most diverse community of people from various Caribbean islands outside of the West Indies. Shelley Worrell, founder of caribBEING, spearheaded the movement to officially name the neighborhood Little Caribbean in 2017, and Prospect Park Alliance had a chance to sit with her and ask her about some of her favorite destinations in the area. June is Caribbean-American Heritage Month and we’re celebrating with free fitness, music and food events—see the full lineup!
One of Worrell’s favorite things about Little Caribbean is the mix of old and new: second or third generation family owned businesses, such as Allan’s Bakery on Nostrand Avenue, share a neighborhood and culture with new businesses such as Aunts Et Uncles and Hibiscus Brew, located on Nostrand Avenue and Flatbush Avenue respectively. Other highly recommended eateries include Peppa’s Jerk Chicken on Prospect Place and Nostrand Avenue and Scoops on Flatbush Avenue.
Allan’s Bakery. Photo courtesy of Christian Rodriguez.
The Drummer’s Grove, located in the park near the Parkside Avenue and Ocean Avenue entrance, is another staple Caribbean institution. “What would the park be without it?” Shelley remarked. When asked about her other favorite spots and activities in the park, she mentioned the Boathouse, Smorgasburg, and Grand Army Plaza’s beautiful archways: but her favorite and most frequented spots are the Parkside and Ocean Avenue and Lincoln Road and Ocean Avenue entrance, both located in Little Caribbean.
Labay Market, another staple of Little Caribbean. Photo courtesy of Christian Rodriguez.
Finally, we talked a little about the caribBEING House, currently stationed in the park near the LeFrak Center at Lakeside. “It’s a mobile shipping container: part gallery, part shop,” Shelley explained. It’s a space for Caribbean arts, culture, and community. It’s traveled all around Brooklyn, from Greenpoint, to Williamsburg to Downtown Brooklyn. It is slated to open in the summer season along with a slate of caribBEING events hosted in partnership with Prospect Park Alliance in timing with June’s Caribbean-American Heritage Month. Check out the full list of caribBEING’s food, music fitness events coming to the park in June.
Wellness Afternoon: Marlon Jude + Third Root
Sunday, June 6, 1-4pm Boathouse, Free
Learn to utilize the park to improve your fitness and wellness regimens. Pop-up wellness stations will be hosted by Flatbush-based performance coach, Marlon Jude and community health center, Third Root. In these guided workshops participants will be guided through body-weight workouts, yoga, meditation and sound healing. (Mats are not required for this workshop. If you’d like to use one, please bring your own).
Cooking: Peppa’s + Allan’s Bakery
Sunday, June 13, 1-4pm
Breeze Hill/Lincoln Rd BBQ Grills, Free
Learn safe grilling practices whilst exploring culinary traditions of Brooklyn’s Little Caribbean with a demonstration and tasting led by Flatbush’s Peppa’s, in addition to freshly baked goods from Allan’s Bakery, a third-generation family institution. Food and beverage will be first come first serve, while supplies last.
Long Live Our Flag Bearers Workshop
Sunday, June 13, 2-5pm
Boathouse, Suggested Donation – $10
In this workshop, JOUVAYFEST COLLECTIVE and BUSH WO/MAN Conversations Project with Prospect Park Alliance commemorates the Flag Bearers of the past and present with interviews, historical video and live demonstrations. Long Live Our Flag Bearers workshop hopes to encourage the younger generations in maintaining this cultural art form and have fun in the process.
Music: Paul Beauburn + Zing Experience
Sunday, June 20, 5-9pm
Boathouse, Free
Groove to the healing music of Paul Beaubrun scion of Haitian musical royalty and son of the Grammy nominated band Boukman Eksperyans. Inspired by his heritage, constantly aware of his roots, the struggle of an immigrant and the drive of New York life, Paul & Zing Experience forged a path where music, artistry and history meet.
Music: Steel Pan Day
Sunday, June 27, 1-3pm
Boathouse, Free
Did you know Brooklyn has its very own Steel Pan Day? Proclaimed by Borough President Eric Adams at Brooklyn Museum in June 2015— come celebrate the only instrument invented in the 20th century alongside local performance groups including Zane Rodolfo’s pan-jazz trio and Hearts of Steel.
These events are first come, first served—no registration required.
Prospect Park is the place to be for our community—which is why Prospect Park Alliance, the non-profit that sustains Brooklyn’s Backyard, has launched Re:New Prospect Park: new stewardship efforts to help serve our community and meet the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Due to the pandemic, both Prospect Park Alliance and NYC Parks lost critical funding, which resulted in a reduced workforce and resources. This combined with an increase in park visitors led to the park getting much more love than it can handle. However, thanks to the support of our community of donors and volunteers over the past year, the park has been able to weather the storm, and the Alliance is placing much-needed funds to renew the park in time for our busiest season.
“We know how important the park is to our community and the role is serves in recovering from the challenges of the past year,” said Prospect Park Alliance President Sue Donoghue. “Prospect Park is showing serious signs of wear and tear, and without our normal workforce, we are so grateful for our community, who over the past year has pitched in to help sustain this cherished green oasis.
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.
Re:New Prospect Park Initiatives
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. In addition, the Alliance has brought on board four seasonal groundskeepers to help supplement NYC Parks maintenance crews during this busiest time of year.
The crew is partially funded via a grant from Amazon.
“Throughout the pandemic, Prospect Park has provided badly needed, outdoor refuge to Brooklyn families,” said Carley Graham Garcia, Amazon’s New York Head of External Affairs. “Unfortunately, this has meant wear and tear on the park at the exact time resources are strained. By partnering with ACE, Prospect Park Alliance will create job opportunities, while ensuring this local gem remains a resource for our city and borough.”
“ACE is proud to partner with the Alliance to help keep Prospect Park clean and safe for all New Yorkers to enjoy. These jobs not only benefit our City by keeping the park beautiful, they also provide meaningful employment for men and women who have overcome histories of homelessness,” said ACE Executive Director James Martin.
To support these efforts, Prospect Park Alliance is encouraging park visitors to carry in and carry out their trash via promotional signage at all park entrances, the Alliance has also installed large trash receptacles in key areas of the park. View this map for large trash receptacle locations.
Park Improvements
The Alliance will also be re-investing back into the park by improving lawn areas, comfort stations, barbecue areas and even the park’s beloved Drummer’s Grove through funding from our community of donors. Work will take place this spring into early summer, and will include renovated restroom facilities at the Lincoln Road and Children’s Corner, new barbecue grills, fixtures and furnishings at the Picnic House and Bandshell barbecue areas, similar to the new grills installed at the Lincoln Road and Parkside + Ocean Avenue barbecue areas.
We also will be bringing on board an expanded “Fix-It” crew and volunteer services staff to help renew our lawn areas, repaint benches, fix broken fencing and give a deep clean to our rustic and historic structures.
Park Volunteer Opportunities
Prospect Park Alliance has expanded its Volunteer Services staff to accommodate more volunteer opportunities in the park, including the return of our popular Green and Go Kit and It’s My Park Monday programs.
It’s My Park Mondays
Join us on Mondays for special It’s My Park Day community volunteer events, where groups and individuals can help us sustain the park during these challenging times.
Green and Go Kits
Want to help keep the park clean and green? Register today to check out a Green and Go Kit, available weekends at various locations around the park. Kits include a trash grabber, garbage bags and gloves. You must be 18 years old to check out a kit, but children are welcome to accompany adults.
Re:New Volunteer Corps
This spring, Prospect Park Alliance is launching a new volunteer opportunity to help us renew the park following the incredible wear and tear of the past year. The Re:New Volunteer Corps will meet weekly in the park and work on improvement projects from filling divots and reseeding holes in the park’s lawn areas, sweeping paths, and painting benches, railings and storage containers.
Prospect Park Alliance is the non-profit organization that sustains, restores and advances Prospect Park, Brooklyn’s Backyard, in partnership with the City of New York. The Alliance provides critical staff and resources that keep the Park green and vibrant for the diverse communities that call Brooklyn home.
About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.
About ACE
ACE was founded in 1992 and provides job-readiness training, work experience, all around support, and much more to New Yorkers who have histories of homelessness, incarceration and addition. At ACE, men and women overcome barriers through hard work to reach their goals of full-time employment, economic self-sufficiency, and family reunification. Over 3,000 men and women have secured full-time employment through ACE’s programs. Learn more at acenewyork.org.
Paul Martinka
Prospect Park Enjoys Wave of Community Support
May 11, 2021
In July of 2020, New York City Parks were faced with an impossible challenge. Just as New Yorkers surged to the parks to escape the confinement of their homes, the City announced the Parks budget was being cut by $84 million. What unfolded was a summer of parks across the city trying desperately to keep up with the record crowds and ensuing litter.
Luckily, as parks experienced their time of need, New Yorkers realized just how much they needed their parks reports the Wall Street Journal. As one of the only places to safely social distance, New Yorkers were doing everything, from workout routines to birthday parties, in parks. And with more time at the park, there was more time to notice the errant takeout container or patchy flower bed. In the past year, New Yorkers citywide stepped up to volunteer at or donate to parks, sometimes at record levels as the Journal discovered while connecting with parks across the city.
Between July 2020 and March 2021, Prospect Park Alliance alone saw a 142% increase in new volunteers and a 42% increase in individual donors. Thanks to this rise in community involvement, Prospect Park Alliance is making essential improvements throughout the park and engaging more workers to ensure that Brooklyn’s Backyard is renewed and ready for all visitors. Alliance President Sue Donoghue took Journal reporter Anne Kadet on a tour of the park to point out improvements the nonprofit is making, thanks to the windfall. They include new benches and landscaping at the Drummer’s Grove and upgraded restrooms, not to mention new picnic tables, coal bins and communal grills in the barbecue areas.
Take a virtual walk through LeFrak Center at Lakeside with Turnstile Tours and Corbin Laedlein, the Lakeside Lead EcoZone Gardener for Prospect Park Alliance. Learn how Corbin and his fellow Lakeside gardeners curate Lakeside’s plant mix for ecological, aesthetic, and habitat purposes, and visit the green roof atop the Lakeside skating rink.
Join Prospect Park Alliance at pop-up locations around the park and surrounding neighborhoods as we bring our favorite activities from the Prospect Park Audubon Center and Lefferts Historic House on the road in easy-to-borrow Play + Go Kits.
Pick up to five (5) items and mix and match historic games and toys, or nature games and activities. While you are here, you can participate in our new Nature’s Helpers activities by lending a hand and participating in stewardship activities such as raking, litter patrol or mulching and afterwards, take a fun nature walk and explore the natural wonders of the park or search for the many historic elements that are scattered all around us.
The Pop-Up Lefferts Play + Go Kit features a fun assortment of historic games that include Quoits, Rolling Hoops, Game of Graces, Checkers, and Mancala. Take home games such as Nine-Man Morris, Igba-Ita Game of Chance, Lenape Dice Game or a DIY Scented Sachet Kit. Pop-Up Lefferts is supported in part by NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital.
The Pop-Up Audubon Play + Go Kits feature a range of fun nature activities and games, as well as a birdwatching checklist with binoculars, and much more. Families and children can enjoy nature on their own as they explore and learn more about the park. Pop-Up Audubon is made possible through the generous support of Con Edison.
Help the Alliance Tackle Trash
Prospect Park isthe place to be for our community—which is why Prospect Park Alliance has new stewardship efforts to help serve our community and meet the challenges we are facing, part of the Re:New Prospect Park initiative.
Carry In + Carry Out Your Trash Please carry out of the park everything you bring into the park with you, and please clean up your trash and litter. If you are able to carry out your trash, you will be doing your park a great service. If this is not possible, please use the large trash receptacles that Prospect Park Alliance has installed in key areas of the park. View this map for large trash receptacle locations.
Re:New Volunteer Corps
Make a lasting impact on Prospect Park! Join the Volunteer Corps to engage in essential park improvement projects such as filling divots and reseeding holes in the park’s lawn areas, sweeping paths, and painting benches and railings.
Green + Go Kits Want to help keep the park clean and green? Register today to check out a Green + Go Kit, available every Friday, Saturday and Sunday at various locations around the park. Kits include a trash grabber, garbage bags and gloves. You must be 18 years old to check out a kit, but children are welcome to accompany adults.
Prospect Park is home to Brooklyn’s last remaining forest, 250 acres of beautiful woodlands that are a fragile habitat for wildlife. Prospect Park Alliance Senior Forest Ecologist Howard Goldsteinsat down for a chat about the importance of our woodlands to people, plants and animals.
“Nature is intrinsically important to human beings. Being able to interact with nature is imperative to our health and psyche. There are lots of plants and animals in this urban oasis that form an important ecosystem to sustain our environment,” said Howard when asked why the park’s woodlands are important to him. “You can conserve wilderness in the Amazon, or you can conserve nature in the center of a city.”
In an effort to preserve the woodlands, Howard studies the overall health of our forest, as well as the positive impact that the Alliance’s landscape management team is making in the park through its woodland restoration efforts. Two good signs he looks for are fewer vines on trees, and fewer non-native invasive plants. His favorite section of woodlands, North Lullwater Cove, has improved significantly in the five years he’s been with the Alliance.
When asked about what the public can do to help protect the forest, Howard had the following to say: “Recognize that the forests, the trees, are living, and this habitat is filled with living things. We put in a lot of energy to protect, preserve and restore this green oasis, and the public can do its part. If you love the woods, respect them: stay on paths, don’t jump fences, don’t hang from tree branches, don’t litter, don’t build forts. Follow the park rules and the signs. Being respectful of the woodlands really goes a long way.”
Please dispose of litter in designated receptacles or consider taking your litter with you when you leave the park and disposing of it at home.
Please stay on paths in our woodland areas, and do not go beyond fencing or build forts in our woodlands: this protects fragile nesting areas for birds, turtles and other wildlife.
Please keep dogs leashed at all times in the woodlands: off-leash hours are provided in our large meadow areas, learn more on our Things to Do with Dogspage.
Please do not climb or hang objects on trees in the park: our trees are our environmental treasure. While sap is flowing up to provide nourishment to the emerging buds and flowers, bark is at its most vulnerable. Wounds become easy access for insects and disease.
Please enjoy the flowers, but don’t pick as they are important for our pollinators, the cycle of life in any wildlife habitat.
This Earth Week, Prospect Park Alliance, the non-profit organization that sustains Brooklyn’s Backyard in partnership with the City, debuted its ecoWEIR pilot program in Prospect Park. This innovative natural filtration system, designed by Brooklyn College Professor Jennifer Cherrier, helps to remove nutrients from Prospect Park’s watercourse that cause toxic blue-green algae blooms in the summer months, which are dangerous when in contact with pets and humans.
The pilot program, the first in an urban park, is funded by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation through a $390,000 grant.
“We are so grateful to our partners at New York State Parks for their support of innovative, environmentally sustainable ways for Prospect Park Alliance to sustain our natural areas,” said Sue Donoghue, President, Prospect Park Alliance. “From their funding of goats to remove invasive plants in our woodland areas, to our ecoWEIR pilot program, New York State Parks has always been responsive and forward-thinking in their efforts to support this urban wonder.”
Erik Kulleseid, Commissioner, NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, said, “New York State Parks is grateful for this innovative stewardship project led by Prospect Park Alliance. Lakes, pools, waterfalls and streams are so often the scenic and recreational centerpieces of our parks. This project will help restore the water quality at Prospect Park, while offering lessons that may be applied to other parks that are also threatened by excessive algae growth.”
“The innovative ecoWEIR pilot program is a fantastic way to help manage the harmful algal blooms that pose a threat to pets and humans alike. We are grateful to New York State Parks and Brooklyn College for lending their support to this program,” said NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver, FAICP. “Efforts like this help make our parks safer and more environmentally sustainable for generations to come.”
“It is impossible to overstate the importance of Prospect Park to our Borough and our City, and I am proud to support New York State’s efforts to recognize this with the financial and technical support the Park requires to operate as an oasis and refuge for millions,” said State Assembly Member Robert Carroll. “I am also proud that Prospect Park will pilot the use of the new ecoWEIR technology to keep the park’s water system healthy for wildlife, pets and residents–Brooklyn just keeps on leading in every way!”
“We are excited that Brooklyn College and Professor Jennifer Cherrier were able to partner with the Prospect Park Alliance and New York State Parks on this important project,” said Brooklyn College President Michelle J. Anderson. “Professor Cherrier’s expertise in the world of aquatic sciences and water resource sustainability is well known. The fact that she is able to also include students in her research to enhance this iconic space cherished by all in Brooklyn makes it even more special.”
While the park is a natural wonderland, many people are not aware that Prospect Park’s lake, pools, waterfalls and streams are fed by the New York City water supply. Phosphates in the water, which make it safe for us to drink, lead to excessive algae growth. This algae growth limits resources for other plant life and wildlife, which is detrimental to the health of the park’s waterways.
Phosphates in the water also produce blooms of blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria. Certain types of cyanobacteria produce toxins that can pose a health risk for humans and animals. Skin contact can cause rashes or eye irritation, while ingestion can cause more serious effects. These blooms have led to closing areas of the Prospect Park Lake that were previously available for dogs to swim due to concerns over exposure.
In 2020, the Alliance installed ecoWEIRs at two locations in the park, near Dog Beach (where city water enters the watercourse). The aim of this system is to reduce phosphates, thereby reducing excessive algae growth. The filtration system and its results are being monitored over the course of multiple seasons to determine if the pilot study is a success. In addition to enhancing the health and resilience of Prospect Park Lake, this project provides an opportunity to educate the public about water health. If successful, the Prospect Park ecoWEIR project will be replicable in parks nationwide.
Happy Earth Day! On this international day of action and appreciation for the environment, take a look at the activities you can participate in here in Prospect Park to celebrate.
Photo courtesy of Pablo Serrano.
