Tag: Prospect Park Alliance

c. Prospect Park Alliance

The Park’s New Rustic Pergola

April 22, 2019

Prospect Park Alliance’s Lakeside gardeners made the most of the mild winter this year. While they waited for the busy warmer season, they built a new destination, much to the delight of park visitors. The new rustic pergola, built by LJ Philp, Lakeside Lead Gardener; Allison Loux, Lakeside Assistant Gardener; and Melissa Finley, Lakeside Assistant Gardener, is located off the Park Drive, just north of the LeFrak Center at Lakeside.

“A common problem in the park is desire lines,” says Philp, referring to the improvised and unintended paths made by park visitors. “We had a very noticeable one at Lakeside, so we decided instead of putting up another fence to keep people from walking through the planting, why not create an inviting destination for people to walk through and sit under.”

Much of the unmilled, untreated wood sourced for the pergola came from downed park trees. In the coming months, additional decoration will come in the form of native plantings, including American wisteria that will grow over the structure. “I’m proud of our work and very happy to have had the opportunity to expand my carpentry skills,” says Finley, “the pergola is an aesthetically pleasing and useful addition to the Lakeside landscape, which is as naturalistic as possible.”

This new pergola carries on a tradition of rustic landscape features that date back to 18th century. Rustic work, which features unmilled wood, had been very popular in the grand English estates of the time period. Park designer Calvert Vaux’s early mentor and business partner, Andrew Jackson Downing, was one of America’s foremost landscape designers in the mid-1800s, and had popularized this style of building with his American clientele.

Calvert Vaux adopted this style to great acclaim, and when Prospect Park opened in 1867, the public was delighted by his rustic-style thatched shelters, romantic arbors and scenic overlooks nestled throughout the park. They became beloved destinations, and can be seen in many early photographs and postcards of the park.

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Rustic viewing platform in Prospect Park ravine, circa 1890. Prospect Park Archives/Herbert Mitchell Collection

None of these original structures have survived into modern times, but the rustic style can be seen throughout the park, notably at the Summerhouse on the lake shore near the Parkside and Ocean Avenue entrance; Binnen Bridge near the Boathouse; and the railings through the woodlands created and maintained by the Alliance’s Natural Resources Crew and the Woodland Youth Crew.

And as for the reception of the park’s new pergola? “It seems like park users love it,”  says Loux. “It feels great when someone walks by and says thank you, or that it’s beautiful, or asks how we made it.”

So, on your next run or walk on the Park Drive, make sure to stop and enjoy this exciting new addition to the park, and learn more about how Prospect Park Alliance is advancing the park.

Smorgasburg Returns for 2019 Season

March 27, 2019

Everyone’s favorite outdoor food market is back in Prospect Park! Kicking off the season on April 7, Smorgasburg Prospect Park, presented by Brooklyn Flea in partnership with Prospect Park Alliance, is back every Sunday through October on Breeze Hill. 

This beloved market features over 80 food vendors and crowds of hungry customers, ready to sample flavors from across the globe. While many of last year’s favorite foods purveyors are returning, this year’s crop of new vendors is not only the market’s largest yet, it’s also the most diverse. New additions include:​

  • NFL player Derrell Smith brings Amazeballs meatballs and special sauces inspired by his Nana.
  • The Blue Chicken joins Smorgasburg with a perfect sous vide chicken sandwich.
  • Borrachito serves up thick handmade tortillas, made with organic, local corn as the base for these delicious tacos. 
  • Crack’d’s mouth watering four different egg sandwiches are all based on Japanese tamagoyaki.
  • Try Fluffies’ thick soufflé pancakes inspired by the fluffy versions of Japan and Asia.
  • Gourmet by Nuno features Portuguese sandwiches, slow cooked to perfection.
  • Cantonese dim sum from Jing Fong, established 40 years ago on Elizabeth Street in Chinatown is the original cart palace.
  • Kochin’s dazzling dazzling dessert concoctions combine reunited Vietnamese friends’ east and west flavors.
  • La Tropikitchen’s Colombian snacks and homemade sauces including tamales are delicious on the tongue plus easy on the eyes.
  • As 2018’s “Rookie of the Year” Vendy winner, Nansense’s Afghan comfort food joins the Smorgasburg outdoor lineup.
  • Petisco Brazuca serves Brazilian snack foods based on the ubiquitous Rio de Janeiro street food known as coxinha.
  • You’ll think you’re relaxing on the beach with Sons of Thunder’s Hawaiian and California inspired cuisine focusing on poke.
  • Focused on Japanese Miyazaki black wagyu, Tojo’s Kitchen uses the world’s best beef to make wagyu “sushi”.
  • The brand new East Village shop, Smør, specializes in smørrebrød, the open faced Nordic staple sandwich. 
  • Yumpling creates a “hot chicken” version of the giant Taiwanese chicken steak, and yum it is!

Plus, on ​Sunday, June 16, Smorgasburg is partnering with CaribBEING and Prospect Park Alliance to celebrate Caribbean Heritage month with special pop-up food and culture vendors (including Peppa’s of Crown Heights) serving jerk and other island specials, plus DJs throughout the afternoon.

See you Sundays at Smorgasburg, from 11 am to 6 pm on Breeze Hill in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. 

Still from "Chisholm '72," courtesy of Realside Productions

Chisholm Monument Designs Unveiled

Make your voice heard!

View and comment on the five preliminary artist proposals for the new monument to Shirley Chisholm in Prospect Park, the first artwork to be commissioned as part of the She Built NYC initiative to bring more monuments honoring women to New York City’s public spaces.

This open call for feedback on the proposals by artists Firelei Báez, La Vaughn Belle, Tanda Francis, Mickalene Thomas and the team of Amanda Williams and Olalekan Jeyifous will continue through Sunday, March 31.

She Built NYC kicked off in June 2018 with an invitation for public nominations, and Shirley Chisholm was selected in November in recognition of her role as a political trailblazer who was both the first black Congresswoman and the first woman to seek the Democratic presidential nomination. The monument is anticipated to be completed by the end of 2020 and will be installed at the Parkside entrance to Prospect Park in Brooklyn.

This monument will be the centerpiece of Prospect Park Alliance’s restoration of the Parkside and Ocean Avenue perimeters and entrance to the park,made possible through funding by Mayor de Blasio, Borough President Eric L. Adams and Council Member Dr. Mathieu Eugene. The Alliance will improve the sidewalks and paving, add new historic lighting, street furniture, trees and plantings. There will also be a new protected bike lane. This project is expected to be completed by Fall 2021.

Learn more and view the designs at women.nyc.

c. Martin Seck

Discover Hidden Park Treasures

March 20, 2019

Spring is here, and Prospect Park Alliance and Turnstile Tours have an exciting schedule of new tours in the park! Discover hidden treasures, natural wonders and little-known tales on these interactive guided tours of Prospect Park in the heart of Brooklyn. Private group tours are available seven days a week, and public tours are offered every Sunday from April 28 through November 24. Prospect Park Alliance member enjoy 25% off park walking tours, learn more at prospectpark.org/join. 

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Our tour season will kick off April 28 with these new themed excursions:

Hidden Treasures of Prospect Park: Explore some of the little-known corners of Prospect Park in this tour that uncovers some of the park’s hidden treasures. Once prime attractions, these areas  are currently the focus of Prospect Park Alliance restoration efforts to revitalize the Park. The tour includes the Rose Garden and Vale of Cashmere in the park’s northeast corner, and well as a guided walk through Brooklyn’s last remaining forest, the 150-acre Ravine. This tour takes place on the first Sunday of each month.

Waterways and the Wellhouse: Prospect Park is an engineering marvel, designed around an ingenious drainage system and a chain of manmade streams and ponds that terminate in Brooklyn’s largest lake. This tour will follow the park’s scenic watercourse and delve into how Prospect Park Alliance maintains and supports this complex system. The tour will end with a behind-the-scenes look at one of the most unique features of the park: the 1869 Wellhouse, the park’s last remaining building by park designer Calvert Vaux, which once housed the machinery that fueled the  watercourse and was recently restored by the Alliance and converted into the first composting restrooms in a NYC park. This tour takes place on the second Sunday of each month.

Park Art and Architecture: For over 150 years, Prospect Park has been a showcase for beautiful public buildings and artwork, with representations from eras including Beaux-Arts, City Beautiful, the New Deal Modernism and contemporary LEED-certified projects. This tour will examine some of the fine architectural details and ongoing restoration work, from the era of Vaux and Olmsted to the present day. This tour takes place on the third Sunday of each month.

Family Fun in Brooklyn’s Backyard (includes Zoo and Carousel admission): Prospect Park is an oasis for people – and animals! Park lovers of all ages can discover the native habitats and inhabitants of the park, and explore the past and present of recreation, animals and ongoing conservation efforts of Prospect Park Alliance. This tour includes an interactive scavenger for children and adults, and ends at the park’s Children’s Corner, with a special visit to Prospect Park Zoo and tickets to ride the historic Carousel. This tour takes place on the fourth Sunday of each month.

The 2019 Tour Season begins on April 28, get your tickets today!

 

C. Prospect Park Archives/Bob Levine Collection

Highlights from the Bob Levine Collection

February 18, 2019

You may recognize from past Throwback Thursdays that many of Prospect Park Alliance’s archival materials come from one person: Bob Levine. His collection spans more than a century of Brooklyn’s Backyard and includes thousands of archived postcards, photographs, maps and drawings of the park. But who is this collector extraordinaire? 

Take a look at some of the highlights of the collection, selected by Bob Levine himself. 

A Brooklyn native and Prospect Park enthusiast, Levine has, in his own words “circled Prospect Park.” He grew up on Ocean Parkway, lived as a young man along Ocean Avenue and is now settled in Park Slope. “I always loved nature,” says Levine of his connection to the park, “it just felt like a natural draw.” As a child in the 1960s, he played little league at the Parade Ground and explored the park’s vast nature trails. When, in his teens, he developed an affinity for collecting remnants of the past, it was only natural that Prospect Park was a subject he gravitated towards.

Levine initially made a connection with Prospect Park Alliance in the 1990s. At the time, he ran a program that helped autistic members of community find work. The Alliance had a call out for volunteers, and Levine and his group helped clean the Lake. Levine then made a connection with Alliance archivist Amy Peck to share his bounty of archival findings. 

Today, Levine is still actively adding to his collection of Prospect Park historic materials, and much to the delight of Prospect Park Alliance and the park community, still contributing to the Prospect Park Archives.

Park Checklist: 7 Ways To Enjoy Winter

January 15, 2019

Every season is wonderful in its own way, and we love winter in Prospect Park! From snow-day activities to school break programs, here are 7 recommendations from Prospect Park Alliance to get you out of the house and into the park this season.

  1. Head to the LeFrak Center at Lakeside: It’s time to get out on the ice in Prospect Park. From a day of skating with friends, to  curling, hockey and more, visit the park’s state-of-the-art skating rink this season while the weather is still cold. 
  2. Enjoy family fun at the Audubon Center and Lefferts Historic House: Prospect Park’s beloved Audubon Center and Lefferts Historic House have plenty of exciting programming coming up this winter. Stop by both sites for Lunar New Year activities, including paper-lantern making at Lefferts, and a variety of activities during Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the Presidents Week school break.  
  3. Take a Winter Walk: If summer crowds aren’t your scene, the colder months are the perfect time of year to explore the park’s 585 acres of meadow, forest and lake. Take a look at our suggestions for winter walks that take advantage of the season. 
  4. Tennis, anyone? It can be hard to suit up for exercise in sub-zero temperatures, but the Prospect Park Tennis Center has you covered, literally. Heated, indoor courts are the perfect place to get a work out, with friends or in classes, while supporting Brooklyn’s Backyard.  
  5. Winter Birdwatching: Brush off the binoculars, because winter is the perfect time for birdwatching in Prospect Park! With the leaves off the trees throughout the park, spotting birds is easy–and Prospect Park is a world-renowned location to spot our avian pals. Learn more about birdwatching in the park, including upcoming birdwalks in January and February.
  6. Sledding in Prospect Park: While our winter is off to a mostly snow-free start, our fingers are crossed for flurries in the forecast and plenty of sledding days in the park. Check out our list of top Prospect Park sledding locations, and see you next blizzard!
  7. Take in our Prospect Park exhibition at Brooklyn Historical Society–last chance! An offsite checklist suggestion, head to the Brooklyn Historical Society to check out The Means of a Ready Escape: Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, an exhibition presented in partnership with Prospect Park Alliance that celebrates the founding vision of the Park, and traces its social and historical trajectories. Hurry, this exhibition closes February 10!

Learn more about upcoming events in Prospect Park.

Still from "Chisholm '72," courtesy of Realside Productions

A Monument to a Trailblazer Comes to Prospect Park

November 30, 2018

On U.S. Representative Shirley Chisholm’s birthday and the 50th anniversary of her election to Congress, Prospect Park Alliance President Sue Donoghue joined First Lady Chirlane McCray and Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen in Prospect Park to make a momentous announcement.

The group held a press conference at the Parkside and Ocean Avenue entrance to the Park to announce that a monument to Representative Shirley Chisholm, the political trailblazer who was both the first black Congresswoman and the first woman to seek the Democratic presidential nomination, will be erected at that location, where the Alliance is undertaking a significant restoration as part of our work improving the Park’s eastern perimeter.

“As Brooklyn’s Backyard, we are deeply honored to welcome this important monument to a true Brooklyn hero, Shirley Chisholm,” said Sue Donoghue, president of Prospect Park Alliance, the non-profit that sustains Prospect Park in partnership with the city. “We thank the Mayor, First Lady Chirlane McCray and the Department of Cultural Affairs for selecting Prospect Park as the site for this commemoration, which will serve as a critical focal point of our restoration of the Parkside and Ocean Avenue entrance to Prospect Park.”

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A local hero, Chisholm was the first black Congresswoman in U.S. history, and both a leader and an advocate for residents of Brooklyn and the country at large. Her notable achievements in Congress included working to expand access to food stamps, helping to pass Title IX and extending minimum wage requirements to domestic workers. In 1972, Rep. Chisholm became the first black major-party candidate to run for President of the United States. This is the first monument commissioned as part of She Built NYC, an initiative that sought public nominations to honor the New York City women who have changed history.

“Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm’s legacy of leadership and activism has paved the way for thousands of women to seek public office,” said First Lady Chirlane McCray. “She is exactly the kind of New York woman whose contributions should be honored with representation in our public spaces, and that is now being realized with She Built NYC.”
 
“Shirley Chisholm was an American original—a fearless trailblazer who broke barriers and had an unrivaled commitment to justice,” said Alicia Glen, Deputy Mayor for Housing & Economic Development. “From standing up to Congressional leadership to taking bold bipartisan action, Rep. Chisholm made sure everyone knew she was ‘unbought and unbossed.’ There is no one more deserving than Rep. Chisholm of a statue honoring her life and legacy; may New Yorkers of all backgrounds be inspired by her story.”

The site of this monument will serve as a critical focal point for the Alliance’s $9.5 million restoration of the Parkside and Ocean Avenue perimeters and entrance to Prospect Park, which includes $6.7 million in funding by Mayor de Blasio, $2 million in funding from Borough President Eric L. Adams, and $750,000 in funding from Council Member Mathieu Eugene. This large-scale restoration by the Alliance will include new sidewalks and paving, new historic lighting and street furniture, the planting of new trees and the addition of a protected bike lane. 

As the steward of Brooklyn’s Backyard, Prospect Park Alliance is deeply honored to welcome this important monument to a true Brooklyn icon. Read more about this announcement from the Mayor’s office.

c. Paul Martinka

Prospect Park’s New Freeze-Resistant Fountains

November 23, 2018

Runners rejoice! On Thanksgiving morning, November 22, 2018, New York City Council Member Brad Lander joined Prospect Park Alliance President Sue Donoghue for the inaugural gulp from the park’s new freeze-resistant drinking fountains. Council Member Lander funded this $175,000 project through the District 39 participatory budgeting initiative that has enabled the Alliance to install four fountains along the Prospect Park Drive that are freeze-resistant and available through all four seasons.

fountain-lander-martinka.jpgCouncil Member Brad Lander and Alliance President Sue Donoghue try out the new freeze-resistant fountain. c. Paul Martinka

The event took place on Prospect Park’s lakeshore, moments before the Prospect Park Track Club’s annual Turkey Trot, which took place this year in historic sub-zero temperatures. Prospect Park offers miles of roadways and paths for serious and recreational runners and walkers, including the park’s 3.36-mile running lane along the Park Drive.

“I’m thrilled that the freeze resistant water fountains, a 2016 participatory budgeting project winner, are finally up and running in Prospect Park,” said Council Member Brad Lander. “The many runners, cyclists, and walkers who exercise in the park during the winter months will now be able to hydrate even in the coldest weather! Huge thanks to the Prospect Park Alliance for their help in seeing this project through.”

Due to problems posed by frozen pipes, traditional city drinking fountains are turned off during much of the fall and winter months. This leaves the multitudes of Prospect Park’s runners, walkers and visitors without a source of drinking water in the park.

The year-round fountains’ plumbing is located more than four feet underground—below the “frost line,” where the water is well insulated and does not freeze. Each time the fountain is used, the water drains all the way back down, preventing frozen pipes. This feature necessitates that users hold the button down for a few additional seconds than at a traditional fountain, giving the water time to make it up to surface-level.

A total of four new year-round fountains will grace the Park Drive—two entirely new fountains near the Garfield Street Entrance and the Vanderbilt Street Playground, as well as two retrofitted existing fountains near the Parkside entrance and the Ballfields. 

Prospect Park Alliance is the non-profit organization that operates the park in partnership with the City. We provide critical staff and resources that keep the park green and vibrant. Through the end of 2018, support the park and your donation will count double thanks to a matching challenge.

Learn more about projects in the park on our Capital Projects Tracker.

Ladybugs to the Rescue

November 13, 2018

First goats, now… ladybugs? Prospect Park Alliance is always on the lookout for innovative and environmentally friendly ways to sustain the park. In recent years, this meant a crew of goats to clear invasive weeds, and this past summer it meant the introduction of tens of thousands of ladybugs to combat a new challenge: lace bugs.

“We noticed that the asters were dying,” said Allie Loux, Prospect Park Alliance Assistant Gardener at the LeFrak Center at Lakeside. “They were turning yellow and brown and covered in these little dots.” Asters are an important perennial species and one of the most common flowers in Prospect Park, often sporting purple or white flowers. Lakeside’s aster plants had been hit with a lace bug infestation. These miniscule insects feed on the leaves of flowering plants and shrubs, and in high concentrations they can spell disaster for plants.

Alliance gardeners needed to find a solution to their lace bug problem, and wanted an alternative to traditional pesticides. “Lakeside is very wild,” said LJ Philp, Alliance Lead Gardener at Lakeside, “and when you’re spraying chemicals, you’re going to hit something else.”

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Aster plants in Prospect Park, photo courtesy of Christian Zimmerman, Prospect Park Alliance Vice President of Capital and Landscape Management 

While Prospect Park’s 585 acres may seem wild, this green space is a carefully cultivated ecosystem, and the Alliance’s crews avoid introducing chemicals whenever possible. Loux added, “when we use toxic chemicals, it’s getting in the air, in the water, harming our bodies as well as the animals and the plants. Maybe a pesticide will get rid of the lace bugs, but it will also probably kill something else.”

Their first course of action was to test neem oil, a natural pesticide derived from the neem tree. When they realized the necessary quantity of the oil would be prohibitively expensive and application would be time consuming, the gardeners got creative.

“Integrative pest management practices (the broad-based approach that integrates practices for control of pests) suggested finding a natural predator,” said Philp, “and ladybugs seemed like a great fit.” Introducing ladybugs, an insect not found in great quantities in the park, could be a tactic for managing the lace bug infestation while avoiding harmful chemicals, and sparing staff hours. “We did our research and weren’t worried that the ladybugs would out-compete other species or take over, so we decided to give it a try.”

In July, the gardeners, including Uriel Walker (formerly an Assistant Gardener at Lakeside) received their shipment of ladybugs, 72,000 for a grand sum of $150, and dispersed them in locations around Lakeside. They even left them with damp cardboard boxes smeared with honey (food and lodgings). “We wanted them to feel like they were in a safe place,” said Philp.

So, was this experimental treatment a success? “The lace bugs went away,” said Philp, “it worked!” In just a few short weeks, the infestation had cleared and the asters revived. In finding a creative solution, these Alliance gardeners preserved one of the park’s natural habitats, and added a few thousand lucky bugs to the ecosystem in the process.

Learn more about how Prospect Park Alliance sustains the park environment.

c. Martin Seck

Fall Things to Do in Prospect Park

October 17, 2018

Prospect Park’s most colorful season has arrived, and  Prospect Park Alliance has plenty of ideas of how visitors of all ages can enjoy this time of year in Brooklyn’s Backyard. Here is our checklist for autumnal fun in Prospect Park, get out and experience it all!

  1. Take a fall foliage walk! Check out some of our favorite routes through the park to see  the stunning colors of autumn, from the Peninsula to Lookout Hill, the Nethermead, the Lullwater and beyond.
  2. Bid adieu to the birds. Fall is migration season in Prospect Park, with hundreds of species of birds stopping through these 585 acres on their way to their winter homes. Read our tips for birdwatching in Prospect Park, and check out upcoming bird walks you can join!
  3. Strap on your skates because starting October 26, the LeFrak Center at Lakeside is open for ice skating, hockey, broomball and curling. Enjoy these wintertime activities surrounded by the picturesque autumn colors, and before the arctic weather sets in!
  4. Learn more about nature at the Prospect Park Audubon Center. Prospect Park Alliance presented free nature activities Thursday through Sunday in October, and Saturday and Sunday in November and December. Take a birdwatching walk, introduce your  child to the creatures that creep, crawl and fly in the park. Plus, pick up ready-to-go Discovery Packs filled with nature activities for families!
  5. Go for a run. Ready to break a sweat? Fall is the perfect time to go for a run in Prospect Park and admire the colorful foliage from the park’s 3.36-mile loop, not to mention the paths that run through the natural areas of the park. Prefer an indoor activity? The indoor tennis season kicks off October 22 at the Prospect Park Tennis Center. Sign up for a seasonal court or lessons today.