Spring 2023 News from NYC Partnerships for ParksSpring 2023 News from NYC Partnerships for Parks
Partnerships for Parks
A joint program of City Parks Foundation and

 

 

 

Spring 2023 News from NYC Partnerships for Parks

Planting Basics with NYC Parks Horticulture Due to the success of our gardening workshops last year, we return with the first workshop in our horticulture series this year. The NYC Parks Horticulture team will join us in person to explore the basics of planting. Come ready to learn and get your hands dirty! May 13, 2023 from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm at Irving Square Park on Wilson Ave. and Knickerbocker Ave. bet. Halsey St. and Weirfield St. in Brooklyn. Click Here to Register!

CommonGround Lunch Networking Event for City & Non-Profit Staff – May 16 @ Tacombi FiDi. Frontline workers in outreach, engagement, & community organizing across NYC’s open spaces are invited to a FREE lunch networking event to meet colleagues and share ideas for how our city can support more creative and equitable public realm engagement. Featuring guest speakers NYC Chief Public Realm Officer Ya-Ting Liu & NYC Chief Engagement Officer Betsy MacLean. Lunch will be provided. Click Here to Register! 

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How NYC Parks Stewardship and Partnerships for Parks Help Green NYC Learn how to activate your community around sustainability and resilience with NYC Parks Stewardship who will discuss the different environmental stewardship opportunities including becoming a Care Captain. Guest speakers include Kevin Record, Community Organizer with NYC Parks Super Stewards.

Thursday, June 8, 2023, from 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm. Click Here to Register!

Seed Farming at the Greenbelt Native Plant Center
Join the Greenbelt Native Plant Center’s Seed Increase Program (SIP) to help plant new production plots at our Staten Island plant nursery. The SIP grows native seeds, sourced from local plant populations, for ecological restoration projects across the city. Activities may include spreading seeds, prepping planting beds, weeding beachgrass, and cutting back last year’s growth. Tools will be provided. No prior knowledge about native plants or farming is required.
Date/Time: Wednesday, May 10th 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Location: Victory Blvd. bet. Ridgeway Ave. and Travis Ave., Staten Island
Meeting location
More Info: https://www.nycgovparks.org/reg/stewardship?preview=5823
Contact:  Stewardship@parks.nyc.gov

Family Fun Hike
Enjoy the great outdoors and beautiful scenery in and around Ocean Breeze Park, while we get moving. We will follow the park’s hiking trails and do various hiking activities along the way. We will also learn hiking tips and tricks. We will move at whatever pace is comfortable for the whole group.
Date/Time: Saturday, May 13, 12:15 pm-1:15 pm
Location: Ocean Breeze Track and Field Athletic Complex, 625 Father Capodanno Boulevard
More info: https://www.nycgovparks.org/events/2023/05/13/family-fun-hike
Contact: (718)351-7923

Birding: Warbler Watch
Our Urban Park Rangers will guide you to the best viewing spots in New York City to see spring migratory birds. Birding programs are appropriate for all skill levels and beginners are welcome. Please bring your own binoculars. Join the Urban Park Rangers on a birding adventure around Clove Lakes Park to look for spring warblers and more!
Date/Time: Sunday, May 14, 9:00 am-10:00 am
Location: Clove Lakes Park
More info: https://www.nycgovparks.org/events/2023/05/14/birding-warbler-watch
Contact: (718)967-3542

Mother Nature Hike
On this Mother’s Day, explore the park in search of animal families and learn how mothers care for their young.
Date/Time: Sunday, May 14, 1:00 pm-2:00 pm
Location: Allison Pond Park, Prospect Avenue and Brentwood Avenue
More info: https://www.nycgovparks.org/events/2023/05/14/mother-nature-hike
Contact: (718)967-3542

Compost Volunteer Day at Heritage Farm
Get down and dirty! Join the NYC Compost Project Hosted by Snug Harbor for a day of service at the Heritage Farm, where you’ll get hands-on experience at one of NYC’s only mid-scale composting sites. Volunteers will assist with compost sifting, compost spreading, weeding, and more! Learn about soil health, urban farming, and waste diversion in the big city. We will be outside getting dirty and doing physical work. Wear clothes you do not mind getting dirty and bring a water bottle. This event will happen rain or shine.
Date/Time: Saturday, May 20, 10:00 am–12:00 pm
Location: Snug Harbor Cultural Center – Compost Demonstration Site
More info: https://www.nycgovparks.org/events/2023/05/20/compost-volunteer-day-at-the-heritage-farm
Contact: compost@snug-harbor.org

Family Fun Hike
Enjoy the great outdoors and beautiful scenery in and around Ocean Breeze Park, while we get moving. We will follow the park’s hiking trails and do various hiking activities along the way. We will also learn hiking tips and tricks. We will move at whatever pace is comfortable for the whole group.
Date/Time: Saturday, May 20, 12:15 pm-1:15 pm
Location: Ocean Breeze Track and Field Athletic Complex, 625 Father Capodanno Boulevard
More info: https://www.nycgovparks.org/events/2023/05/20/family-fun-hike
Contact: (718)351-7923

Insect Exploration Hunt
Join the Urban Park Rangers as we explore the park looking for insects such as ants, wasps, beetles, butterflies, mantids and many more. Learn more about how great insects are for the environment.
Date/Time: Sunday, May 20, 1:00 pm-2:30 pm
Location: Blue Heron Park, 222 Poillon Avenue
More info: https://www.nycgovparks.org/events/2023/05/20/insect-exploration-hunt
Contact: (718)967-3542

Compost Tour and Tip
See where we turn all that food waste into valuable compost! Join the NYC Compost Project Hosted by Snug Harbor for a tour of the Compost Demonstration Site. Get a behind-the-scenes look at our active windrow and learn how we process organic waste from all over Staten Island into compost that supports soil health. Help out with tipping our compost toters into the active pile!
Date/Time: Saturday, May 20, 1:30 pm–3:00 pm
Location: Snug Harbor Cultural Center – Compost Demonstration Site
More info: https://www.nycgovparks.org/events/2023/05/20/compost-tour-and-tip
Contact: (718) 448-2500

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month: Chinese Scholar Garden Stewardship and Tour
Celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month with NYC Parks! Join the Urban Park Rangers and Snug Harbor Cultural Center for a stewardship opportunity in Snug Harbor’s Chinese Scholar’s Garden. Participants will tour the Chinese Scholar’s Garden and while helping to maintain the bioswales surrounding the garden- tools and gardening gloves will be provided.
Date/Time: Sunday, May 21, 1:00 pm-2:30 pm
Location: Snug Harbor Cultural Center, 1000 Richmond Terrace
More info: https://www.nycgovparks.org/events/2023/05/21/asian-pacific-american-heritage-month-chinese-scholar-garden-stewardship-and-tour
Contact: (718)967-3542

Greenbelt Native Plant Center Tour and Gardening
Tasks may include moving growing plants to bigger pots, weeding, moving plants, and other outdoor nursery activities. Please come prepared for inclement weather outdoors, with sturdy footwear, and long-sleeved shirts that can get dirty
Date/Time: Tuesday, May 23rd, 10:00 a.m.- 1:00 p.m.
Location: Meeting location   Greenbelt Native Plant Center Parking Lot
More Info:  https://www.nycgovparks.org/reg/stewardship?preview=5823
Contact:  Stewardship@parks.nyc.gov

Seed Increase at the Greenbelt Native Plant Center
Join the Greenbelt Native Plant Center’s Seed Increase Program (SIP) to help plant new production plots at our Staten Island plant nursery. The SIP grows native seeds, sourced from local plant populations, for ecological restoration projects across the city. Activities may include spreading seeds, prepping planting beds, weeding beachgrass, and cutting back last year’s growth. Tools will be provided. No prior knowledge about native plants or farming is required.
Date/Time: Friday, May 26th   10:00a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Location: Victory Blvd. bet. Ridgeway Ave. and Travis Ave., Staten Island
Meeting location
More Info: https://www.nycgovparks.org/reg/stewardship?preview=5823
Contact:  Stewardship@parks.nyc.gov

Family Fun Hike
Enjoy the great outdoors and beautiful scenery in and around Ocean Breeze Park, while we get moving. We will follow the park’s hiking trails and do various hiking activities along the way. We will also learn hiking tips and tricks. We will move at whatever pace is comfortable for the whole group.
Date/Time: Saturday, May 27, 12:15 pm-1:15 pm
Location: Ocean Breeze Track and Field Athletic Complex, 625 Father Capodanno Boulevard
More info: https://www.nycgovparks.org/events/2023/05/27/family-fun-hike
Contact: (718)351-7923

Introduction to Finding Grants
Candid
Are you new to the field of grant-seeking? Discover what funders are looking for in nonprofits seeking grants and how to find potential funders in this introductory course.
Location: Online
Cost: Free
Date: Thursday, May 11, 2023, @ 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm ET
Link: Register here!

Introduction to Project Budgets

Candid
Are you ready to start fundraising for your project or idea, but don’t know what and how much to ask for? If preparing a budget for your foundation grant is holding you back, come learn the basic elements of how to draft a project budget with confidence.
Location: Online
Cost: Free
Date: Wednesday, May 17, 2023 @ 12:00pm – 1:00pm PT
Link: Register here!

Is starting a nonprofit right for you?Are you thinking of starting a nonprofit? Attend our free class and explore if starting a nonprofit is the right course of action.
Location: Online
Cost: Free
Date: Thursday, May 18, 2023 @ 2:00pm – 3:00pm ET
Link: Register here!

ioby Previously Recorded: Webinars
ioby
Check out any of the upcoming or previously recorded informative and engaging webinars ioby offers such as Crowdfunding for Communities, Bringing the Green: Crowdfunding for Community Gardens, Vacant to Vibrant, and Storytelling 101.
Location: Webinar
Link: Check them out here!

All in Neighborhood Grants
Citizens Committee for New York City 
Last 2023 Grant Round Deadline: May 12th
Citizens Committee for New York City awards micro-grants up to $5,000 to community building projects carried out by resident-led groups to address issues they identify as important to them. You could start an urban farm, create art, educate with fitness, mental health, and senior health workshops, equip GenZ by teaching college prep, youth leadership, and career skills, host a food giveaway, and/or give hope to the surrounding community and more!
LinksLearn more here!
2023 All In Neighborhood Grant Timeline

Daily Grants 
The Pollination Project
The Pollination Project offers seed funding of up to US$1 thousand to compassion-driven individuals, informally organized groups and organizations, and formally registered or incorporated non-profit organizations based anywhere in the world. Topics for projects include education, clean water, afforestation, animal advocacy, and many others.
Deadline: Applications accepted on a rolling basis.
Link: Learn more

The Resiliency and Recovery Fund
The Pollination Project
The Resilience & Recovery Fund (RRF) will provide fast, small one-time grants of $1,000 to support grassroots volunteer responses to natural disasters, pandemic, humanitarian crises, or similar emergent events. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, and existing TPP grantees in good standing who have not previously received RRF funding are eligible to apply.
Deadline: Applications accepted on a rolling basis.
Link: Learn more

ioby Match Funding Opportunities
Reimagining Communities Match Program
Are you leading a project that uses public space in your neighborhood to preserve your community’s cultural history? Are you leading a project that reconnects your community to an underused park or other greenspace? The Reimagining Communities Match Program doubles donations for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) residents or BIPOC-led groups who crowdfund for projects that reimagine public spaces and infrastructure. Up to $500 per donor is doubled instantly for eligible projects. This match program supports BIPOC residents and BIPOC-led unincorporated groups or small nonprofits (with budgets under $250,000) to crowdfund for projects that will radically reimagine public space or support the implementation of public infrastructure investment in their communities. Projects can be a local response to a larger community issue or an early-stage solution that can be implemented to show what is possible in the future. After submitting an idea, project leaders will receive one-on-one crowdfunding support from ioby.
Deadline: Applications accepted on a rolling basis.
Link: Learn more

Gardens for the City Program
New York Restoration Project
Is there a community space in your neighborhood you’d like to see transformed? If so, apply for NYRP’s help. NYRP provides support for projects of various scales — from building a few vegetable beds to large-scale restoration work. NYRP helps provide materials, horticultural knowledge, environmental education, and construction expertise in order to help create community gardens and accessible landscapes in under-resourced neighborhoods.
Date/Time: Applications accepted on a rolling basis.
Link: Learn more

Good Sports Equipment Donations
Good Sports
All interested programs must submit an application in order to be considered for an equipment donation. All applicants must directly serve youth between the ages of 3-18, serve youth in an economically disadvantaged area, and provide access to play for kids. Good Sports is not able to donate to short term events such as sports camps, running/walking events or tournaments. Please review the eligibility guidelines before applying.
Date/Time: Applications accepted on a rolling basis.
Link: Learn more 

The Awesome Foundation
The Awesome Foundation
The Awesome Foundation is a global community advancing the interest of awesome in the universe, $1000 at a time. Each fully autonomous chapter supports awesome projects through micro-grants, usually given out monthly.
Deadline: Reviewed monthly
Link: Learn more here!

Additional Opportunities

NYC DOT’s Open Streets Application
NYC DOT
NYC’s Open Streets program allows communities to embrace new public space and support small businesses. Open Streets prioritize pedestrians and cyclists by transforming streets into public space. New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) works with community-based organizations, educational institutions, and groups of businesses to execute Open Streets citywide.
Link: Learn more