The Trust for Public Land 40th Anniversary New York Gala – Get Involved!

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The Trust for Public Land 40th Anniversary New York Gala – Get Involved!

The Trust for Public Land invites you to join us for our inaugural New York Gala on September 17, 2013. With Sam Waterston as Host, Page and Jay Cowles, Caroline Niemczyk and Sheryl and Dan Tishman as Co-Chairs, and Caroline Kennedy as Honorary Chair, this event will mark the culmination of our 40th Anniversary year and will help to ensure our ongoing ability to preserve open space, create city parks, and conserve land for people.

At the center of this celebration, the Durst family is being honored for their continued efforts to create public spaces and sustainable buildings for people across the country. Douglas Durst has served on our National Board of Directors for six years, and Alexander Durst has recently joined our New York Advisory Board. During the evening, the Durst family will receive our Land for People award, The Trust for Public Land’s highest honor.

The Trust for Public Land conserves land for people to enjoy as parks, gardens, and other natural places, ensuring livable communities for generations to come. With a leadership team that includes Adrian Benepe, former NYC Parks Commissioner, we are at the forefront of the current debate on designing and building park-rich, climate-smart, and sustainable cities—a discussion more relevant than ever in the wake of Hurricane Sandy and similar weather events expected to come.

Over the past forty years, The Trust for Public Land has become the nation’s leader in creating new places where children and their families can play and connect with nature. Our work in New York City has transformed hundreds of schoolyards from barren asphalt lots into engaging and vibrant playgrounds, saved 70 community gardens from development, and led to the creation of numerous city parks and new open space in every borough. An emphasis on land and water conservation and storm water management is at the core of every one of our projects city-wide. We are laying the groundwork—literally—for a greater, greener, more resilient New York City.

We look forward to seeing you in September for this very special evening.

New York City Playgrounds

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New York City Playgrounds

P.S. 242/Future Leaders Institute Community PlaygroundCredit: Yola Monakhov

The Need for Parks

Thousands of New York City children do not have access to a close to home park or playground. In fact, 73 percent of the city’s low-income neighborhoods fail to meet the city’s standard of 2.5 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents. In these communities, many of the schools have no playground facilities at all. This scarcity of outdoor play opportunities contributes to high rates of childhood obesity, diabetes, asthma, and other health problems.

Our Solution

Since 1996, The Trust for Public Land has helped design and build more than 176 playgrounds in New York City public schools. We transform barren asphalt lots into vibrant playgrounds with safe and durable play equipment, athletic facilities, gardens, and opportunities for environmental education. Our partnership with New York City has resulted in more than 150 acres of additional playground space serving 380,000 children and their families.

Community Participation

The cornerstone of our program is a three-month participatory design process. Involving students, parents, school staff, and neighbors helps us create playgrounds that communities care about—and that meet each neighborhood’s unique needs.

Green Infrastructure

When well-designed, playgrounds are a cost-effective approach to improving air quality, cooling the city, and protecting vital waterways. We equip our playgrounds with green infrastructure elements—such as rain gardens, porous paving material, and specially selected plantings—that reduce excess stormwater and sewer overflows that pollute New York City’s rivers and harbor.

Looking forward

In the next three years, we’ll be working with the city’s Department of Environmental Protection, the School Construction Authority, the New York City Council, and private funders to build new playgrounds in priority watersheds including Newton Creek, Gowanus Canal, and Jamaica Bay.