NYC Green Relief & Recovery Fund has selected 62 grant recipients to support funding in parks and open spaces across New York City. The effort was made to support a coalition of national, family, and community foundations. As the first round of funding, the grants range from $5,000 to $120,000 to support essential maintenance, stewardship, public programming, and management of parks and open spaces across the five boroughs.
As the Fund notes, the 62 recipients were selected through an open call and application process by a panel of funders that emphasized community need. Funded projects range from basic maintenance and operations within heavily-used parks and open spaces to ensure seasonal usage, promoting volunteer activities to restart safely in parks and community gardens, and ensuring the city’s youth receive training -- and paid work -- focused on environmental issues within green spaces this summer. The Fund is being administered by City Parks Foundation.
The NYC Green Relief & Recovery Fund is still accepting applications from volunteer-led groups that help care for parks and open spaces. Applications are due on June 19th and volunteer-led groups may apply for small grants of up to $1,500. Detailed guidelines and application instructions are available on City Parks Foundation’s website. Current contributions to the Fund total $3.2 million and will be distributed over a three year period, with at least $2.4 million planned for distribution this year to address urgent needs. The current proportion of the City budget dedicated to parks is at its lowest point since the 1970s, and while this fund will help replace private funding lost because of the pandemic, it cannot substitute for adequate public support for parks.
News via NYC Green Relief & Recovery Fund
