Riverside Park Conservancy Inc.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Riverside Park Conservancy (RPC) strives to provide top-quality care for all areas and facilities of Riverside Park, with a focus on ecological resiliency, community engagement, and park equity. In the 1980s and 1990s, Riverside Park was in a state of dire disrepair. In the past decades RPC has revitalized much of this six mile stretch of urban parkland, and our field staff maintains nearly 400 acres of passive lawns, woodland areas, active recreation facilities, garden beds, and pathways on a daily basis. Public greens spaces are of vital importance for the mental, physical, and social health of the local population. As an urban green space situated along a waterfront, our Park is geographically vulnerable and will be an integral component to fortifying the City’s coast in the context of a changing climate. RPC aims to continuously restore and maintain nearly 400 acres of waterfront parkland, fostering a sustainable and healthy ecosystem equipped to thrive for years to come.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Park Projects
Riverside Park Conservancy assists the Parks Department with maintenance needs (tools, supplies, and equipment), specialized horticultural care, and from time to time, undertakes strategic capital projects. Riverside Park Conservancy's Zone Gardeners manage horticultural projects for which the Parks Department is unable to dedicate staff and resources. Daily, Zone Gardeners check for and remove trash and debris from volunteer gardens and check staircases and other park entrances for debris. They also provide special assistance in times of emergency or critical need and lead large-scale volunteer projects.
Park User Services
Riverside Park Conservancy supports Summer on the Hudson, a seasonal festival held in the park offering a wide range of free concerts, movies, family programs and other outdoor cultural events. The season begins in May and ends in September with the West Side County Fair, and there are more than 280 popular events in between. The red-clay tennis courts in Riverside Park near 96th Street are public courts maintained and operated by Riverside Park Conservancy and its affiliate, the Riverside Tennis Association. Through RTA, Riverside Park Conservancy offers a variety of tennis programs and instruction to all ages. Additionally, Riverside Park Conservancy has partnered with long-time camp providers to host its multi-sport summer camp in Riverside Park — a low-cost, high-quality sports camp experience for children ages 4 to 16. Proceeds from the camp cover the cost of instruction and program incidentals, and in addition fund the care and improvement of the active recreation areas being used throughout the park.
Grassroots Volunteers
Riverside Park Conservancy’s Grassroots Volunteer Program is the largest in any New York City park, with volunteers in 2017 contributing over 40,000 hours of their valuable time and effort to projects of every sort. There are permanent volunteers and "user group" volunteers who work in specific areas of the park. Additionally, the Conservancy hosts open volunteer days and large scale volunteer projects throughout the year. In 2017 Riverside Park Conservancy hosted a total of 153 volunteer projects for 29 corporations, 74 neighborhood groups, and 50 schools. Volunteers engage in a range of tasks such as raking weeding, removal of invasive species, planting, painting, mulching, coastal clean-ups, and erosion control.
Where we work
External reviews
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Videos
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Along with creating a safe, accessible public space for passive recreation, RPC will continue to provide consistent and abundant opportunities for community involvement in the form of volunteer work, free events and programming, and sports clubs and camps for a range of age groups. One of the Conservancy’s guiding principles is that community residents in all of the Park’s neighborhoods deserve equally unfettered access to and opportunities within the Park. Proposed activities for revitalizing Riverside’s North Park are designed to open access to the Park by improving path appearance and safety, bringing more Zone Gardeners to the area, and expanding the role of the community in the management and maintenance of Park resources through increased volunteer activity. Ultimately, the Conservancy wants see communities along six miles of parkland engaged in park stewardship, recreation, and programming.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Our team is actively fundraising to grow our field staff to further extend our capabilities to care for the Park, support our community volunteers, host free public programming, and advocate for capital improvements. We have increased our outreach efforts in order to sustain a dialogue with the community. With long-term sustainability in mind, our professional horticultural staff partners with volunteers to nurture the landscape by removing invasive species, planting native species, and caring for the numerous woodland areas and gardens located throughout the Park. By securing horticultural biodiversity now and into the future, our gardeners and volunteers open this space to migratory birds and pollinators, both of which are integral for a healthy ecosystem.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
As our staff of full-time professional horticulturalists (Zone Gardeners) continues to grow, the Conservancy is able to cover more ground in terms of general maintenance needs, restoration projects, and certain capital improvements in partnership with the New York City Parks Department.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
In the 30 years since its inception, the Riverside Park Conservancy has transformed a neglected and unsafe Park into a neighborhood oasis. Since the onset of the Zone Initiative in 2010, the Conservancy has formed a full-time horticultural staff of 13, and plans to continue increasing this number with a focus on the northern sections of the Park. The Conservancy team is fundraising to sustain several more field staff, increase public programming opportunities, expand the volunteer program, and ensure the long-term health and accessibility of Riverside Park.
The Conservancy recognizes the importance of park equity in New York City and how it relates to Riverside Park. There exists a disparity between the southern portion of the Park, and the northern portion, which borders low-income, majority non-white areas. These discrepancies are an issue of both topography and accessibility, as well as a symptom of class inequality.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Riverside Park Conservancy Inc.
Board of directorsas of 01/27/2020
Dr. Lori Bassman
Mr. Gene Boxer
David Goldstick
No Affiliation
Mary Frances Shaughnessy
Tudor Realty
Michael O'Neal
O'Neals' West 79th St Boat Basin Cafe
Robert J Epstein
Cowan DeBaets Abrahams & Sheppard LLP
Gene Boxer
Cushman & Wakefield, Inc.
Stephen DiPrima
Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz
Elizabeth McNamara
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
Joseph Tansey
Garrison Investment Group
Blake Middleton
Handel Architects LLP
Micah Lasher
Office of Attorney General Eric Schneiderman
Jeffrey Moskin
Andrea Krantz
April Benson
Stopping Overshopping, LLC
Peter Hornick
Millennium Management, LLC
Lori Bassman
Susan Curtis
Margaret Holen
Josh Lehrer
Lisa Lippman
Brown Harris Stevens
John Mascialino
Jane McIntosh
Catherine Morrison Golden
Robert L Weigel
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher
Adam Zoia
Board leadership practices
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Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes