New York Restoration Project

NYRP works to close the open space gap in New York City in a way that prioritizes the needs and centers the voices of the city’s most underserved communities. Focusing on the South Bronx, Central Brooklyn, East Harlem, Washington Heights, and other marginalized neighborhoods, NYRP supports the health, civic wellbeing, food security, and climate resilience of these areas by stewarding critical green space, hosting impactful local programming, creating new green space for community partners, supporting urban agriculture, and pioneering innovative, nature-based approaches to climate adaptation.

NYRP focuses on New York City’s lowest income neighborhoods – those with the least green space and greatest need for the health, environmental, and economic benefits that green spaces foster. According to a report from The Trust for Public Land, affluent communities in New York City have on average access to 14 acres of open space. In less affluent neighborhoods, it is a startlingly low 6 acres.

NYRP is committed to increasing open space access through community-driven processes. We support neighborhood leaders in building capacity from within to plan how open space can contribute to creating safer, healthier, happier, and more sustainable communities. Residents and partners surrounding our community gardens and greening projects design their open spaces and develop democratic processes to govern them. NYRP supports their work with financial resources and with the expertise of our field and program staff in urban agriculture, green workforce development, horticulture, forestry, and educational and public programs.

This community-driven approach guides and informs all of our major programmatic strategies, including:

• Ensuring Equitable Access to Green Space through parks and gardens stewardship;
• Utilizing Parks & Gardens as Civic Centers and Hubs of Social Resilience through our community engagement and public programming;
• Greening the Five Boroughs through our Gardens for the City program;
• Fighting Food Insecurity in Underserved Communities through urban agriculture;
• Protecting NYC’s Unique Environments & Adapting to Climate Change by building resilient urban ecosystems.

NYRP has over 25 years of experience stewarding green spaces, restoring ecosystems, and working with communities to increase access to open space and enriching programming. We have been, and still are, the only nature conservancy in NYC with a citywide scope and commitment to low-income neighborhoods. From our humble, grassroots origins removing trash from neglected parks, we have grown to be a thought leader in the environmental and open space fields, putting innovative ideas into action in pursuit of a healthier, fairer, and greener city for all. Our staff boas not only expertise in their fields but dedication to the communities we serve and a commitment to locally-driven solutions.

Our Operations team – a dedicated corps of gardeners, horticulturalists, environmentalists, and community activists – work to ensure that not only our 52 community gardens, but those of our various community partners as well, are kept beautiful, accessible, and welcoming year-round. Our Engagement + Programming team employs a proven, inclusive strategy that centers and amplifies the voices of the communities we work with, ensuring local priorities are addressed. And our Urban Agriculture team brings years of experience growing food in urban environments and educating gardeners young and old on the benefits of growing and eating healthy, fresh produce.

NYRP’s capacity to carry out our work is enhanced not only by our staff’s expertise, but that of our vast network of partners and volunteers. Stewardship of our Northern Manhattan parks is augmented by two small groups of dedicated volunteers from the local community. The broad reach of our tree giveaways is made possible by our relationships with various neighborhood-based partners, and our vibrant public programming is planned in partnership with our network of garden members.

NYRP is a nonprofit parks and nature conservancy dedicated to making clean, green open space accessible to all New Yorkers. Since our founding by Bette Midler in 1995, we’ve partnered with the city’s most underserved communities to reclaim public land by picking up trash, planting trees, renovating gardens, and stewarding parkland. We bring private resources to spaces that need support; under our stewardship these parks and gardens thrive, providing opportunities for local residents to gather, recreate, learn, grow, and socialize. Over the course of our nearly 30-year history leading environmental efforts in New York City, we have accomplished the following:

- Removed over 5 million pounds of trash and diverted over 1 million pounds of compostable materials from public spaces;
- Co-led the MillionTreesNYC initiative in partnership with the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation;
- Given away over 70,000 trees to NYC residents for planting on private land, especially in neighborhoods disproportionately impacted by the urban heat island effect;
- Built or renovated over 370 gardens in the city’s least green, most underserved neighborhoods;
- Planted over 350,000 trees, 21,000 shrubs, 145,000 plants, and 88,000 bulbs throughout parks, community gardens, public housing campuses, schools, and other public spaces;
- Educated more than 68,000 schoolchildren about ecology, nutrition, and the environment;
- Engaged over 27,000 attendees through our arts, culture, and fitness programs;
- And mobilized over 140,000 volunteers in greening projects.