OUTDOOR OASIS

FRIENDS OF THE PARKS caring for their favorite PATCH OF GREEN

By Tara Ryazansky

Photos courtesy of Friends of Elysian Park: Robert Broadbent Beth Diver Margaret Mallan Traut Roseanne Versaci

Last year, the city of Hoboken invited residents to form Friends of the Parks groups. The hope was that volunteer community groups would help support and maintain outdoor spaces. Three groups were formed; Friends of Church Square Park, Friends of Jefferson Park, and Friends of Elysian Park.

Maggie Mallan volunteers for Friends of Elysian Park, between 10th and 11th Streets and Hudson Street and Frank Sinatra Drive. She walks her chihuahua there. “It’s been on my route with him for the past 17 years,” she says. “He’s elderly now. We walk all the way over from 12th and Park. Then we walk a loop in the Elysian Park. In his younger days, when he was feeling frisky, we would go down and walk on the waterfront and then come back. He loves a long walk.”

Mallan enjoys it, too.

“I’ve always been in love with the Elysian Park,” she says. “There are so many details, because it’s a historic park, that I felt were worthy of preservation. It has meandering pathways, like Central Park. Then there’s the nature aspect, like watching the animals. It’s nice to be able to see all the birds and hang out in the shade.”

Fellow Travelers

Mallan responded to the call for volunteers in February, 2020, but the pandemic changed things for her and her fellow Friends of the Park, who hope to start inperson outdoor monthly meetings soon. “We met and connected for the first time on Zoom, ”Mallan says. “We have made

this Friends group function during the pandemic without really knowing each other. They’re so nice and so dedicated and so enthusiastic about the park. I feel so lucky that we got this great group.” Those interested in joining can find more information at friendsofelysianpark.org.

Open Space

In a city environment like Hoboken, residents who don’t have backyard gardens can enjoy outdoor spaces like Elysian Park. “Last year during the pandemic when people were inside their apartments and had no place else to go that was inside, we saw a big rise in park usage,” Mallan says. Parks became the setting for get-togethers and birthday parties, becoming an extension of home for many Hoboken residents. “My husband and I would go for lunch and take our chairs and our sandwiches and books and just hang out for the afternoon,” Mallan says.

Last May, the Friends of Elysian Park participated in the Hoboken Spring Fling. The group put together a wish list of tasks, and the city supplied volunteers.

“There’s the iron fence that faces Hudson Street that borders what we call the great lawn,” Mallan says. “It keeps balls from rolling into Hudson Street. We wanted that painted. The second project was a scrubby dirt patch by the 11th street entrance. We wanted to put some plants there, so that it would look a little more inviting as an entrance to the park.” Members of the Hoboken Elysianettes Running Society picked up their paintbrushes, and Hoboken High School students did the planting. “Our third project was more of a community art installation, ”Mallan says. “We had about 40 little tiny birdhouses and paint, and we set up a craft station. Everybody got a birdhouse and painted it however they wanted. There are three dogwood trees on the south end of the park, and we hung them in the dogwood trees. The mayor and his family painted birdhouses.”

“The plants look fantastic in the planting bed at the north entrance,” Mallan says. “The painting, it’s just a nice fresh coat of paint, and it looks great. The birdhouses are adorable.”

The Friends of Elysian Park linked up with other groups at the event. “We’re definitely looking forward to partnering with these groups in the future, especially the high school,” Mallan says. “Because it’s an urban environment they don’t really have an opportunity to do things like that. We loved connecting with them because they’re enthusiastic young people. We hope to have new things to do with them in the fall and over the coming years.”

But for now, Mallan enjoys the view. “The thing I use the most are the park benches overlooking Maxwell Park and the Hudson River and the Manhattan skyline,” Mallan says. “That’s where I sit most mornings.”—07030