THERE IS SO MUCH TO BE PROUD OF IN 2022 AND MORE TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN THE YEAR AHEAD
New York
Trust for Public Land has long believed that everyone needs nature but we know that access to parks and public land is not equally shared. That is why, with your generous support, we are leading a nationwide movement to close this outdoor equity gap. Together, we are creating nature-rich places in the communities that need them most, improving people’s health, nurturing their joy, and strengthening their connection to the outdoors and one another.
Thank you for being a TPL
research to quantify the benefits of investments in city parks. And we are advancing the visionary Long Island Greenway and safeguarding a much-needed buffer along the Appalachian Trail.
champion!P.S.223,Queens,NY© NYC DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION (DEP)
Your generous support of our work in New York is powerful. Thanks to you, we are partnering with New York City’s Extreme Weather Task Force to improve community climate resilience through our Community Schoolyards™ program. We are undertaking original
As we head into our next 50 years, we are more committed than ever to connecting everyone to the outdoors. We are focused on increasing our impact and introducing new friends to our mission.
The impact of your giving is felt across the country— from New York to California and beyond. Together, we are ensuring everyone can benefit from nature’s healing and unifying powers. Thank you again.
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Increasing climate resilience with Community Schoolyards™
Our community schoolyards play a vital role in mitigating climate change, capturing stormwater to reduce flooding, and combatting the urban heat island effect. They are also a low-cost, effective solution to increase park access, promote a healthy lifestyle, reduce educational disparities, and improve educational Withoutcomes.theNew York City Department of Environmental Protection and the City’s new Extreme Weather Task Force, TPL is installing green infrastructure—like rain gardens, absorbent turf fields, and permeable pavers in tree-planting strips—at public schools to improve resilience to major storms by capturing stormwater instead of funneling it into the streets and down storm drains. Each playground we transform absorbs an average of one million gallons of water annually.
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During the 2021–22 school year, we celebrated eight openings—including P.S. 223Q in Jamaica, Southeast Queens, a low-lying former wetland plagued by frequent flooding, most recently during Hurricane Ida, which tragically caused deaths in the area.
Aaron Premisler, Design Team Student at NYC Lab High School for Collaborative Studies
NY@ TPL STAFF, COURTESY OF BROOKLYN NETS BEFORE
We are creative young thinkers who are changing the world, so we should have a yard where that is reflected… We need a place where our minds can expand and dream the impossible as we become innovators.”
In older cities with combined sewer and stormwater systems, like New York City, even moderate rainfall can overwhelm wastewater treatment plants, sending sewage and life-threatening flooding into parks, homes, and waterways.
I.S. Brooklyn,
Combined, these eight climate-smart schoolyards have the capacity to capture over 9.4 million gallons of water per year, reducing the risk of catastrophic floods. And we continue to develop a robust pipeline of exciting schoolyard projects with over 25 in the next five years.
In a first-of-its-kind study, TPL quantified the benefits of the network of city, state, and federal parks in New York City in our new report, Economic Benefits of Parks in New York City
• Reduced costs of heat stress illness by lowering local temperatures and avoiding ER visits and hospitalizations
THE LAB
• $1.14 billion in health care savings
The Land and People Lab uses evidence to increase the impact of our on-the-ground work and spark a national movement for parks and public land. We inform policies and practices, build partnerships, and share resources to expand the many benefits of nature and the outdoors. Locally, the Lab provides tools like this economic benefits report.
• $9.1 billion in recreational value for residents
• $17.9 billion in tourism spending
© NYC DEP
We found that New York City parks provide:
The value of parks
P.S. 107, Bronx, NY
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• $680 million annually spent on the outdoor recreation economy by residents, supporting at least 479 stores and 4,336 employees in the city.
• Over $15.2 billion in increased property value and $101 million in annual property tax revenue for homes located within 500 feet of parks
The benefits of parks go far beyond dollars and cents, as the peaceful green oases enrich life in NYC immea surably. By offering a fuller picture of the economic benefits, this report equips local decision-makers and the NYC park advocacy community with quantifiable support to help fund, protect, create, and maintain the city’s parks for current and future residents and visitors.
From Central Park to community schoolyards—and every neighborhood park in between—New Yorkers treasure the green spaces that make the city livable. But parks in New York City provide more than precious quality time outside: they create billions of dollars of benefits and savings every year with a payback many times greater than the annual maintenance budgets for these spaces.
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Building the Greenway
Once built, this trail will provide public health benefits to Long Islanders by offering a place for recreational activities, including walking, running, biking, rollerblading, hiking, and more. It will also be a place where people can connect with nature, which is increasingly crucial as Long Island continues to develop. Most importantly, an off-road trail will allow people to safely recreate outdoors without fear of congested traffic.
Equitable and accessible, the Long Island Greenway will be right in Long Islanders’ backyards. It will serve over 8 million residents east of Manhattan as well as other New Yorkers and tourists, and is designed to meet the needs of people of color and low-income residents.
TPL has a long history of building linear parks, converting railways to bike paths, and creating other trails that can make it easier to hike, bike, and connect to nature. We are leading the design and development of the Long Island Greenway, a 175-mile multi-use trail traversing the entire length of Long Island that will improve community health, strengthen local economies, and provide alternate transportation.
With over $3.6 million in state and federal funding secured, we are preparing to build the first segment of the trail. This first section will start at Eisenhower Park in Nassau County and stretch 25 miles to Brentwood State Park in Suffolk County.
Our goal over the next year is to get to shovel-ready status, secure construction funding for Phase 1 by 2024,
SUPPORT THE LONG ISLAND GREENWAY
Building a trail in this developed area requires a champion for the communities. We are raising $2 million in private donations to unlock $27 million in public funding to design and construct Phase 1. We also are pushing forward to simultaneously start the design of Phase 2, an 80-mile loop at the eastern end of Long Island.
and begin designing Phase 2—an 80-mile loop at the eastern end of Long Island.
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In partnership with other nonprofits and local communities, TPL is embarking on a new phase of A.T. conservation—working to protect recreation, habitat, and the trail’s multiple benefits for communities along its
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After lengthy negotiations and due diligence efforts, we are in the process of securing the property and will hold onto it until the State is ready to take ownership in 2023, ensuring access to this undisturbed forest rich with wildlife and spectacular views for future generations.
DEPOT HILL AND CAMP LUDINGTON
The future of the Appalachian Trail
This project will provide a climate-resilient corridor for animals and plant species, and expand hiking and nature access for community members and visitors alike by creating an expanded public land unit for our partners at New York State DEC.
Stretching 2,190 miles from Georgia to Maine and hosting 3 million visitors per year, the Appalachian Trail (A.T.) is America’s most iconic long-distance hiking trail. But while its place in American history may be firmly established, its future is less secure as development and other pressures continue to threaten views, wildlife habitat, and the premier outdoor experience within a day’s drive of half of U.S. residents.
In Dutchess County, we are pursuing a complex real estate conservation effort to permanently protect and provide recreational access to over 500 acres of climateresilient lands located within 50 feet of the A.T. footpath, across two adjoining parcels: the 423-acre Depot Hill property and 100 acres of the 150-acre Girl Scout’s Heart of the Hudson Chapter’s Camp Ludington property.
land will secure more than a hiking path. As climate change alters ecosystems and habitats, animals will move north and to higher elevations, requiring us to conserve additional land along the A.T. to ensure they have a wider corridor. It will also help protect the quality of life and character of the many small towns it touches.
We are so grateful for our outstanding volunteers!
Phil G. Meeks , Former Exec VP/Pres, Spectrum Business Enterprise at Charter Communications
Vanessa Barboni Hallik , CEO, Another Tomorrow
Jeanne Mullgrav, Managing Director, Capalino
Lisa Sarajian , Former Managing Director, Standard & Poor’s
Graeme Daykin , President and Partner, Magnitude Capital
Kristen Owen , Executive Director, Oppenheimer & Co.
* Also on the National Board of Directors
Ibrahim Abdul-Matin , Co-Founder, Green Squash Consulting
Beth A. Maher
Craig Dessen , Senior Investment Manager, Man FRM
Jennifer Paprotna Director of Philanthropy, NY jennifer.paprotna917.690.4658@ tpl.org Carter Strickland VP, Mid-Atlantic Region and NY State Director carter.strickland718.938.3907@ tpl.org 632 NewSuiteBroadway902York,NY 10012 Join us
Help ensure everyone has access to the outdoors. Every park we create, schoolyard we transform, trail we extend, and landscape we protect is thanks to supporters like you. tpl.org/donate/ny
for helping improve the health, equity, and climate outcomes for communities in New York and beyond. We couldn’t do this without you.
NEW ADVISORYYORKBOARD
Steven G. Horowitz , Senior Advisor, New City Parks
Sarah JenniferJacksonJones , The Rockefeller University*
Sharon Lyu Volckhausen , Vice President, Tiger Baron Foundation
Jennifer Geiling , CEO, Union Settlement
David Poppe , President, Giverny Capital Asset Management*
Jonathan Wiesner, Founder and CEO, Phenix Strategic Partners**
** Chairman COVER, TOP: © TPL STAFF; © NYC DEP; © ALEX HOYER; LARGE: © CHRIS BENNETT; THIS PAGE: © CHRIS BENNETT.
David Ragins , Managing Director, Clarion Capital Partners, LLC
THANK YOU
Vincent Lee , Associate Principal, Arup