Love It Back: Supporting Pelham Bay Park

When everything shut down last year, we learned a lot about NYC and each other. We learned that dining room tables can be home offices, that home offices can also be classrooms, that staying inside because you must is very different from staying inside because you want to. Parks have always been oases of calm, but suddenly they were the only safe places to go. 

We know that a park thrives and dies by its community, and our community showed up last fall, joining us for weekly clean-ups to keep Pelham Bay Park clean and safe.  

2021 is going to be a similar story. Even with vaccination underway, the pandemic isn't gone. We can't expect a return to 2019's "normal" this summer. Not everyone can or will be vaccinated, and outdoor spaces will still be hugely important. We expect to see the same increased usage of Pelham Bay Park.

We know our volunteers are amazing and can move mountains, and we're not going to stop organizing volunteer events, trail maintenance days, and cleanups. However, we feel that steady work, day in, day out, for the height of the busy season is what's needed to keep the park and beach clean and beautiful.

We’re celebrating Pelham Bay Park and Earth Day with EarthFest: Love It Back on Sunday, April 25, 2021.

In the morning, we’re running a few volunteer events. If you’d like to volunteer with us, you can fill out this form, or contact Lynne Corry at 718-430-4625 or Lynne.Corry@parks.nyc.gov.

In the afternoon, we’re taking a walk with the Urban Park Rangers and a local historian. Register here.