2025 March Newsletter
Spring is blooming in Pelham Bay Park
As the weather warms and March’s blustery gusts subside, all we want to do is get outside in our favorite park.
Please note: February’s lecture is not up on YouTube yet, but it is coming soon!
Spring Events
Play Fair For Parks: Rally & NYC Parks Preliminary Budget Hearing
Thursday, March 20, 2025
Rally: 12 pm
Hearing: 1 pm
City Hall Steps - Broadway entrance
Parks make New York City livable. But targeted budget cuts have depleted NYC Parks' resources in a time of great need, leading to program closures, staffing shortages, and unsafe conditions.
The Play Fair for Parks Coalition (we’re members) is rallying together to send a loud and clear message: NYC must restore and grow the Parks Department budget to ensure clean, safe, and accessible green spaces for all.
Bronx Beer Hall Happy Hour
Thursday, March 20, 2025 (and every third Thursday)
6 pm - 8 pm
Bronx Beer Hall, Arthur Avenue Retail Market, 2344 Arthur Ave
We’re collaborating with the Bronx Beer Hall! Join us for a casual beer, wine, or non-alcoholic beverage! You’ll have the option to donate to the Friends as well. We’ll be on hand to chat about the park and answer questions.
Friends of Pelham Bay Park & Urban Park Rangers:
Birding: American Woodcocks
Saturday, March 29, 2025
7 pm - 8:30 pm
Pelham Bay Nature Center
Learn all about the wacky world of woodcocks, AKA the Timberdoodle. Woodcocks take the skies at night with dazzling corkscrew flight patterns and charming vocalizations. We can’t guarantee their presence, but enjoy a tasty cup of lemonade and a snickerdoodle cookie on us!
Bronx Beer Hall Happy Hour
Thursday, April 17, 2025 (and every third Thursday)
6 pm - 8 pm
Bronx Beer Hall, Arthur Avenue Retail Market, 2344 Arthur Ave
We’re collaborating with the Bronx Beer Hall! Join us for a casual beer, wine, or non-alcoholic beverage! You’ll have the option to donate to the Friends as well. We’ll be on hand to chat about the park and answer questions.
EarthFest
Sunday, April 27, 2025
12 pm
Pelham Bay Park, Playground for All Children
Celebrate Earth Day with us! More information to follow.
Volunteer
NYC Parks Stewardship: Pelham Bay Park Forest Restoration
Saturday, March 15, 2025
10 am – 12 pm
Orchard Beach, North East Corner of Orchard Beach Parking Lot
Volunteer with the Stewardship Team to protect the forested areas in Pelham Bay Park! Volunteers will contribute to ongoing restoration work and learn the importance of species diversity to ecosystem health. Come dressed in sturdy boots or shoes, long sleeves, long pants, and clothing that can get dirty. Face masks may be worn at your discretion. Space is limited and registration is required. Volunteers under 18 must be accompanied by a chaperone. This event has been funded in part by NYC Service. To sign up a group of 10 or more volunteers please reach out to stewardship@parks.nyc.gov.
NYC Parks: Pitch In for Bronx Ballfields
Saturday, April 5, 2025
10 am - 2 pm
Pelham Bay Park, Ballfields 1, 2, 3 & 7
Join your fellow leagues, teams, players, and spectators in volunteering to clean up fields and courts in parks across The Bronx. Help maintain and beautify our shared green spaces! Tools and gloves will be provided. Participants should wear long comfortable clothing and bring a water bottle.
Other locations in the Bronx are also available.
Urban Park Rangers in Pelham Bay Park
Historic New York: Hunter Island
Sunday, April 13, 2025
11 am – 12:30 pm
Orchard Beach Nature Center, Section 2
Join the Rangers on a walk on Hunter Island and learn about its unique history. From the Siwanoy to the creation of Orchard Beach, the island is full of rich history and fun wildlife.
Explore Pelham Bay Park: The Central Woodlands
Saturday, April 19, 2025
10 am – 1 pm
Pelham Bay Nature Center
Join the Urban Park Rangers on a trek through Pelham Bay Park’s Siwanoy Trail in the Central Woodlands. Known for moist woods and swampy tracts, the Central Woodlands is home to a wide array of flora and fauna. Discover the beauty and history of Pelham Bay Park on this approx. 4 mile, 3 hour hike along the Siwanoy Trail! Patrons will be provided with binoculars and wildlife guides. Patrons are encouraged to bring water and comfortable hiking shoes.
City Nature Challenge Bio Blitz
Sunday, April 27, 2025
11 am – 12:30 pm
Pelham Bay Park, Playground for All Children
Enter the park at Bruckner Boulevard & Wilkinson Avenue
NYC Parks is participating in the City Nature Challenge and is recruiting you to help. Join the Rangers as we walk the park to observe and collect data for the 2025 City Nature Challenge, a friendly competition taking place April 25-28 between cities around the world to see which is most biodiverse. This program will focus on identifying all living organisms. Participants are encouraged to download the iNaturalist app to collect data.
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If you’d like to support our programming you can donate here: https://www.pelhambaypark.org/membership
Thank you so much for all that you do. We couldn’t do any of this without you.