February News from New City Parks

Adjacent to a brand-new trailhead NCP helped create in Peekskill's Depew Park, city dwellers experience the natural rhythms of late winter.

Landscape Architecture Magazine

features New City Parks

NCP was featured in this month’s issue of the Landscape Architecture Magazine. The article by Jonathan Lerner spotlights our work on four parks in Mount Vernon, NY and gives a glimpse into our overall process. From outreach and design to public finance and programming, the piece spotlights how NCP improves city processes and gets parks on the ground in neighborhoods that need them.

“We were not valuing park space in prior administrations the way we do now,” says [Steve] Lawrence, the grants administrator in Mount Vernon, who describes the city as now having a “macro” view. “[NCP has] helped us not just to look at one park, but to look at all of our parks.”

Read the full article

New City Parks Begins Work with NYCHA

We are pleased to share that New City Parks has begun work with the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). Long considered a “city within a city”, NYCHA houses over half a million of the city’s most vulnerable residents across 355 campuses on over 2,400 acres, but residential towers are too often surrounded by asphalt and dustbowls.

NCP has just forged a groundbreaking partnership with NYCHA and its private partners in the PACT (Permanent Affordability Commitment Together) program to ensure that transformation of open space is included in the next chapter of public housing in NYC. Two model projects are underway: Bay View Houses in Canarsie, Brooklyn is a 27-acre community serving 3,500 residents while over in East Harlem we are taking on UPACA 5 & 6, a 2.55-acre community home to 384 senior residents.

We are excited to begin this partnership and to see the transformation of these campuses into meaningful green spaces.

Rendering of the new Charles Williams Park in Hudson, NY. Courtesy of the Columbia Land Conservancy.

Charles Williams Park Receives NYS Grant

Charles Williams Park in Hudson, NY was recently awarded a grant from New York State’s Environmental Protection Fund. The grant was received by The Columbia Land Conservancy (CLC), NCP’s partner on the project. Grant funds will support key capital improvements to the park, including a destination playground and new sports courts.

“This project is a key part of CLC’s initiative to improve access to nature and was identified as a top priority in Common Ground, our recent county-wide planning effort,” says CLC President Troy Weldy. “For decades, we’ve dreamed of creating a way for people to access CLC’s Greenport property from Hudson on foot, and this project is the first step in making that dream come true.”

Meet NCP's Newest Board Member!

We are honored to welcome Myung Lee to the New City Parks Board of Directors. We interviewed her to find out more about her background and what excites her about joining the board!

Myung Lee

Chief Strategy Officer, Living Cities

Why New City Parks?

Public spaces are critical infrastructure that build community, and in NYC, where most of us live in apartments without outdoor space, parks become our backyards, our playgrounds, our barbecue spaces, and our social centers. I was drawn to New City Parks' commitment to bringing vibrant, accessible green spaces to under resourced communities where those shared spaces are not available.

Read the full interview

Regrid Awards Grant to New City Parks

NCP is honored to have received a generous employee-directed grant from Regrid in support of our unique park creation mission. Regrid, a leading provider of nationwide parcel data and location intelligence solutions is rooted in place-based work.

“At the beginning of each year, a rotating group of Regrid teammates is given a budget to donate to nonprofit organizations of their choosing,” said Marquies Harris, a member of Regrid’s Giving Committee. “We were inspired by New City Parks’ mission to create and restore parks in underserved communities across the Northeast.”

Thank you Regrid!

NCP is Growing!

NCP is hiring a Director of Capital Projects. Deadline to apply is March 15th, 2026.

Learn more and apply

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