I'm proud to share New City Parks’ 2026 Year in Review. With your partnership and support, this year was a true milestone. We celebrated the grand openings of three new parks in three different cities, bringing the total number of reopened NCP parks across New York State and New Jersey to 10! We also secured more than $14 million in scarce park construction capital – $75.3 million to date – money that was completely out of reach to our city partners. 

This year’s retrospective drives home NCP’s unique capacity to support and strengthen cities, empower urban communities, bring joy and opportunity to residents, and get parks built where they have been missing. Our work is about so much more than parks as physical spaces. Behind every number and every success are stories of real people who have new opportunities to connect, explore, relax, and recreate.  

The numbers are still worth noting! 

• The three new parks that opened this year (Buffalo Promise Neighborhood Park, Westside Park, and Eddie Williams Playground) are the culmination of years of work with our partners in Buffalo, Paterson, and Mount Vernon.  

• Demand for our work is incredibly high. We launched two new city partnerships extending our work into the City of Newburgh and forging an exciting new partnership with NYCHA, a city within a city. Adding four new park projects to our portfolio.  

• We advanced 17 parks in various stages of construction, design, and community engagement and nurtured robust stewardship in two of our recently opened parks.  

• The $14 million in new public and private capital will bring five parks to fruition and includes NY State PLAYS grants for three of our cities, the most we’ve ever received from a single grant opportunity.  

Since our founding, NCP has worked on 25 parks across 10 cities.  

We are heartened by the progress we are making. We also recognize the need to get parks to people as quickly as possible. A 7-year old child needs a safe playground today, not when they are 13. We are constantly focused on improving our model, increasing our capacity, and piloting new approaches. We added two new staff positions specifically dedicated to managing the growing number of park projects in and readying for construction. We are taking on more and more direct roles on behalf of our cities. We are honing our stewardship model to set our finished projects up for success.  

Below are deep dives into some of our incredible achievements this year and the people who make them possible.  

None of this would have been possible without support and partnership from so many. We are all truly grateful for your belief in this growing and focused organization.  

Thank you,

Getting parks to the people who need them as quickly as possible with four new park creation models...

NCP engaged with community members to gather input on the designs of five of our newest park projects. Creating park plans that are truly reflective of their needs and desires...

Over the course of the year, seven parks were in various stages of construction. Three of which were re-opened to the public...

Our successful Stewardship Mini Grants and Community Park Ambassador programs ran in our two recently completed parks and we incubated the Westside Park Conservancy for our largest reopened park to date...