A Bright Future For Brooklyn Nature

Prospect Park Alliance has announced that the Leon Levy Foundation has made a transformational $10 million gift to the Alliance to support its work to sustain, restore and advance Prospect Park and its 350 acres of natural areas, including Brooklyn’s last remaining upland forest and only lake. The Shelby White and Leon Levy Woodlands Endowment will endow four new Ecological Zone Gardeners in Prospect Park. Currently the Alliance has seven gardeners to care for the park’s 526 acres. The Shelby White Leon Levy Ecological Zone Gardeners will work in two key areas of the park, including the woodland Ravine and Lakeside, the 26 acres in the southeast corner of the park that surrounds a portion of the park’s 60-acre lake. 

Prospect Park Alliance Board Chair Iris Weinshall, Prospect Park Alliance President, Morgan Monaco,  Shelby White, Founding Trustee of the Leon Levy Foundation, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander and Deputy Brooklyn Borough President Kim Council announce the Shelby White and Leon Levy Woodlands Endowment.

The gift was announced as the park nears the one-year anniversary of a devastating two-acre, two-alarm fire in the Ravine in November 2024. This fall, Alliance staff and volunteers will plant nearly 3,000 plants and shrubs to re-green this area, which had been completely decimated by the fire. These native woodland species include Pennsylvania Sedge, Wild Geranium, Woodland Phlox, Christmas Fern, American Witch Hazel, American Holly, Fragrant Sumac, Carolina Rose and Flowering Raspberry.

Prospect Park Alliance’s Ecological Zone Gardeners planting nearly 3,000 new plants and shrubs to re-green the area of our woodland Ravine that was devastated by the November 2024 fire.

“Shelby is a Brooklyn hero: her support of the park and a range of Brooklyn cultural organizations has transformed our borough, and reflects her strong ethos of philanthropy to the causes she holds dear,” said Morgan Monaco, President, Prospect Park Alliance. “Through the Leon Levy Foundation we have been able to achieve so much, and this gift will ensure our care of Brooklyn Nature thrives for many years to come.

Shelby White, Founding Trustee of the Leon Levy Foundation, said, “Prospect Park was my childhood playground. We are delighted that this endowment gift will help ensure that generations of children will continue to experience the wonder and natural beauty of Brooklyn’s magnificent park.” 

“Our natural spaces provide New Yorkers with a place to escape the hustle of urban life and connect with nature and the great outdoors. Thanks to this additional funding, Prospect Park’s forest and lake will benefit from the care of more gardeners, keeping these places resilient and healthy for the benefit of all New Yorkers and the park’s natural ecosystems,” said NYC Parks Commissioner Iris Rodriguez-Rosa. “I’m grateful to our partners at the Prospect Park Alliance for their work helping us care for Brooklyn’s Backyard.”

“Prospect Park is one of our greatest public treasures, and I am proud to represent it in the State Senate. While my colleagues and I advocate for the Prospect Park Alliance in Albany, incredible partners like Shelby White and the Leon Levy Foundation stand tall as defenders and benefactors of our green spaces. We are so grateful to them for this transformational gift to our park and the communities that cherish it,” said State Senator Zellnor Myrie.

“This incredibly generous $10 million grant from the Leon Levy Foundation will help sustain and enhance the natural areas of Prospect Park. This grant will allow future generations to experience that “antidote” to the stresses of city life that was envisioned by Olmsted and Vaux,” said Assemblymember Robert Carroll.

“As a fan and nearby resident, Prospect Park’s forest needs protection and preservation so that all Brooklynites and visitors can benefit from the greenspace all year, every year,” said New York City Comptroller Brad Lander. “As climate change continues to disrupt our city’s ecosystems, investing in the protection of Brooklyn’s only remaining forest is critical to preparing New York for a new reality of more frequent droughts and wildfires. In this era of climate crisis, true resiliency means building back stronger after events like the 2024 wildfire and ensuring our communities can be safe and enjoy the park for generations to come.”

“I’m so grateful to the Leon Levy Foundation for supporting the Prospect Park Alliance as they work to preserve the park’s ecosystems,” said Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. “For generations, Prospect Park has given Brooklynites a place to relax, gather, and connect with the incredible wildlife that thrives right here in our borough. With this generous gift, Brooklynites will be able to enjoy the park’s forest and lakeside for years to come.”

“Prospect Park is the heart of our borough, and today we’re celebrating an incredible investment in its future,” said Council Member Shahana Hanif. “The Shelby White and Leon Levy Endowment ensures that our woodlands, meadows, and lakesides will continue to thrive under the care of dedicated Ecological Zone Gardeners. After the loss we experienced in last year’s woodland fire, this commitment to restoration and stewardship is a powerful reminder of Brooklyn’s resilience and our shared responsibility to protect our natural spaces.”

This is the second transformational gift from the Leon Levy Foundation. In 2008, the foundation provided $10 million to renew the shoreline of the Lake to create the Shelby White and Leon Levy Esplanade and Chaim Baier Music Island at Lakeside. This project restored park creators Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux’s historic plan for the lake, and through extensive research, returned the lakeshore to its original design. The White Levy Esplanade features walkways and picnic areas, with newly placed boulders, native trees, shrubs and aquatic plants. In addition, five acres of the Lake were excavated to recreate Baier Music Island, which serves as a wildlife habitat. In 2007, the Foundation made its first grant to the Alliance to support the care of the park’s 30,000 trees. Through this funding, the Alliance was able to jumpstart its work in sustaining a healthy forest by pruning hundreds of trees across the park: work that had faced a critical backlog due to a lack of City funding. This financial support provided the seeding that has grown into the Alliance’s natural areas care program, which forms the backbone of the Alliance’s work in Prospect Park.