Tag: Community Engagement

c. Virginia Freire

Audubon Takes Flight

April 14, 2015

From Nature Play to Bird Nerds Game Hour, this spring the Prospect Park Alliance is offering a slate of new and expanded free nature programs. Starting Saturday, April 18, the Alliance will open the Audubon Center at the historic Boathouse for weekend activities, add a second tent to its popular Pop-Up Audubon program, and launch Discovery Packs, ready-to-go kits filled with activities for families.

“The Alliance offers more than 800 programs serving 75,000 visitors each year throughout the Park, including the Audubon Center,” said Alliance President Sue Donoghue. “Providing families from neighborhoods across Brooklyn – and all over the city – with fun, creative ways to explore and learn about the Park’s natural areas and wildlife is an important part of our mission.”

The Prospect Park Audubon Center was established in 2002 through an innovative partnership between the Prospect Park Alliance and Audubon New York as the first Audubon Center in an urban park. Families are able to directly engage with nature through fun, play-based activities such as bird watching, catch-and-release fishing and citizen science projects. The expanded programming reflects both the popularity of Audubon activities with visitors, as well as the Alliance’s focus on increasing access to Park amenities for surrounding communities. 

Every Saturday and Sunday, the Alliance will offer family-friendly nature programming from 10 am until 1 pm at the Boathouse, such as Nature Play, an innovative game-centered approach to connecting kids with the great outdoors, and Blooming Naturalists, which introduces families to the Park’s vast variety of birds. The Alliance’s popular Pop-Up Audubon program, which launched in 2013 and occurs at locations around the Park, will double the fun with a second tent that explores the Park’s aquatic habitats.

In addition, Discovery Packs will be available at the Audubon Center and new Pop-Up Audubon tent that families can borrow to explore the Park. Similar to Pop-Up Audubon, the Discovery Packs will feature a new theme each month. In April, participants will play Habitat Bingo, searching for specific birds then designing nests. 

Check out the full schedule of programs.

c. Paul Martinka

Brooklyn Ice

March 16, 2015

This winter, Brooklyn Ice, a nonprofit organization that provides free afterschool figure skating lessons to community youth, returned to Prospect Park after a several year absence with the first full winter season of ice skating at the LeFrak Center at Lakeside.

Brooklyn Ice was founded over ten years ago in Prospect Park by Violet Eagan, a longtime figure skating coach, with the mission of making figure skating an accessible sport for underserved youth. The program launched in 2004 with just 12 neighborhood youth, and has grown to support over 60 youth, providing not only skating instruction but also academic tutoring and special workshops on nutrition, college preparation and more.

“Encouraging personal growth through sport and community is our goal,” says Eagan. “It’s a great opportunity for the kids to meet new friends outside of their regular school day while improving skate skills and becoming better members of the community.”

Participants in the program are recruited from schools neighboring Prospect Park, and the program brings together a diverse group over the course of several years, enabling youth to form long-term friendships. “My favorite thing about Brooklyn Ice is that it gets you moving,” said Lucero, a fifth grader at PS 10. “Your not just sitting in the house, you are having fun working with people.”

The program will run through March 23, when students will present their skills to the public at the Brooklyn Ice Annual Skating Show at 6 pm at the LeFrak Center. The ice show not only showcases the progress and efforts of the students participating in the program, but features guest performers including Jimmy Ma, a figure skating senior national competitor. Prospect Park Alliance members receive a $5 discount on advance ticket purchases using the code PPA15.

 

Partnering for Parks: Stroud Playground

January 5, 2015

The Prospect Park Alliance will provide pro-bono design work for the renovation of Stroud Playground in neighboring Crown Heights. The project reflects the Alliance’s commitment to increasing the accessibility and quality of urban parks, and enhancing open space. It is part of the City’s newly launched Community Parks Initiative, which will invest $130 million to fully renovate 35 parks in areas with the greatest need.

“The redesign of Stroud Playground is really an extension of our mission,” said Alliance President and Park Administrator Sue Donoghue. “We have decades of experience designing and building innovative and award-winning playgrounds in Prospect Park—from Imagination and Harmony Playgrounds, to Vanderbilt Playground and the Zucker Natural Exploration Area. The chance to share our expertise, and improve recreational opportunities for neighboring communities is an important park of our work.”

To kick off the project, the Alliance Design and Construction team, led by the Alliance’s chief landscape architect Christian Zimmerman, participated in a community forum on December 8, where they sparked ideas for how the playground could be improved—from water features, new play equipment and athletic courts, to raised garden beds and nature play areas.

In addition to the investment of design resources, the Alliance will also help foster stewardship by helping the community build its capacity to program, care and advocate for Stroud Playground. The Community Parks Initiative is also receiving support from the City Council to increase funding for gardeners, maintenance workers, and critical operating support to sustain the capital investment in the 35 parks that are part of the program.