Tag: Environment

c. Virginia Freire

Spring Migration Bird Checklist

March 15, 2019

We hope you rested up during the quiet winter season, because spring is here and the migratory birds are on their way to Prospect Park! With over 150 migratory species set to make an appearance in Brooklyn’s Backyard, Prospect Park Alliance has pulled  together a spring migration checklist to help you make the most of this spectacular season. 

Prospect Park lies on one of the great flight paths of the natural world, the Atlantic Flyway. In fall, many species migrate south along the Atlantic coast to reach wintering grounds with abundant food. In spring, they head north to return to their breeding territories. During these months, birds of all kinds stop briefly in the park, and for some species, the park is their destination.

Spring Migration Checklist:

  • Early Migrants: Starting as early as February or March, early-migrating species of birds are making their way through Prospect Park. These species include the easily identified Red-winged Blackbird, as well as the Common Grackle, Eastern Phoebe and the well-camouflaged American Woodcock.

redwingedblackbird.jpg

Red-winged Blackbird, c. Steve Nanz

  • Birds of Prey: Many raptors begin their trip north early in the season. In addition to our year-round Red-tailed Hawk residents, look for Merlins, Cooper’s Hawks, Sharp-shinned Hawks and more soaring above the park, perched on high vantage-points and snacking on small mammals.
  • Warblers: The rock stars of spring migration, 36 species of warblers can be spotted over the course of spring migration in Prospect Park. Known for their bright colors in spring, warblers are a group of energetic songbirds that migrate at night and rest and re-fuel by day. When warblers journey over Brooklyn, they are likely to stop in Prospect Park, where they feed on insects and berries. Rested and refueled, they continue on their way after a day or two. Keep an eye out for vibrant yellows of the Common Yellowthroat and Palm Warbler, blue on the Black-throated Blue Warbler and Cerulean Warbler, and fiery orange on the handsome Blackburnian Warbler.

blackburnian-warbler-bird.jpg

Blackburnian Warbler, c. Steve Nanz

  • Brightly-colored Migrants: When peering through foliage, some of the easiest birds to spot are the brightly-colored species. Bright red might mean a Scarlet Tanager, vibrant orange could be a Baltimore Oriole, blues show up on Eastern Bluebirds and Indigo Buntings, and even our year-round American Goldfinches wear their brightest spring yellow.

Ready to grab a pair of binoculars and get out into the park? Check out our birdwatching page, with birding tips, locations and upcoming bird walks in Prospect Park. And, download the Prospect Park App to see how many birds you can spot in our Backyard Birds Challenge!

 

Ladybugs to the Rescue

November 13, 2018

First goats, now… ladybugs? Prospect Park Alliance is always on the lookout for innovative and environmentally friendly ways to sustain the park. In recent years, this meant a crew of goats to clear invasive weeds, and this past summer it meant the introduction of tens of thousands of ladybugs to combat a new challenge: lace bugs.

“We noticed that the asters were dying,” said Allie Loux, Prospect Park Alliance Assistant Gardener at the LeFrak Center at Lakeside. “They were turning yellow and brown and covered in these little dots.” Asters are an important perennial species and one of the most common flowers in Prospect Park, often sporting purple or white flowers. Lakeside’s aster plants had been hit with a lace bug infestation. These miniscule insects feed on the leaves of flowering plants and shrubs, and in high concentrations they can spell disaster for plants.

Alliance gardeners needed to find a solution to their lace bug problem, and wanted an alternative to traditional pesticides. “Lakeside is very wild,” said LJ Philp, Alliance Lead Gardener at Lakeside, “and when you’re spraying chemicals, you’re going to hit something else.”

aster.jpg

Aster plants in Prospect Park, photo courtesy of Christian Zimmerman, Prospect Park Alliance Vice President of Capital and Landscape Management 

While Prospect Park’s 585 acres may seem wild, this green space is a carefully cultivated ecosystem, and the Alliance’s crews avoid introducing chemicals whenever possible. Loux added, “when we use toxic chemicals, it’s getting in the air, in the water, harming our bodies as well as the animals and the plants. Maybe a pesticide will get rid of the lace bugs, but it will also probably kill something else.”

Their first course of action was to test neem oil, a natural pesticide derived from the neem tree. When they realized the necessary quantity of the oil would be prohibitively expensive and application would be time consuming, the gardeners got creative.

“Integrative pest management practices (the broad-based approach that integrates practices for control of pests) suggested finding a natural predator,” said Philp, “and ladybugs seemed like a great fit.” Introducing ladybugs, an insect not found in great quantities in the park, could be a tactic for managing the lace bug infestation while avoiding harmful chemicals, and sparing staff hours. “We did our research and weren’t worried that the ladybugs would out-compete other species or take over, so we decided to give it a try.”

In July, the gardeners, including Uriel Walker (formerly an Assistant Gardener at Lakeside) received their shipment of ladybugs, 72,000 for a grand sum of $150, and dispersed them in locations around Lakeside. They even left them with damp cardboard boxes smeared with honey (food and lodgings). “We wanted them to feel like they were in a safe place,” said Philp.

So, was this experimental treatment a success? “The lace bugs went away,” said Philp, “it worked!” In just a few short weeks, the infestation had cleared and the asters revived. In finding a creative solution, these Alliance gardeners preserved one of the park’s natural habitats, and added a few thousand lucky bugs to the ecosystem in the process.

Learn more about how Prospect Park Alliance sustains the park environment.

c. Elizabeth Keegin Colley

The Results Are In! Prospect Park Tree Survey

September 14, 2018

Prospect Park is an arboreal wonderland! Through a $75,000 Urban Forestry Grant from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Prospect Park Alliance recently surveyed roughly 12,000 of the park’s 30,000 trees as part of its work in caring for the Park’s natural areas.

The survey not only provides a more nuanced picture of the park’s evolving ecosystem, but important insights into the economic, environmental and health benefits of Brooklyn’s Backyard. Conducted by Davey Resource Group (DRG), a well-respected urban forestry consultancy that has worked extensively in New York City, you can examine the results on the Prospect Park TreeKeeper Interactive Map.

“The survey has provided exciting insight into what we already knew were some of the park’s most important treasures, its trees,” said Prospect Park Alliance President Sue Donoghue. “We are all aware of how special this urban green space is, but now with this data we can quantify the economic benefit our community receives from these trees. It clearly reinforces just how precious this resource is, and how we must all do our part to care for it.”

During the survey, arborists inventoried trees primarily in the landscaped areas of the park, a total of 12,414 trees. Among the findings:

  • The surveyed trees provide more than $1.5 million in annual environmental benefits. This includes:

    • Air quality: 24,000 pounds of pollutants removed from the air each year, valued at $125,000;

    • Greenhouse gas benefits: 3,000 tons removed from the air, valued at $17,000;

    • Energy benefits: equivalent to 1,000 megawatt hours saved, valued at close to $700,000;

    • Storm water runoff benefits: 21 million gallons saved from the city sewer system, valued at $172,000.

  • There is a plethora of trees to be found in the park, including the 84 genera and 193 species represented in this survey. This includes numerous varieties of native cherries, maples and oaks, representing 41% of the trees surveyed, as well as less common species included the Southern magnolia, a fragrant, flowering tree whose northern range is growing due to climate change, and the bald cypress, which typically grows in swampy conditions and sends up knobby root growths called “knees.”

  • The largest tree surveyed has a diameter of 77 inches, or 6 feet, 5 inches across! This specimen tree, an American elm located near the Bandshell, is estimated to be over 100 years old.

  • The inventory also identified challenges faced by the park’s trees. The overall condition of the inventoried tree population is rated fair, however, 8% of the inventoried trees had stress caused by humans.

  • Emerald ash borer, an invasive beetle, was detected in the park’s ash tree population. And, though they have not been detected in Prospect Park, Gypsy moths and Asian Longhorn beetles pose the biggest threats to the health of the inventoried tree population.

  • A tree survey metric, “replacement value,” describes the historical investment in trees over time. The surveyed park trees have an estimated replacement value of more than $59 million!

In completing this report, DRG put together a Prospect Park Tree Management Plan, charting out the tree maintenance and planting needs in the park for the next five years. “By tracking the park’s trees, the Alliance can better care for these important natural resources, which play a big role in Brooklyn’s quality of life,” said John Jordan, Director of Landscape Management at Prospect Park Alliance.

There is a long way to go for Prospect Park Alliance to keep this vital community resource healthy and safe. Contributions from community members help sustain the park’s trees and fund the Alliance’s team of arborists and natural resources crew.

One way to support this important work is through the Alliance’s Commemorative Giving Tree Program. During planting seasons that take place each fall and spring, members of the community have the opportunity to plant a new tree in Prospect Park. Through this program, roughly 1,100 trees have been planted over the past 30 years. Each year, the Alliance plants a community tree on Arbor Day: learn more about how to get involved in this community celebration.

Want to learn more about Prospect Park’s trees? Check out the Prospect Park TreeKeeper Interactive Map to get info on each of the surveyed trees and their benefit to the community.

Kate Abrams

The Weed Harvester’s New Name

August 14, 2018

When Prospect Park Alliance President Sue Donoghue and City Council Members Brad Lander and Mathieu Eugene celebrated the launch of a brand-new aquatic weed harvester, it kicked off a contest to name the new machine. Over the course of six weeks, over 300 entries were submitted, narrowed down, and voted on by the park community. With nine final options and over 700 votes tallied, the winner by a margin of 30 votes is, “The Floating Goat.”

The weed harvester offers an environmentally sound method for Prospect Park Alliance’s Natural Resources Crew–a dedicated crew that cares for the park’s natural areas–to control excessive aquatic weed growth, such as floating water primrose and duckweed. Keeping these weeds at bay helps address the water quality of the 55-acre Prospect Park Lake. City Council Members Brad Lander and Mathieu Eugene funded this $140,000 machine through the Participatory Budgeting Process; and were on hand to launch the vehicle in June 2018 and join Prospect Park Alliance President Sue Donoghue and members of the Alliance’s Natural Resources Crew on the inaugural trip around the Lake. This project is part of a broader focus by Prospect Park Alliance, the non-profit organization that sustains the park, to care for the Park’s natural areas.

An earlier aquatic weed harvester had been dubbed, “The Lake Mess Monster,” often shortened to “Messy.” The Alliance decided to open the naming of the new harvester to the public, and in the first stage of the public naming contest over 300 potential names were submitted, largely by local residents. Those entries were narrowed down by Alliance staff, and nine were chosen as the finalists to by voted on by the community. The options were as follows: Chompy, Da Pride O Lakeside, The Floating Goat, Harvey the Harvester, Lake Mess Monster II, The Little Orange Peel, Orange Crush, The Sea Slurpent, and Weedzilla. Voters were allowed one pick per email address and three weeks to vote.

When the voting ended, and more than 700 votes were tallied, the winner by a margin of 30 votes was, “The Floating Goat.” The winning entry was submitted by Jack Costas (8), a “lifelong Prospect Park adventurer and proud Alliance member.” The name was inspired by the Alliance’s resident goat herd, which was brought in by the Alliance in 2016 and 2017 as part of a Superstorm Sandy grant from New York State Parks to help clear invasive weeds in the park’s hard-hit woodlands. The aquatic weed harvester will accomplish a similar task in Brooklyn’s only lake, and the Alliance is thrilled to welcome yet another “Goat” to the herd. Costas will receive a Prospect Park Alliance “swag” bag and will participate in a photo-op when the vessel has been lettered.

Learn more about the “Floating Goat,” the new aquatic weed harvester.

The Alliance’s Growing Greenhouse

This year, the Prospect Park Alliance horticultural crew dug in and got their hands dirty in order to make an exciting new addition to their team: a greenhouse. The existing structure, located in the park’s Garage Compound space for maintenance and operations, had last been used for this purpose roughly 20 years ago, and had served as storage in recent years.

The resurrection of the greenhouse was primarily undertaken by LJ Philp (Lead Gardener at the Lefrak Center at Lakeside), Uriel Walker (Assistant Gardener, Lakeside) and Allie Loux (Assistant Gardener, Lakeside), with the intention of creating a facility for Alliance gardeners to learn, experiment and move Prospect Park towards greater self-sufficiency and resiliency. 

With 19 variations of native species of plants, including grasses (Virginia wild rye, Little bluestem and Purple love grass) and broadleaf flowering plants (Black-eyed susan and Beardtongue foxglove), the three gardeners, along with the support of other Alliance staff, have nurtured the greenhouse back to life.

The undertaking required carpentry work (including the creation of roll-up sides for ventilation, meshing for shade, and a sliding door to combat heavy winter snow), as well as the installation of a misting irrigation system. The seven-month-old greenhouse is bursting with life and ecological lessons. 

The trial of learning how to grow these specific native plants from seed has proved to be a hands-on process of “positive trial and error,” says Philp. By supplementing the plants purchased at a nursery with home-grown additions, Prospect Park Alliance gardeners can better understand the full lifespan of Prospect Park’s plants and move towards self-sufficiency.

These native plants will not only live longer and thrive with less care, but they will also serve as a greater addition to the park’s ecosystem: providing food and habitat for native wildlife and pollinators and enhancing the park’s resiliency to help it thrive for years to come. 

The project is still young, and the team has bright eyes for the possibilities it can bring to Brooklyn’s Backyard.

Learn more about the Alliance’s work to sustain the Park’s environment.

Amanda Gentile

PPA Profile: Mark Anthony’s 25 Years at the Alliance

June 20, 2018

This June, Prospect Park Alliance marks a staff milestone as Mark Anthony, the supervisor of our Natural Resources Crew, celebrates 25 years with the Alliance, the non-profit that cares for the park. When Mark joined in the early 1990s, the Alliance was only seven years old, just beginning to make its mark in the revival of these vast 585 acres. We sat down with Mark to catch up on the changes he has seen in the park and his reflections on 25 years.

Congratulations on 25 years at Prospect Park Alliance! How did you begin your work with the Alliance?

I grew up in Brooklyn, and came to the Alliance through a program called the City Volunteer Corps, an organization that took inner-city kids and placed them in jobs that helped clean up the city. I started in a horticultural position, and after six months and an exchange program in Washington, D.C., I took a seasonal horticultural position at the Alliance. I started learning the trade from there, pruning and taking care of trees. I also got a second seasonal position working at the old ice skating rink in the winters. I switched back to horticulture in the summer, doing woodland work, and going back and forth, until the Alliance hired me full-time to work in the woodlands.

What were the woodlands like in 1994?

It was decrepit and a mess; it was unsafe to go through. You didn’t even know the woods were there because there was a vast amount of erosion, graffiti and garbage: you couldn’t figure out what was what. The trees there were mostly invasive species, there were no native trees where wildlife could thrive. That was the main reason we created the Natural Resources Crew, to bring back the habitat, diversify the woodlands, and make it better so people could use the park.

Have you seen the results of your work in the park?

Our work in the woodlands—the Ravine, Midwood, and Lookout Hill—helped mark the boundaries, to show “here are the woodlands, here is a path”. We restored the habitat, rebuilt slopes, planted native species. We restored the waterfall in the Ravine. It was underground, so we had to dig it up and get the water flowing through it again.
Our work has been successful. Certain bird species come through the park that we hadn’t seen in years. Chipmunks are back in the park, I don’t know where they went but they’re back now, the population is growing. We have owls and Red-tailed hawks, egrets that nest here and continue to come back each year. And the people are enjoying the park, too. They’re enjoying them too much, but you can’t fault them for that. That’s the reason we do the work, it’s people’s habitat too.

What do you enjoy about this work?

My job is a different than it used to be when I first joined the Alliance. I’m supervising the work of a crew, but I still get a chance to get my hands dirty. I go out and push the mower, push the weed-whacker, and even that is gratifying. You transform the area, make it visible and safe, and now people can actually use it. There’s gratification in seeing your labor and hard work put into this place. Seeing trees I planted that are surviving, some 15-feet tall. Seeing landscapes I worked on a long time ago, and they’re still thriving. This is something that is part of what I need to be doing: giving back to nature, people and the world.

 

c. Paul Martinka

Name the Weed Harvester

June 1, 2018

Update, August 2018: The weed harvester has been named! With over 700 votes tallied, the winner by a margin of 30 votes is, “The Floating Goat.” Learn more about the public naming contest.

Prospect Park Alliance President Sue Donoghue and City Council Members Brad Lander and Mathieu Eugene celebrated the launch of the newest addition to the Prospect Park Alliance fleet—a brand-new aquatic weed harvester. This vehicle offers an environmentally sound method for Prospect Park Alliance’s Natural Resources Crew, a dedicated crew that cares for the park’s natural areas, to control excessive aquatic weed growth, such as floating water primrose and duckweed, which will help address the water quality of the 55-acre Prospect Park Lake.

City Council Members Brad Lander and Mathieu Eugene funded this $140,000 machine through the Participatory Budgeting Process; and were on hand to launch the vehicle and join Prospect Park Alliance President Sue Donoghue and members of the Alliance’s Natural Resources Crew on the inaugural trip around the Lake. This project is part of a broader focus by Prospect Park Alliance, the non-profit organization that sustains the park, to care for the Park’s natural areas.

Weed Harvester Ribbon Cutting

“Prospect Park Alliance’s Natural Resources Crew works tirelessly to maintain the health of the Park’s natural areas, including this 55-acre body of water—Brooklyn’s only Lake,” said Prospect Park Alliance President Sue Donoghue. “Thanks to Council Members Brad Lander and Mathieu Eugene, and everyone who took part in the Participatory Budgeting process, today we get to cut the ribbon on this exciting new piece of machinery that will provide an environmentally sound method for the Alliance to control weeds and improve the water quality of the Prospect Park Lake.”

“The new aquatic weed harvester is one of many exciting improvements in Prospect Park that will help keep one of Brooklyn’s most heavily used resources in great shape, especially during the busy spring and summer seasons,” said NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver, FAICP. “We greatly appreciate the investments from our local elected officials that allow us to better care for one of the borough’s most beloved public spaces.”

“I’m thrilled to take part in the unveiling of the newest tool to reduce invasive weeds and keep Prospect Park Lake healthy– this Aquatic Weed Harvester” said Council Member Brad Lander. “It’s always exciting to see a Participatory Budgeting project idea become a reality, and I want to extend my deep thanks to Prospect Park Alliance for their work in making this happen. I also want to thank our district’s 2016 Participatory Budgeting Parks Committee, as well as delegates August Wendell, Josh Torpey, and his son Nicholas, who at the time was the youngest PB delegate! Without their work, this project would not have been possible.”

“As a longtime advocate for Prospect Park, I am honored to partner with Council Member Brad Lander, the Prospect Park Alliance, and the Participatory Budgeting Project to allocate $140,000 in funding for a new Aquatic Weed Harvester,” said Council Member Mathieu Eugene. This state-of-the-art machine is designed to significantly improve the water quality of Prospect Park Lake, which will in turn provide a long term benefit the park’s ecosystem. I also want to commend our constituents who made this initiative possible through the Participatory Budgeting Process. Today’s event is a reflection of our shared commitment as a community to protecting green spaces for future generations of New Yorkers.”

A photo op will be scheduled in the coming weeks when the “Floating Goat” is decaled.

Brittany Buongiorno

Alliance Considers the Forest (and the Trees)

May 14, 2018

On a recent spring morning, Prospect Park Alliance kicked off a survey of trees in Prospect Park as part of its work in caring for the Park’s natural areas. This project is funded through a $75,000 Urban Forestry Grant from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). 

As part of its mission to sustain, restore and advance Prospect Park, Prospect Park Alliance has been working to revitalize the Park’s natural areas over the past two decades, a more than 20-year, $15 million investment that has encompassed the planting of more than 500,000 trees, plants and shrubs. Alliance staff include trained arborists, horticulturalists, a forest ecologist and a Natural Resources Crew. The results of this investment can be seen in the transformation of these once-derelict areas into some of the Park’s most scenic destinations.

Over the past two years, through $1.2 million in grants from the National Parks Service through the Hurricane Sandy Disaster Relief Assistance Grant Program for Historic Properties, administered by New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, the Alliance has been restoring the woodlands in two areas particularly devastated by Hurricane Sandy and other severe storms: the Vale of Cashmere in the northeast corner of the park, and Lookout Hill near the Nethermead and Peninsula (the Alliance lost 500 throughout the park due to Hurricane Sandy, with 50 alone in the Vale of Cashmere). This work was highlighted in a 2017 article in The New York Times, and brought to the park a crew of goats who helped clear the areas of invasive weeds in an environmentally friendly way. The work concludes this year with the planting of Lookout Hill.

The New York Times also highlighted the Alliance’s work to sustain the Park’s natural areas, announcing a partnership with the Natural Areas Conservancy to pilot a 25-year plan to enhance and protect New York City’s vital urban forests. The timing is ideal, since the Alliance is wrapping up its own 25-year plan to restore the woodlands, and these treasured natural areas are beset by new challenges, including climate change and the threat of invasive pests and diseases such as Emerald Ash Borer and Oak Wilt. This pilot program will enable the Alliance to share best practices with other parks citywide, and strengthen its expertise and knowledge base in woodlands restoration.

The Alliance’s work to restore the woodlands is also highlighted on the PBS program Metrofocus. View this video below:

Metrofocus Climate Change Shaping City Forests

With respect to the tree survey, a team of arborists from Davey Resource Group, a well-respected urban forestry consultant that has worked extensively in New York City, is collecting data on an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 trees in the Park, representing about half of the total tree population. The inventory will catalog the various attributes of Prospect Park’s trees—species, size and location to name a few. The survey will also include invasive insect, pest and disease detection to help the Alliance in its care of the Park’s trees, “the lungs” of Brooklyn. The inventory will focus on trees in the Park’s landscaped areas. The results of the inventory will help the Alliance, in partnership with the City, strategically maintain and enhance these trees to benefit generations to come.

“By tracking the Park’s trees, the Alliance can better care for these important natural resources, which play a big role in Brooklyn’s quality of life,” said John Jordan, director of Landscape Management at Prospect Park Alliance. “Trees cleanse the air we breathe; reduce the amount of stormwater runoff that reaches the city’s overburdened sewer system; provide shade that helps conserve energy by cooling buildings and paved surfaces; and even help people feel calmer and more quickly heal from sickness.”  

Love Prospect Park? Plant or adopt a tree to celebrate a special occasion or loved one.
 

7 Spring Gardening Tips from Prospect Park Alliance

April 19, 2018

Spring has arrived, and here in Prospect Park, that means plants and flowers galore! Feeling inspired by the flora? We’ve got gardening tips from Prospect Park Alliance’s horticulture crew to help you beautify your surroundings, whether it is your community garden, sidewalk tree pit or other green space.

View Slideshow

Martin Seck

Alliance Transforms Historic Wellhouse into First Composting Toilets in a NYC Park

March 31, 2018

Good news for history lovers…or anyone just trying to find a bathroom. Prospect Park Alliance has restored the Wellhouse, the last remaining building in Prospect Park by Park designers Olmsted and Vaux, into a comfort station with composting toilets—a first for any New York City park.

“It’s a beautiful little building, and it dates back to the time of Olmsted and Vaux in 1869. It’s the only building still remaining from the original park design,” said Christian Zimmerman, Vice President of Capital and Landscape Management at Prospect Park Alliance.

The original purpose of the structure, located by the lake at the base of Lookout Hill, was to pump water to feed the Park’s waterways—its pools, waterfalls and of course the Prospect Park Lake. At the time of creation, it was considered a great technological achievement—an underground viewing platform was created so that Park visitors could see the machinery at work. In the early 20th century, however, the Park was connected to the City water supply, and the Wellhouse became obsolete. Learn more about the history of the Wellhouse on a Turnstile Tour of Prospect Park.

Now, after decades of disuse, the building has being given new life and new purpose by Prospect Park Alliance.

“It is the first time the building has been open to the public in 80 years—it’s pretty exciting,” said Alden Maddry, Senior Architect with the Alliance, on a recent tour of the building.  Composting toilets only use 3 to 6 ounces of water per flush—97% less water than a conventional toilet.  In addition, the project features a greywater garden, which uses water collected from hand sinks, janitor sinks and floor drains to irrigate the landscape.

“The project will save about 250,000 gallons of water a year from going into the city’s sewer system,” noted Maddry.

In addition to the installation of the composting toilets, the $2.34 million project, funded by the New York City Council, provided for the restoration of this historic structure. This included the installation of a new roof, brickwork repairs and—based on historic photos—the recreation of a beautiful portico in period-appropriate colors.

As part of the restoration of the Wellhouse, Prospect Park Alliance excavated the top of the structure’s original cistern wall. As a final phase of the project, the revealed portion of the wall will be cleaned, repaired and capped with bluestone to create a seating area that highlights the history of this distinctive Park structure. In addition, the retaining wall behind the Wellhouse will also be restored. These projects are presented by American Express.

The Wellhouse is just the latest of Prospect Park Alliance’s acclaimed restoration projects in the Park, from the historic Prospect Park Carousel, Boathouse and Bailey Fountain at Grand Army Plaza. “The Wellhouse will perform a vitally needed function, and is vitally important from an historic perspective,” said Zimmerman.

The facility’s permanent residents—thousands of worms—are now busy at work in the composting tanks, and in a few years time, the Wellhouse will produce live-enriching compost. In 2019, the Alliance was awarded the Lucy G. Moses Award for the Wellhouse, an accolade from the New York Landmarks Conservancy in recognition of the owners and stewards of historic buildings across the City who have completed extraordinary restoration and reuse projects.