Prospect Park Alliance and NYC Parks announced today that longtime New York City public servant Morgan Monaco will become the new President of the Alliance, the non-profit that operates the park in partnership with the City, and also the Prospect Park Administrator, a public appointment by NYC Parks.

Monaco, whose public sector career spans both government and non-profit organizations, brings extensive knowledge of park equity and community development to the position, as well as strong leadership in driving sustainable impact for civic organizations. Monaco is the first Black leader of the Alliance, further diversifying executive leadership within the open space sector, and continues the legacy of female leadership at the Alliance over the course of its 35-year history. Monaco succeeds former Prospect Park Alliance President Sue Donoghue, who was appointed New York City Parks Commissioner earlier this year.

Monaco looks forward to working with the board, staff and most especially park users to help shape her vision for the park’s future. Coming out of the pandemic and recognizing the ways in which the park has been an invaluable resource for New Yorkers to recover, she looks forward to strengthening the organization’s capacity in order to keep pace with the needs of the park community and the robust use of the park. She plans to leverage her experience in working on citywide equity initiatives and serving vulnerable communities to explore the ways in which the Alliance can bring more social services to the park. She hopes to continue to build upon the Alliance’s already extensive network of partners to bring more programs that are focused on health, wellness and other services that help residents thrive.

“On behalf of the Alliance’s Board of Directors, I am thrilled to welcome Morgan Monaco as the new President of Prospect Park Alliance,” said Iris Weinshall, Chair of the Prospect Park Alliance Board of Directors. “Morgan’s extensive parks and social service experience working at community-based nonprofits and city agencies has equipped her with exactly the right knowledge and expertise to successfully lead one of the city’s most cherished green spaces. I am excited to work with Morgan as her vision for Brooklyn’s Backyard comes to life.”

“Prospect Park Alliance has made a tremendous choice in its selection of Morgan Monaco as president. Morgan has experience perfect for the role – as a leader in both public service and public space,” said NYC Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi. “Congratulations to Morgan on her selection. I’m looking forward to all she can accomplish in one of our city’s greatest assets, Prospect Park.”

“From all of us at NYC Parks, congratulations to Morgan Monaco on her appointment as President of Prospect Park Alliance and Administrator of Prospect Park. We are so excited to welcome Morgan back to the Parks family!” said NYC Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue. “I know that Prospect Park will thrive under her leadership, and I’m excited to see her ideas come to life and enhance the park experience for Brooklynites and all New Yorkers.”

“I am humbled to be able to take over the helm of such an incredible public amenity. As a born-and-raised New Yorker whose first high school internship was with NYC Parks, it is a dream come true to be able to steward one of the most significant parks in our city,” said Morgan Monaco, Prospect Park Alliance President and Prospect Park Administrator. “I am excited to be joining such an incredible team at a moment where there is unprecedented awareness of and appreciation for the role parks play in the health of our city. I look forward to working with the board and staff to help keep Brooklyn’s Backyard truly welcoming for all New Yorkers.”

About Morgan Monaco

Most recently, Monaco served as Executive Director of the Red Hook Initiative (RHI), a youth and community development nonprofit impacting the 6,500 residents of the Red Hook Houses, Brooklyn’s largest public housing development. Monaco was instrumental in leading RHI through the pandemic and helped to bring in funding relationships and new staff to help stabilize and grow RHI’s impact. Prior to that, Monaco led a team within the New York City Mayor’s Office of Operations where she oversaw various interagency projects and initiatives aimed at improving City service delivery.

A born and raised New Yorker, Monaco recognizes the value parks hold for city dwellers and has cherished urban parks since her childhood, which she spent growing up just outside of Central Park. Earlier in her career, Monaco served two tenures at the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, first as Director of the MillionTreesNYC Initiative and later as Director of Stewardship for Forestry, Horticulture and Natural Resources. Monaco began her career at StoryCorps, a national oral history project designed to build connections between people and share the stories of Americans from all backgrounds and beliefs.

Morgan has a Master’s in Public Administration and Non-Profit Management from NYU Wagner, as well as a B.A. in International Studies from Vassar College. She lives in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn, with her husband, a fellow public servant, and their son and two cats, Raymour and Flannigan. Her family is an avid user of Prospect Park.

About Prospect Park Alliance

Prospect Park Alliance is a private, nonprofit organization that operates Prospect Park in partnership with the City of New York, one of the country’s first public-private partnerships to operate an urban park. Celebrating its 35th anniversary this year, the Alliance was founded in 1987 to help restore Prospect Park after a long period of deterioration and decline. Today, the Alliance provides critical staff and resources that keep the park green and vibrant for the diverse communities that call Brooklyn home. The Alliance cares for the woodlands and natural areas, restores the park’s buildings and landscapes, creates innovative park destinations, and provides free and low-cost volunteer, education and recreation programs. Today, Prospect Park is an international model for the care of urban parks, and one of the premier green spaces in the United States.

Over the past decade, Prospect Park Alliance has expanded its operating budget to more than $13 million each year for the care of the park, and increased its endowment to $25 million. In addition, the Alliance has secured more than $130 million in public funding for capital improvements, including the restoration of the Vale in the park’s northeast corner, the largest single capital allocation in the history of the Alliance. Other current and recent projects include the award-winning restorations of the Endale Arch and Concert Grove Pavilion, and the restoration of the Flatbush Avenue perimeter and the creation of two new entrances to the park along Flatbush, the first new entrances to the park since the 1940s.

During the pandemic, when the park saw record visitorship and a drop in public funding, the Alliance was able to rally its community of volunteers and supporters for record volunteer and fundraising success, which resulted in Re:New Prospect Park, an ongoing initiative to sustain the park to address high use during the pandemic via maintenance and capital improvements. Re:New also includes a partnership with ACE New York, a workforce development nonprofit for those experiencing homelessness, which provides a crew to supplement the City’s trash management efforts on peak days in spring through fall.

Other current Alliance initiatives include ReImagine Lefferts, which is re-envisioning the mission and programming of the park’s historic house museum to recognize its role as a site of slavery, and tell the stories—in innovative, inclusive and forward-thinking ways—of the enslaved Africans and the Indigenous people of the Lenapehoking. The Alliance is also working in partnership with NYC Parks and the Department of Cultural Affairs on the creation of a monument to Brooklyn trailblazer Shirley Chisholm at the Parkside and Ocean entrance to Prospect Park, which is also undergoing restoration, by MacArthur Fellow Amanda Williams and Olalekan Jeyifous.

The announcement garnered support from our elected officials and civic leaders:

“I am delighted to welcome Morgan Monaco as the next President of Prospect Park Alliance and Park Administrator,” said Council Member Shahana Hanif, whose district includes Prospect Park. With her extensive experience in parks equity and community development, she is the ideal leader to steward Brooklyn’s Backyard and ensure it remains an accessible and welcoming space for all. I look forward to working with her to advance the park, and engage our constituents in its ongoing care and stewardship.”

“Prospect Park is Brooklyn’s beloved green space, and particularly over the last few years, it has served our communities as a space of reprieve, recreation, and empowerment,” said Council Member Crystal Hudson. “Morgan Monaco is the right person to serve as President of Prospect Park Alliance to further that mission. Under her leadership, I know Prospect Park will continue to expand access to green spaces for all New Yorkers, develop programs that bring our neighborhoods together, and do so in a way that leads our City into the Green future we all deserve. I am so excited to welcome Morgan into the role of President, and look forward to working closely with her to guarantee the Park continues to be a place all New Yorkers can enjoy.”

“Prospect Park is a gem in Brooklyn, and our communities deserve a leader to take the helm of Prospect Park Alliance with the passion and effort that the job requires,” said Council Member Rita Joseph. “Morgan Monaco delivers on those requirements and then some. I’m so excited for her stewardship of our park and to collaborate with her.”

“I’m excited that Morgan Monaco has been selected as new President of the Prospect Park Alliance,” said Council Member Shekar Krishnan, Chair of the Council’s Committee on Parks and Recreation. “Under the thoughtful stewardship of the Alliance, Prospect Park has become one of the crown jewels of New York City’s Parks, serving so many diverse communities across Brooklyn. With her substantial experience at the helm of a non-profit as well as within the Parks Department, I’m confident she will continue the Prospect Park Alliance’s long-standing commitment to park equity and community engagement. I look forward to working closely with her.”

“I am confident that the selection of Morgan Monaco as the new President of the Prospect Park Alliance will give the park the kind of dynamic, competent and experienced leadership it needs,” said Assembly Member Robert Carroll, whose district includes the park. “As a lifelong New Yorker and mother I know Ms. Monaco has a personal stake in maintaining the vitality of our beloved Prospect Park. Ms. Monaco’s work as the Director of the MillionTreesNYC Initiative and as Director of Stewardship for Forestry, Horticulture and Natural Resources has prepared her well to care for Brooklyn’s 526-acre urban oasis. Millions of Brooklynites depend on a healthy, well-maintained and safe Prospect Park, now more than ever.  I look forward to working with Ms. Monaco and the Alliance to make sure that Prospect Park stays that way for my constituents, and for all of Brooklyn.”

“On behalf of Brooklyn Community Foundation, I am thrilled to congratulate Morgan Monaco on her appointment as President of Prospect Park Alliance and making history as the first Black woman to lead this essential institution for our borough,” said Dr. Jocelynne Rainey, President and CEO, Brooklyn Community Foundation. “Her experience in city government and local nonprofits, including most recently leading the Red Hook Initiative, makes her uniquely qualified for this position. Anyone who knows Brooklyn knows how much the park means to our communities, and I am excited to see how she builds on the Alliance’s work to ensure that the park is a place of equity, deepening its connections to the diversity of Brooklyn’s communities, while bringing our communities together in this incredible public treasure.”

“Morgan’s extensive social services and parks background makes her a perfect choice to lead the Prospect Park Alliance,” said Richard Buery, CEO of Robin Hood and former NYC Deputy Mayor for Strategic Policy Initiatives. “I’ve seen firsthand: Morgan doesn’t just believe in inclusive policy solutions — she knows how to enact them. I look forward to seeing how Prospect Park will continue to thrive as a place that welcomes all New Yorkers under Morgan’s leadership.”

Learn more about Prospect Park Alliance.

Join Prospect Park Alliance at the first annual City of Forest Day on Saturday, October 15 in Prospect Park. Presented by Forest for All NYC in partnership with the Parks and Open Space Partners – NYC Coalition and NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, City of Forest Day is a day of activities across the city to raise awareness of the importance of the New York City urban forest, and the essential role New Yorkers play every day in caring for the “lungs” of our city. Prospect Park Alliance presents an array of activities to raise awareness and celebrate Brooklyn’s last remaining forest including nature education programming, a volunteer opportunity, meditation hike and a tour of the woodlands in Brooklyn’s Backyard.

Check out the full list of 50+ events happening across New York City!

Prospect Park Events:

Park Pitch In: City of Forest Day
10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Free, Registration Required
Join Prospect Park Alliance for a special Park Pitch-In volunteer event on City of Forest Day where we’ll be focusing our efforts on Lookout Hill, a scenic woodland restored by Prospect Park Alliance that lies on the park’s highest point, with views as far as Coney Island. Volunteers will help pick up trash and litter that can harm this important wildlife habitat, as well as  maintaining trails and pedestrian paths, as well as weeding and other woodland restoration activities. This event is suitable for teens over 14 and adults.
Please note, volunteer registration will open on Friday, October 7 at 11:00 am.

City of Forest Day at the Audubon Center
10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Free, no advance registration necessary
Families and youth can enjoy nature arts and crafts: learn about the variety of leaves that compose the urban forest, and arrange fallen leaves into a picture. Attendees can also lend a hand by raking leaves around the Audubon Center to help us prepare the park for winter. At 12 pm, set out on a nature walk to learn about the seasonal behavior of trees, plants and wildlife throughout Prospect Park.

City of Forest Day Tour: A History of Brooklyn’s Last Remaining Forest
10:30 pm – 12:30 pm
Free, Registration Required
Prospect Park is home to Brooklyn’s largest and oldest forest, an important hotspot of biodiversity with over 30,000 trees of 200+ species. On this guided walking tour with Prospect Park Alliance touring partner, Turnstile Tours, we will explore the history of the stewardship of this forest over the past 150 years, looking at some of the park’s oldest trees, exploring the management practices developed by park co-designer Frederick Law Olmsted, the work of the Alliance to restore these urban woodlands over the past 30 years, and contemporary challenges to forests due to climate change and invasive pests. This tour is appropriate for all ages, and we will walk approximately 1.5 miles. There will be limited access to restrooms, and extended periods of standing and walking over uneven surfaces is required.

City of Forest Day: Meditation Hike
Free, no advance registration necessary
12:00 pm – 1:30 pm
Join NYC Parks for a Meditation Hike in celebration of City of Forest Day. Forest meditation allows you to slow down and become immersed in nature. Come enjoy the sights and sounds of Prospect Park in this experiential hike focused on mindfulness and relaxation.

This summer, a familiar sight graced the park—the Prospect Park Alliance Woodlands Youth Crew, hard at work during the months of July and August. This beloved youth employment program provides teens with employment, training, mentorship and professional experience in environmental conservation and park stewardship. With many previous crew members recently aged out and graduated from high school, this year’s crew welcomed a largely new batch of teens from 10 local high schools.

“We had members of the crew with some work experience in this area, but for the most part, the work they did this summer was very new to them,” says Kate Abrams, Prospect Park Alliance Youth Program Manager & EcoZone Gardener who manages the crew. The 13 crew members and two supervisors, veteran Woodlands Youth Crew members Phil Lubrun and Victoria Henry-Harriott, worked in the heavily wooded Ravine, focusing on invasive species removal and erosion control along the park’s watercourse. This year’s crew also participated in a work exchange with the Gowanus Green Team members from the Gowanus Canal Conservancy, inviting them to don waders for phragmites removal in Prospect Park, and traveling to the Canal to learn about the propagation of herbaceous native plants.

Members of the 2022 Woodlands Youth Crew hard at work in Prospect Park. c. Kate Abrams, Prospect Park Alliance

The Woodlands Youth Crew is an essential part of the Alliance’s work to restore and sustain Brooklyn’s last remaining forest. The program, which offers spring, summer and fall sessions, is team-based with a focus on collaboration. This year’s group got a chance to build new relationships and conservation skills during their time in Prospect Park.

“There were some on the crew that loved taking out the invasive trees, some loved using the handsaw…just seeing the evolution of every person on the crew was great. Over time I watched them taking initiative with the work, applying their new knowledge, and they started to run themselves in a way,” says Abrams.

By the end of the program, Woodlands Youth Crew participants gained skills in native and invasive plant identification, teamwork and communication; and developed their interest in nature in general, reports Abrams.

“I loved working with this group,” says crew member Max Piatetsky. “Not only did they make work that much more fun, but the things I learned from them and the memories we made will last for a long time.”

“The Woodlands Youth Crew was an opportunity to do something concrete to help the park while learning more about its plants and forest ecology,” says fellow crew member Isadora Davis. “My favorite part was learning how to identify different plants, and what their roles were in the ecosystem.”

“There were a lot of great moments,” says crew member Sam Klein Stearns. “I found myself quickly engulfed in an incredible community of all around great people.”

The Woodlands Youth Crew recruits new members during the spring season—learn more about the program.

The Woodlands Youth Crew receives substantial support from NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, with additional generous funding from the William C. Bullitt Foundation, Gray Foundation, Lavelle Family Foundation, and Zeldin Family Foundation.

Members of the 2022 Woodlands Youth Crew. c. Kate Abrams, Prospect Park Alliance

What do Jewish carving traditions and the horses of the Prospect Park Carousel have in common? Prospect Park’s beloved 1912 Carousel has been a staple of fun and celebration for generations, and its design can be traced back to nineteenth century Jewish immigrants trained in the art of Torah ark carving.

Many Jewish immigrants who arrived in America in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century were artisans, immersed in Eastern and Central European skills and traditions of woodcarving. They were skilled in the art of carvings—horses, eagles, foliage and fruit for Torah arks and gravestones. Upon their arrival to the United States, many extended their craft to the American carousel industry, including Charles Carmel, carver of the Prospect Park Carousel.

Carmel fled antisemitism in his native Russia and arrived in the United States in 1883 at age 18. He worked as an apprentice in a workshop with other Jewish immigrant artists who became famed carvers responsible for many carousels across the country. These artisans’ carving styles collectively became known as the ‘Coney Island Style’ of design with trademark elements that mirror the meticulous design elements of many synagogues and Torah ark carvings.

The Prospect Park Carousel lion alongside a Torah ark carving from around 1882 by an unknown artist. c. Laura Robinson and FolkArtMuseum.org

Assya Plavskina, Prospect Park Alliance’s Architectural Conservator, has worked extensively to conserve and mantain the beloved Brooklyn Carousel. Plavskina says, “Carmel’s style is very grand and has a strong focus on iconography and symbolism. Many of the horses are military-esque. The practicality of the armor, swords, and gilding, as well as the look of being in constant movement are trademarks of Carmel and the other carvers from his time.” Similar to Torah ark carvings, the Carousel relies heavily on iconography and symbolism. Carmel’s horses in particular also lean towards a practical style featuring swords, armor, and generally sturdy and practical horses over more whimsical or fantastical animals.

c. Virginia Freire and Jordan Rathkopf

Drawing from the craft and the detail required to carve Torah ark iconography, Carmel and his counterparts created incredibly life-like animals. Elements like bared teeth, tossing heads, flying manes, outstretched tongues, and vibrant gilding are staples of the Coney Island Style and mirror the dramatic iconography of Torah ark woodwork from the time. Interestingly, Carmel’s style in particular places an emphasis on the outward appearance of the animals. A walk through the Prospect Park Carousel shows no detail spared on the outer-facing side, while the inner-side of the horses are much more simplified without the ornate textures and colors of the outer side: a notable element of Carmel’s methodical and efficient approach to his work.

Heavy gold and silver gilding were key elements of Carmel’s design style that can be seen on several horses at the Prospect Park Carousel. c.  Paul Marinka

Carousel Horses in the workshop during restoration. c. Prospect Park Alliance Archives

Want to learn more? Take a visit to the Prospect Park Carousel to see which classic elements of Coney Island Style you can spot and keep an eye out for parallels between nineteenth century Torah ark carvings and the 53 magnificent horses riding alongside a lion, a giraffe, a deer and two dragon-pulled chariots at the Carousel.