WHO HIBERNATES? PARK GROUPS WINTER WISELY IN WINTER, PARK GROUPS TAKE STOCK OF THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS, they plan for the season ahead, and they reflect on what motivates members to be involved. For some, like the Friends of Fort Totten Park in Queens, it’s the knowledge that their participation can influence the future of their neighborhood. For others, like the Friends of Mother Cabrini Playground in Brooklyn, it’s the chance to build a strong sense of community. Voices of the neighborhood: It may be a few months before Fort Totten Park opens to the public, but the park’s network of support is already in place. In fact, before the City of New York had signed the deed for this historic military base, residents of Bay Terrace, Queens had organized themselves into the Friends of Fort Totten Park, securing fiscal sponsorship, contacting elected officials, and organizing a team of 32 people to volunteer for It’s My Park! Day. The birth of the group dates back to a series of meetings between members of the Bay Terrace Community Alliance and Parks & Recreation’s Administrator for Northeast Queens Parks, Janice Melnick. In those meetings, the residents of Bay Terrace expressed concerns about the plan for Fort Totten and asked how they could help bring a community perspective to the table. Melnick encouraged them to start a “Friends of” group. In the months since its formation, the Friends of Fort Totten Park have been heartened to review research indicating that the best way to ensure the safety of a park is to spend time in it and that successful parks raise property values. They are optimistic thatt heir involvement can influence the future of the park. “Now, people who were hard-line against the park are excited about it,” reports Warren Schreiber, President of the Friends of Fort Totten Park. “Many of us feel that this can be our legacy. Thirty or forty years from now I’d like people to be able to walk completely around the park and gaze out at the beautiful view across the bay. I’d like there to be activities for children and cultural events. I can picture Fort Totten Park as the hub of our community, a hub that’s open to every-body.” The Friends of Fort Totten Park are using the winter to solidify the structure of their organization by incorporating and securing tax exempt status in time for spring and the official opening of the park. Advocates for group process: Any parent will tell you that playgrounds are busiest when the weather is warm. As the temperature drops and the days get shorter, activity is limited. For that reason, the winter is a practical time for playground groups to get started on projects that require long-range planning. This is what the Friends of Mother Cabrini Playground are doing. On November 13, with a grant from Partnerships for Parks, they held a community-visioning workshop to generate ideas for how an unused area of the park can be improved. Jean Davis, Chair of the Friends of Mother Cabrini Playground, sees in this project the chance to engage new participants, including old timers and neighborhood newcomers. “I really believe in people coming together and creating something that reflects who they are,” says Davis. “As the process unfolds, people get excited and they connect with each other. This project can be a vehicle for that.” She plans to carry this spirit of facilitation with her throughout the winter as she assembles a team motivated to develop new ideas and united by a belief in the power of people working together toward a common goal. “Community space,” explains Davis, “allows for there to be interaction that people might not otherwise have. That makes for safer, friendlier communities.” What brings your group together? MAKE THE MOST OUT OF MEETINGS In November, the Bronx Coalition for Parks and Green Spaces held an all-day retreat in order to invigorate their group. They used brainstorming and consensus building to establish a new tone for their monthly meetings and ensure that every member of the team felt valued. They left behind their usual meeting space at Bronx Borough Hall and met in the leafy environs of The New York Botanical Garden, blocking out an entire day and hiring a moderator to facilitate. Darrell Penn, a member of the Coalition, reports, “It worked phenomenally. As a result of the process we employed, everyone recognized that they are needed.” In planning their retreat, the Coalition returned to some of the basics of what makes a successful meeting: 1.They defined a clear and simple goal for the meeting. 2.They created a meeting structure that encouraged participation among all members. 3.They included time for social interaction. These strategies and others are captured in the tip sheets that form the curriculum of Leadership Skills, a free Partnerships for Parks workshop. For a complete list of tip sheets, go to the “Resources for You” section at www.partnershipsforparks.org and click on Tip Sheets, or call (212) 360-8180. The Coalition will be holding their annual Bronx Speak Up, a learning and networking event for supporters of Bronx parks, on March 5 at Lehman College from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. For more information visit www.bronxgreenspace.org. Q: WHERE DO PARKIES GO IN WINTER? A: TO THE RECREATION CENTERS! Parks & Recreation operates indoor park facilities in every borough, hosting programs for preschoolers, childrenages 6 to 13, teenagers, and adults. Take a computer classor learn to salsa. Refer a child you know to a swimming program or encourage a senior citizen to play chess. All centers are free for children; some centers require a membership fee for adults. To learn more, call (212) 360-3311 or visit www.nyc.gov/parks. The NYC Compost Project, a program of the New York City Department of Sanitation, offers free composting workshops throughout the year in connection with the botanical gardens in Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. They will teach you how to return organic material to the soil and improve growing conditions for your plants. For a complete schedule of composting workshops, visit www.nyccompost.org. For a real-time experience of park history, visit one of the City’s 22 historic house museums. These preserved spaces provide a unique sense of New York City from days gone by. The museums offer group tours, special events, and educational programs for children. For a list of historic houses, call (212) 360-8282 or visit www.historichousetrust.org. Your park is rich with history! If you’d like to research New York City’s parks from the warmth of a sheltered indoor space, Parks & Recreation operates a public library out of its headquarters in the Arsenal at 64th Street and Fifth Avenue. To make an inquiry or schedule an appointment, call (212) 360-8240. To take a guided walk through snow-covered woods, learn to spot New York City’s resident birds, or build a terrarium, call 311 and ask for the Urban Park Rangers. Their free weekend activities, for naturalists of all ages, are operated out of Parks & Recreation’s nature centers, located in every borough and open all year. You can also find a calendar of Ranger programs at www.nyc.gov/parks. The month of May might sound like it’s a long way off, but don’t forget to mark your calendar for It’s My Park!Day on May 14, 2005 and again on October 15, 2005. There are lots of ways you can get involved with this city-wide event. For details, please visit www.itsmypark.org or call (212) 360-1357. The Street Tree Census is coming this summer! It will be a great opportunity for volunteers to learn more about our City's trees and take part in the Big Tree Count. Stay tuned for more information in the next Leaflet or visit www.nyc.gov/parks. Dear Friends, HAPPY NEW YEAR! While outdoor park activity slows down around this time of year, park groups are busily engaged in brainstorming, strategic planning, and community building. Included in this issue are descriptions of resources intended to support those efforts: free legal aid, leadership workshops, and access to Parks & Recreation’s historical records. Our park system - of which you are an essential part - is alive and growing throughout the winter. These services are part of our investment in you. As always, we are grateful for your investment in the city’s parks, and we look forward to sharing a great green year with you in 2005. Sincerely, Adrian Benepe, Commissioner, Parks & Recreation David Rivel, Executive Director, City Parks Foundation GET TO KNOW YOUR EVERGREENS With many plants brown or underground during the winter, evergreens are easy to spot. Native species in particular areamong the most in need of protection and propagation. With a field guide in hand, you should be able to find examples of many native evergreens in New York City parks and gardens. Conifers such as red cedar, pitch pines, Eastern white pines, and hemlocks all have needle-like leaves. Closer to the ground, you may see clumps of spotted wintergreen, round-leaf pyrola, or partridgeberry trailing atop fallen leaves. You may also find native ferns such as evergreen wood ferns and Christmas ferns. Specialists at Parks & Recreation’s Natural Resources Group ask that you make a particular effort to plant and protect species native to New York. Happy scouting! VOLUNTEERS CONTRIBUTED OVER 1,350,000 HOURS OF WORK in 2004 to improve New York City’s parks! IS YOUR PARK GROUP IN NEED OF LEGAL SERVICES? Maybe you are ready to incorporate and secure tax-exempt status, or maybe you are reviewing your group structure. Free legal help is available through New York Lawyers for the Public Interest. Their clearinghouse service will match your need with a pro bono lawyer. For more information, call (212) 244-4664 or visit www.nylpi.org. GRANT OPPORTUNITIES FOR TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE Community-based groups that are engaged in grassroots organizing in low-income neighborhoods can apply for up to $15,000 in seed grants and on-site technical assistance from the Community Training and Assistance Center / Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. Call (617) 423-1444 or visit www.ctacusa.com/mott.html for more information. Applications will be due this spring. Partnerships for Parks works to increase community support for and involvement in parks throughout New York City. Founded in 1995, Partnerships works to start, strengthen, and support neighborhood park groups; to link these groups together so that they can learn from each other and become stronger collectively; and to promote involvement in parks so people will join in efforts to restore and preserve them. Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor City of New York Adrian Benepe, Commissioner Parks & Recreation David Rivel, Executive Director City Parks Foundation Jenny Hoffner, Director Partnerships for Parks Editor: Dana Molina, Director, Volunteer Program Writer: Julia Schaffer http://www.partnershipsforparks.org http://www.nyc.gov/parks http://www.CityParksFoundation.org To contact Partnerships for Parks and for information on volunteering in parks, call (212) 360-1357 or call the City's non-emergency hotline, 311.

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