Our Mission and Strategic Plan

Mission Statement

New York Restoration Project (NYRP) carries out Founder Bette Midler’s dream of a cleaner, greener New York City. To that end, NYRP restores, revitalizes and develops under-resourced parks and community gardens throughout the city’s five boroughs, working to ensure that every New York City resident, family and neighborhood has access to vibrant, green spaces. By providing enriching educational and community programming, NYRP also works to instill both individual and civic respect for nature and responsibility for contributing to New York City’s environmental sustainability.

Strategic Plan – Overview

NYRP adopted a bold Strategic Plan in June 2007, setting forth the organization’s mission, vision and values as we vigorously progress though our second decade of operations.

Focusing on four principal strategies, NYRP is drawing upon its expertise and commitment to excellence in horticulture, landscape design, community outreach and educational programming, and coalition building to make NYRP the “go to” partner for revitalizing underserved New York City neighborhoods. In addition to becoming a leading advocate and partner in local greening and beautification efforts, NYRP further looks to become a model for other cities seeking to revitalize and restore neglected and under-developed open spaces.

Become New York City’s premier non-profit organization dedicated to protecting, expanding and beautifying open space throughout the city’s five boroughs – a catalyst for the economic revitalization of distressed New York City neighborhoods.

Objectives:

Be recognized for the organization’s distinctive business model, expertise and standards of excellence, thereby becoming the “go to” partner for open space planning, development and programming citywide.
Build NYRP’s brand, capacity and financial sustainability to achieve the organization’s mission and strategic plan – entering the organization’s next decade on a solid footing.

Goals:

Be among the private leadership partners in building a coalition to launch the MillionTreesNYC program; leverage public support for the tree-planting initiative as a key example of NYRP’s ability to lead citywide open-space initiatives.
Establish a recognizable design aesthetic – Visions of Horticulture – for NYRP community gardens and parks and set standards of excellence for every project in our care.
Reduce plastic waste throughout New York City including expansion of NYRP’s bag snagging program and elimination of plastic bags and bottles.
Measure economic impact of NYRP projects on surrounding communities and their residents.
Recruit and invest in the most qualified staff and Board of Trustees.
Create new revenue models to augment traditional fundraising; create new revenue streams by leveraging our brand through licensing and royalties, landscape and horticulture services, and expert consultation.
Build a solid base of donors and launch a capital and/or endowment campaign to increase operating support and ensure long-term, organizational sustainability.