View the complete PDF of our 2021 Annual Report
The past two years in our beloved city have felt anything but stable. Life under COVID has been incredibly disruptive for us all, but when I have moments of doubt or despair, I remember what grounds me. I try to focus on what is solid and reliable.
The work we do at New York Restoration Project is one of those things.
Throughout the pandemic, we have welcomed record numbers of people to our 80+ acres of parks and 52 gardens. Some garden memberships have even grown by almost 150 percent! We’ve also received a steady stream of applications to our Gardens for the City program, which builds new gardens for partner organizations including schools, NYCHA properties, harm reduction centers, and houses of worship. All told, we built nearly two dozen new green spaces this past year alone.
I have been especially proud to welcome our first staff members uniquely dedicated to supporting urban agriculture citywide. As food production experts, our urban agriculture team has dived headfirst into assisting our 700+ community gardeners cultivate over 18,000 sq. ft. of raised beds across the city. They have also expanded their reach by advising our current and past Gardens for the City partners.
One of the greatest advancements we made over the past year was returning to safe in-person gatherings. Although we pushed back the start of the season out of an abundance of caution, we still rounded out the year by hosting almost 80 public programs for more than 2,500 community members including food distributions, poetry readings, bookbinding workshops, mural unveilings, and movie nights. In October, we also threw our annual Hulaween gala in-person and fully vaccinated. It was a thrill to see so many of our supporters in one place sporting disco glam for the night’s Boogie Frights theme!
While it’s impossible to know what the pandemic might present next, at NYRP, there’s no question that New Yorkers continue to need our parks, gardens, and services more than ever before. Safe spaces to get outside and breathe fresh air couldn’t be more vital than they have been over the past two years and we owe it to our gardeners, staff, volunteers, board, and supporters like you for making this work possible.
Thank you for your dedication to New York Restoration Project, and by extension, our city. I look forward to working with you in 2022.
With gratitude,
Lynn B. Kelly, Executive Director
We have seen over the past two years how our resilient city has adapted to its new normal, and at New York Restoration Project, we are proud to be part of positive change.
In 2020, we witnessed how food insecurity ravaged our city and how isolation and social distancing negatively affected the mental health of many New Yorkers. Adapting our work to these growing needs, this year we were proud to offer an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables from our spaces. As ever, we continued to steward accessible green space for New York City residents to safely connect with their community.
As it became safer to gather this past spring, NYRP returned to hosting community workshops and events. And, with COVID-19 safety measures in place, we were even able to host our annual Hulaween gala in-person after moving the event online last year.
In addition to a busy year of in-person programming, we also:
NYRP has succeeded this year thanks to our strong leadership, passionate staff and volunteers, and dedicated donors. As our city continues to heal and adjust, NYRP is committed to working with our communities to tackle issues of environmental and social injustice and do our part to aid in New York City’s recovery.
Thank you for championing our mission to ensure that all New Yorkers have access to clean and enriching green space. Despite the challenges we have faced, your support has continued to make a difference in our communities around this beautiful city.
With gratitude,
Helena Durst and Darcy Stacom
Board of Trustees Co-Chairs
New York Restoration Project believes that access to nature is a fundamental human right.
New Yorkers want to be outside. While 2021 brought some reprieve from the pandemic, the demand for places to simply sit in the shade or spread out in the grass has never been greater.
Read MoreThroughout this season, our 700+ community gardeners wasted no time organizing almost 80 events to meaningfully reconnect their communities to their spaces.
Read MorePerhaps no time in recent history has tested the resilience of New York City more than the past two years. While solutions to these larger problems exceed the bounds of any one organization, we have seen our parks and gardens play a critical role in the communities we serve.
Read MoreAll figures are based on audited financials.
This statement of functional expense does not include work that has been capitalized. In FY21, NYRP made renovations and improvements valued at $938,120 to our community gardens and parks. As described in this report, these capital improvements are designed to ensure that NYRP’s green spaces will be functional, accessible, resilient, and beautiful for years to come.
Board of TrusteesBette Midler, Founder |
Chairman’s CouncilJanice Parker, Chair |
The half-acre New Roots Community Farm in the South Bronx is our largest Gardens for the City renovation to date.
We are grateful for our generous donors who ensure that we can serve our city when it needs us most.
This alphabetical list includes donors who gave $1,000 or more between October 1, 2020 and September 30, 2021. This list has been prepared with care but if there is an error, please notify us at [email protected].
Barbara A. Abeles Ginger & Barry Ackerley Foundation Jerome Adler Linda Allard Mark Anderson Anonymous (8) Apollo Global Management Patrick Arangio Samuel M. Ashner Susan Ashner Atlas Capital Bruce Baughman Charles Bendit David and Robbie Bent Helen Bernstein Frank J. Bisignano Noble Black and Marc Rozic Loren Blackford The Blackstone Group Bloomberg Philanthropies BNP Paribas Bolivar Builders Jason Bowman Arnold N. Bressler Bring It Style Inc Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS C.A.L. Foundation, Inc. Debra Campbell Stillman Capalino+Company Carbon Direct CBRE Foundation, Inc. Checkpoint Betty Y. Chen and Peter Coombe Diane M. Chesnut NYC Green Relief & Recovery Fund JP Morgan Asset Management Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP Cognitive Behavioral Consultants, LLP Jonathan Lee Cohen Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation Coombe Family Fund of The Greater Cincinnati Foundation Sophie Coquillette Koven and Jamie Koven Susan Courtemanche Tracey Cunningham Carole Bayer Sager and Bob Daly Nancy Deering Chinn Todd DeGarmo // STUDIOS Architecture Randy DeLelles Delicious Dessert Charitable Fund Discovery, Inc. Beatrice S. Domingo Lauren Donner Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones Susanne and Douglas Durst The Durst Organization EarthShare New York Eastdil Secured Ellen and Richard U. Levine Fund Mica Ertegün Ettinger Foundation EvensonBest Eventive Farm Credit Northeast AgEnhancement Tony Felzen The Ferriday Fund Charitable Trust Casey and Matthew Fisher Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver, & Jacobson David Geffen Foundation Jonathan Goldberg Robert Goldberg Jerrold Goldman Amy Goldman Fowler and Cary Fowler John and Marcia Goldman Philanthropic Fund The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Ron Gonen Greenacre Foundation Greycroft Deborah A. Griffin Marni J. Grossman Allen and Deborah Grubman Russel T. Hamilton The Joseph Handleman “I Believe in You” Trust Foundation Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks Kitty Hawks and Lawrence Lederman The Morris A. Hazan Family Foundation Molly Helfet Steven Herman David Heymann Hines Edmund D. Hollander, FASLA Walter Hood James C. Hormel Jessica Hu and Jonathan Eddy Barbara C. Hunt IAC Jo Iaciofano ID-PR J&AR Foundation Raphael G. Jacobs Elton John Charitable Fund Jeffrey C. Johnson Norman Kahn BentalGreenOak David H. Kaufman Katharine Keenan Michael Kors and Lance Le Pere The Kors Le Pere Foundation Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP Nikki Kule L & R Donner Foundation Lafayette 148 New York Helen D. Lally Karen Lauder |
The Ralph and Ricky Lauren Family Foundation, Inc. Jakob Levison Robert Light Loewi-Lemberger Kaplan Charitable Fund Linda London Ltd. The Edith W. MacGuire Charitable Trust Scott and Laura Malkin Shelly and Tony Malkin The Malkin Fund, Inc. Erhard Marius Douglas S. Marron Penny Mason Peter McCann Arlene McKay Jonathan and Sandra Merrill Miami Foundation Doug Middleton Bette Midler and Martin von Haselberg Larry Milstein Irene l. Minkoff Janet and Tom Montag Morgan Stanley Hanna and Jeffrey Moskin Family Fund MRB Foundation Thomas Capasse Margo M. and James L. Nederlander Kathy and Ben Needell Norinchukin Foundation Kenneth O’Connor Abraham and Cynthia Ofer Onemain Holdings Janice Parker, ASLA Elizabeth T. Peabody Cassandra Pierson Mary Louise Pierson Nancy and Fred Poses Posner-Wallace Foundation Post Harvest Technologies, Inc. Proskauer Rose LLP Vered Rabia Caryl B. Ratner Katharine J. Rayner Related Companies Joshua Rider Timothy A. Robert Marjorie Rosen The Estate of Nancy Rosenthal Clifford Ross and Nicolette Donen Janet Ross May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation, Inc. S&P Global Alex Sapir Sawyer|Berson Stephen Scanniello and Dane Twining Ingrid Scheib-Rothbart Robin B. Tost Paul D. Selver Hector Serrano Stephen Shapiro The Timothy C. Shepard and Andra Georges Philanthropy Fund David M. Sherman The Shubert Organization Wendy Silverstein and Family James and Marilyn Simons Joshua Sirefman and Sarah Kim SL Green Aida Slabotzky Iris and Michael Smith Patty Smyth and John McEnroe Henry T. Snee Richard and Donna Soloway Spirit Halloween Darcy Stacom, CBRE Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) The Steedman Family Foundation The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust David Steinhardt Allison Stern Jon Recor and Daniel Stewart The Dorothy Strelsin Foundation Strong Foundation of New York Taconic Investment Partners The Walt Disney Company, Inc. Third Bridge TIAA Tiger Baron Foundation Tishman Speyer Deirdre Towers The Travelers Companies, Inc. TravelStorysGPS Robert L. Turner Turner Broadcasting System Inc. United Airlines JP Morgan Chase The Verrill Foundation Viking Global Foundation Inc. Alex Volckhausen Sophie F. von Haselberg and Harry Guinness Vornado Realty Trust Linda Wachner Carol Wall WarnerMedia Charlene and Aaron Welsh Bunny Williams Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP Kenneth Wisdom Andrea Woodner Jennifer L. Wray Elaine P. Wynn & Family Foundation Ann Ziff Isaac Zion |
Annual Report
Form 990
Consolidated Financial Statement
Annual Report
Form 990
Consolidated Financial Statement
Annual Report
Form 990
Consolidated Financial Statement
Annual Report
Form 990
Consolidated Financial Statement