Pollinator Pathway
New York City
Pollinator protected spaces in New York City - Friends of WNYC Transmitter Park in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, Green Park Gardeners NYC at Andrew Haswell Green Park along the East River Esplanade, Ralph Bunche Park located on 1st Ave between 42nd and 43rd street, and Friends of the Esplanade at East River Esplanade in East Harlem.
WNYC Transmitter Park - Greenpoint, Brooklyn
The Friends of WNYC Transmitter Park and the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation welcome you to Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Once in the park you will discover the sanctuary and refuge for insects, birds, native plants and wildlife. Within this public space you will be able to wander the 1.6 acres, visiting four native plant gardens and access to the stunning East River views at the water’s edge. The lawn and shade trees provide a place to relax and take in nature.
The park is named for the historical former WNYC Radio Transmitter building, an art deco structure from the Works Progress Administration (WPA) era of the 1930s. WNYC radio broadcast for five decades on this location with two giant transmitter towers that became the iconic symbol of broadcasting in the neighborhood, the city and the world. In 2009 Landscape Architect Donna Walcavage and WXY architecture + urban design imagined this park as a native plant oasis. The park celebrated its ten-year anniversary in September 2022 and the Friends of WNYC Transmitter Park along with the NYC Department of Parks & Recreational and a growing Volunteer Corps maintain and care for the park.
Programming includes Sunday Gardening, Urban Park Ranger Birding events; Stargazing with the Amateur Astronomer Association (AAA); Catch and Release Fishing on the Pier; Native Plant Tours; Riverkeeper Sweep and It’s My Park Days.
Email us at Info@transmitterpark.org for a tour or to get involved.
Follow us on Instagram: @transmitter_park
Follow us on Facebook: @transmitterpark.org
Follow us on Twitter: @TransmitterPK
The Friends of WNYC Transmitter Park is an all-volunteer community organization dedicated to sustainability, serving and protecting the park through Stewardship, Advocacy and Programming.
Ralph Bunche Park
1st Ave between 42nd and 43rd street
Ralph Bunche Park is New York City's first ‘Peace’ park—a pedestrian plaza and garden— named in honor of Ralph Bunche, the first African-American recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
The Park is situated across from the United Nations, northwest along First Avenue from 42nd street. There is a granite wall along the westside with public benches, surrounded by vibrant red rose bushes. A granite staircase, at the north end, is inscribed with a passage from the Book of Isaiah: "...they shall beat their swords into plowshares." An enclosed garden grows behind a low decorative gate. There are a variety of trees, like a Honey locust, Plane trees and Redbud that line the interior facing the UN. There is also a Fig and a Kwanzan Cherry. A profusion of Roses, Hydrangeas, Oak leaf Hydrangeas and Deutzia, along with seasonal pollinator plants—Bluebells, Purple Catmint, Bee Balm, Rudbekia, Echinacea and Milkweeds, to name some—fill the remaining space. Sparrows, Cardinals, Robins, resident Grey Catbirds, Bumblebees, Honeybees and butterflies visit from Spring through Fall.
Ralph Bunche Park is a property of the New York City Department of Parks, maintained by the Department of Parks, and a dedicated volunteer alliance, Friends of Ralph Bunche Park. #FriendsofRalphBunchePark
Andrew Haswell Green Park
Green Park Gardeners NYC at Andrew Haswell Green Park
Welcome to Andrew Haswell Green Park located on the East River Esplanade between E. 60th - 63rd Streets and maintained by Green Park Gardeners NYC. We are a volunteer organization that began when local gardeners received permission to salvage a public park ravaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
Named after Andrew Haswell Green, “the Father of Greater New York,” the park features a dog run, benches facing the East River and a spectacular sculpture by Alice Aycock. Previously an industrial site and sanitation transfer station, AHG opened in 2008 and is a small, soon to be much larger, link in the chain of waterfront parks championed by Mayor Bloomberg.
Over the past ten years, we have created a natural haven in a challenging urban setting. Our complex, pesticide-free, native plant garden attracts pollinators and passersby throughout the seasons and has been a certified Monarch Waystation since 2016. We also manage a composting site for community drop-off and volunteer opportunities; the finished product is distributed in the park and neighborhood. GPGNYC operates with the support of the New York City Parks Department and Friends of the East River Esplanade 60th -120th Streets.
Email us at greenparkgardenersnyc@gmail.com if you would like more information about our
urban pollinator garden!
Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GPGNYC
East River Esplanade
Between 96th and 102nd streets
Founded by Simone Marques, a guerrilla gardener turned NYC Parks steward, Green and Blue Eco Care is a grassroots group focused on caring for our street trees and pollinators in East Harlem. In partnership with Friends of the Esplanade, their dedicated volunteers created several perennial pollinator gardens on the East River waterfront, shrinking the lawn by using the no till method.
You can follow them on Instagram and Facebook @greenandblueecocare.
