Official website: https://www.nyrp.org
New York Restoration Project (NYRP) is a non-profit organization driven by the conviction that all New Yorkers deserve beautiful, high-quality public space within ready walking distance of their homes. Since their founding in 1995 by Bette Midler, NYRP has planted trees, renovated gardens, restored parks, and transformed open space for communities throughout New York City’s five boroughs. As New York’s only citywide conservancy, they bring private resources to spaces that lack adequate municipal support, fortifying the City’s aging infrastructure and creating a healthier environment for those who live in the most densely populated and least green neighborhoods.
With a special focus on communities of need, NYRP works in public parks, housing projects, vacant lots, schools, on sidewalks, the waterfront, and in their own community gardens. Their comprehensive approach to urban land management includes community engagement, capital construction, cultural programming, landscape maintenance, and environmental education. Together, these efforts impact the city on multiple scales, from one small block to all five boroughs.
In service to the common goal of enhancing the quality of life in New York City, their work currently focuses on three primary objectives:
- planting one million trees by 2017 in partnership with NYC Parks through the MillionTreesNYC initiative successfully completed on November 20, 2015, two years ahead of schedule;
- revitalizing all 52 NYRP-owned community gardens, and supporting the creation and restoration of other green spaces throughout the city to enhance social and environmental resiliency;
- bringing back to life under-resourced public parks and transforming a formerly neglected stretch of upper Manhattan waterfront into a stunning new park with direct public access to the Harlem River.