Commissioner's Corner

Mayor Bloomberg, Commissioner Benepe and Councilman Van Bremer pose with Gardeners Isabelle Rios and Madeline Arizmendi at last week’s Dutch Kills Green naming event;
Photo by Daniel Avila

This week, we’re highlighting our present and future work with interns and recapping the great GreenThumb GrowTogether Conference.

Intern Appreciation and Outreach
As our internship program continues to grow, we held our first Spring Intern Appreciation breakfast on March 29. I sat down with 20 interns from all boroughs and divisions for an informal get-together. Three foreign students were on hand — one from Changchun City in the Jilin Province of China and two from Copenhagen, Denmark — which added an international zest to the group. Topics of discussions ranged from the work the interns are currently doing to where they would like to see themselves in the future.

Our search for fresh ideas and faces continues as we recruit for our summer intern program. Now more than ever, with all of our new projects and limited workforce, interns play an important role in our mission as well as serving as members our “Parks family.” We currently have 100 postings that were sent out to thousands of schools and organizations. Last summer, we had over 150 interns helping us all across the agency. Please remember to set aside time to review and interview applicants and lock in your placements before it’s too late.

If you are in need of an intern and have not yet requested an internship description, please contact our Internship Coordinator, Leslie Nusblatt, at Leslie.Nusblatt@parks.nyc.gov or at (212) 360-8257.

GreenThumb GrowTogether Conference
GreenThumb‘s 28th annual GreenThumb GrowTogether Conference took place on last Saturday, March 31, at Hostos Community College in the Bronx. Turnout, as usual, was very impressive. To see so many gardeners, honorary guests, and partners all under one roof enjoying each other’s company was a reminder of the enormous voluntary dedication of New Yorkers to public spaces. Close to 800 people pre-registered for this year’s conference, and over 1,500 people ended up attending. Activities this year included more than 50 workshops and activities throughout the day, with some in Spanish. We were also lucky to have our New York City School Chancellor Dennis Walcott as the special guest speaker. For a successfully planned and wonderfully executed event, I would like to congratulate Director Edie Stone and her GreenThumb staff, under the leadership of Deputy Commissioner Larry Scott Blackmon.

Staff Spotlight
Adrienne Meryl joined NYC Parks in 2005 as Assistant to the Commissioner in my office. Since joining Recreation in 2007, she has worked on many key projects and important initiatives, from managing correspondence to securing grant funds. Recently, she worked on the reapplication for the NRPA Serving Communities Grant, which has been refunded at $43,000. Additionally, over the course of the past month, she has spent countless hours on the Summer Camp registration process, working hand-in-hand with New Media on the technical aspect of registration, crafting a detailed business process, and working with Recreation staff to handle unforeseen issues as they have arisen. Her analytical approach, knack for data and statistics, and ability to constantly look at material presented to the public through the critical eye of our constituents made her a natural fit for this very challenging project. It is because of her efforts with securing the grant funds from the NRPA and her efforts with Summer Camp registration that makes her deserving of the staff highlight this week.

Sincerely,
Adrian Benepe

QUOTATION FOR THE DAY

“We hate some persons because we do not know them;
and we will not know them because we hate them.”

Charles Caleb Colton
(1780 - 1832)

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