Passing The Torch

Photo by Daniel Avila

Dear Parkies,

As you may imagine, I made the decision to leave Parks with a heavy heart—I have called Parks home for more than 30 years, and it will be difficult for me to say

goodbye to the people and the places in this City that I have come to cherish. With the inspiring leadership of Mayor Bloomberg and First Deputy Mayor Patti Harris, and the extraordinary contributions of our non-profit partners and citizen volunteers, our parks have experienced an unparalleled era of expansion and restoration. But most important, I have had the pleasure of working with the best group of public servants ever assembled in one organization—the extraordinary men and women of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation.

I want to extend a warm welcome to incoming Commissioner of Parks and Recreation Veronica White. I have had the true pleasure of working with Commissioner White since 2006, when she began her most recent job as Director of the Center of Economic Opportunity, and she helped to create some of the signature programs in Parks, including the Million Trees Training Program. Commissioner White has a long and distinguished career of public service and non-profit management, and with her environmental law degree from Harvard she has the expertise to lead and defend our park system.

Commissioner White is a deeply committed public servant, possessed of great intelligence, verve and a passion for the people and parks of New York City. She will bring the spark of new ideas and the enthusiasm for parks and nature and recreation, and I know that Parks and its extraordinary, dedicated employees will prosper under her leadership.

Though I am leaving to take on new challenges to help create and manage new parks in cities across the country, my heart will still be here in the great parks of the greatest city in the world. But now I get to enjoy them as a visitor!

Good luck to you all, and keep up your amazing work.

Warmest regards,

Adrian Benepe

Just Two Days Left to Order Free Daffodil Bulbs from New Yorkers for Parks

The 11th season of New Yorkers for Parks’ Daffodil Project is underway and there’s still time to order your free bulbs before registration closes tomorrow at midnight. The Daffodil Project was founded in 2001 as a living memorial to September 11. With nearly five million free bulbs planted citywide by more than 40,000 school kids, parks and gardening groups, civic organizations, corporate volunteers and other New Yorkers, it is one of the largest volunteer efforts in the city’s history. Every August, hundreds of New Yorkers sign up to receive free daffodil bulbs, which they then pick up at a distribution site in the borough of their choice. Bulbs are free to anyone who commits to planting them in a park or public space such as a schoolyard, street tree pit, or community garden. The Daffodil Project wouldn’t be possible without the ongoing sponsorship of Con Edison, Ernst & Young and the New York City Council, or the hard work of the volunteers who plant bulbs every fall. If you'd like to be part of an initiative that truly touches the lives of New Yorkers in all corners of the city, please visit NY4P’s website to order your free bulbs, learn more about the Daffodil Project and join NY4P’s corps of volunteer planters.

QUOTATION OF THE DAY

“They are ill discoverers that think there is no land,

when they can see nothing but sea.”

Sir Francis Bacon

(1561 - 1626)

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