Immigrants & Parks Collaborative

As centers of social life, parks are a city’s truly democratic spaces. They serve as gathering places, bring people together from all walks of life, and teem with life and energy. New York City offers its residents 29,000 acres of such spaces, to serve as backyards, living rooms, playgrounds, and organizing grounds for all who choose to use them. But parks rely heavily on their neighbors to make them successful social hubs—and increasingly around New York City, these neighbors are immigrant communities, often disconnected from civic life and their public spaces.

Intentional and sustained immigrant outreach is critical for vibrant parks. Immigrants are among the least likely to participate in Parks Department activities, to join parks friends groups, and to attend community board meetings; a deeply rooted distrust of government combined with significant structural barriers prevent immigrants from taking full advantage of their public spaces. Yet, connecting immigrants and parks brings benefits for both. Immigrants can offer their time, energy and rich native cultures to help bring parks to life, and help them better reflect the communities they serve. In return, they can meet new neighbors, become civically engaged, and simply have a space of their own.

Seeking to fill in the gaps by connecting immigrants to local parks, the NYIC, in partnership with the JM Kaplan Fund, Partnerships for Parks, and a range of community-based organizations, created The Immigrants and Parks Collaborative. It is the cornerstone of our Parks Advocacy Program. Since 2007, the Collaborative has worked to:

• improve language access in parks;
• ensure parks are safe spaces that build ownership rather than fear;
• offer programming reflective of neighborhood diversity, preferences, and needs;
• use parks as tools for bringing together immigrant and non-immigrant organizations and residents; and
• identify ways to influence capital design processes and respond to emerging uses of space.

Participants in the Immigrant and Parks Collaborative include:

• Asian Americans for Equality (Chinatown/Lower East Side, Manhattan)
• Centro Hispano Cuzcatlán (Jamaica, Queens)
• El Centro de Inmigrantes (Port Richmond, Staten Island)
• Greater Jamaica Development Corporation (Jamaica, Queens)
• Hester Street Collaborative (Chinatown/Lower East Side, Manhattan)
• Partnerships for Parks (NYC)
• Queens Community House (Jackson Heights, Queens)
• Queens Museum of Art (Flushing and Corona, Queens)

For a one page backgrounder about our Immigrants and Parks Collaborative, downoad the attachment provided below.