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AccessibilityPress Releases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, January 30, 2025
No. 08
www.nyc.gov/parks
SCIENCE FICTION HIKES, OYSTER WORKSHOPS, POETRY, AND MORE: CELEBRATE UNIQUE BLACK HISTORY MONTH EXPERIENCES WITH NYC PARKS
SCIENCE FICTION HIKES, OYSTER WORKSHOPS, POETRY, AND MORE: CELEBRATE UNIQUE BLACK HISTORY MONTH EXPERIENCES WITH NYC PARKS
NYC Parks is celebrating Black History Month with educational and cultural programming in all five boroughs, showcasing the profound influence of Black Americans on our city’s shared history and future. Throughout the month, Parks will offer a host of historic tours led by our expert Urban Park Rangers, family-friendly events at recreation centers, and hands-on programs to engage visitors and encourage dialogue about Black history in the city.
New Yorkers can also visit the numerous monuments and murals across the city that celebrate Black history and the Black experience, including works by pioneering artists such as Richard Howard Hunt, Elizabeth Catlett, Alison Saar and many more.
“Black History Month is a time to honor the extraordinary contributions of Black New Yorkers throughout our city, and NYC Parks is proud to mark this month of reflection and celebration with events in every borough,” said NYC Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue. “We invite New Yorkers and visitors to our city to attend one of our unique events — including history walks, craft making, and virtual seminars — as we celebrate the legacies of Black trailblazers, and recognize the achievements that made New York City great.”
Here are some of this month’s highlight events:
Rufus King Park, Queens
Saturday, February 1st – 1:00p.m. - 4:00p.m.
Join us as we dive into the history of Black oystermen and the legacy of Thomas Downing, the oyster King of NY! Participants will have the opportunity to create crowns that befit a free Black business owner and stop on the underground railroad, practice oyster filtration, and even investigate the habitats of oysters! This event is FREE and open to the public and we hope to see you there on February 1st between 1-4 PM.
Morningside Park, Manhattan
Saturday, February 8th – 12:00p.m. - 2:00p.m.
Celebrate Black History Month with NYC Parks! Join the Urban Park Rangers on a hike from Morningside Park through St. Nicholas Park and ending at the Northern tip of Jackie Robinson Park. Learn about the history, geology, and ecology of these beautiful parks.
Virtual
Wednesday, February 12th – 12:00p.m. - 1:30p.m.
As a cemetery for free and enslaved Africans from the mid-1600s to the mid-1800s, the Harlem African Burial Ground is a sacred site of New York City’s early history, and yet for decades the site was forgotten and disrespected. Through tireless research and advocacy, community advocates brought this history to light, and now the New York City Economic Development Corporation is leading efforts to properly memorialize and honor the people buried there. Join the Harlem African Burial Ground Initiative and NYCEDC in conversation to learn about this crucial history, the role of urban planning in historic preservation, and the vision for the future memorial, cultural education center, and mixed-use project planned for the site.
Wyckoff Farmhouse Museum, Brooklyn
Saturday, February 15th – 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
This Black History Month, learn about the history of Western Africa and the Diaspora through the story woven intricately into fabrics. Find your creative resistance by learning about the history art of Adire Eleko, a wax resist dying technique practiced by the Egba People of Yorubaland (Nigeria, Benin and Togo).
Van Cortlandt Nature Center, Bronx
Sunday, February 16, 2025 – 4: 30 – 6 p.m.
Explore the connection between the natural world and science fiction with this storytelling hike and fire-side chat. Listen to the works of Octavia Butler while walking the trails at dusk. Afterwards, cozy up to the fire and share your thoughts!
Idlewild Park Environmental Center, Queens
February 18th-20th, – 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Children will explore the solar system, stars, and the future of space and learn of the contributions of Black scientists and astronauts through fun activities, experiments, and games.
Silver Lake Park, Staten Island
Sunday, February 23, 2025 - 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Celebrate Black History Month with the Urban Park Rangers. Join us on the Audre Lorde Walk at Silver Lake Park as we honor the famous poet and draw inspiration from our surroundings as we practice creating our own poetry.
A complete list of upcoming events can be found on Parks’ Black History Month page.
In addition to this month’s events, Parks honors Black history at sites throughout the city with monuments, sculptures, murals, and plaques. From cultural titans like Duke Ellington and Ralph Ellison to pioneering leaders like Frederick Douglass, these public artworks commemorate figures who have helped shape the city, nation, and the world. New Yorkers can also visit public parks to see beautiful works of art crafted by Black artists, including the abstract Harlem Hybrid by Richard Howard Hunt in Manhattan and Peter and Willie by Otto Neals in Brooklyn. A full list of public art for Black History Month can be found online here.
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Press Contact:
Judd Faulkner
(212) 360-1311
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