Fort Tryon Park

The Daily Plant : Thursday, March 25, 2004

IN NORTHERN MANHATTAN, HELPING A GARDEN GROW

There’s no single person who can take credit for safeguarding the beauty of the Heather Garden and historic Fort Tryon Park. Instead, when Parks & Recreation announced earlier this month that an endowment established for Fort Tryon Park and the Heather Garden had topped $1 million, the credit belonged to donations from individuals across the city, private foundations, and an intensive neighborhood fundraising effort in Washington Heights. In fact, since last May, the Heather Garden volunteer committee raised over $300,000 to meet a $225,000 challenge grant from a foundation donor.

"Thanks to its supporters and volunteers, the Heather Garden has changed from an overgrown, neglected site to one of the most beautiful public gardens on the East Coast," said Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe. "The transformation of the Heather Garden is one of the cornerstones of Parks & Recreation’s horticultural initiative and a testament to the way private funding can help revitalize public spaces."

"Our committee was marvelously generous and creative in response to this major challenge grant," said the committee’s Co-Chair, Edith Kean. "We’ve had wonderful support for this project from New Yorkers citywide and many others who care about beautiful open space for all." Since their successful garden fundraiser last spring, committee members have consistently looked for funds from a variety of sources.

Committee members include Co-Chairs Edith Kean and Joseph Pierson, Dr. Ruth Westheimer (a 40-year neighborhood resident), Jeff Bauml, David Gmach representing ConEdison, Pierre de Vegh, Gretchen Elkus, Tom Kissinger, Mike Klein, Nancy Mortimer, Nicholas Quennell, Jessica Tcherepnine, and former local Council Members Guillermo Linares and Stanley E. Michels. The committee has organized fundraisers and community events and has made personal appeals to build an endowment for historic Fort Tryon Park, which is considered by many to be the anchor for the Washington Heights community. The committee’s goal is to raise $5 million for the park.

Also essential to the coordination of these efforts has been Parks & Recreation’s Director of Northern Manhattan Parks, Jane Schachat. Among many duties, Jane and her staff have helped organize and strengthen volunteer efforts to restore Fort Tryon and other nearby parks.

Located at one of the highest points in Manhattan and overlooking the Hudson River, the Heather Garden and Fort Tryon Park were given to the City by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. The park, which opened in 1935, was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., son of the co-designer of Central and Prospect Parks, and boasts a stunning landscape with spectacular vistas. This spring, the Heather Garden in Fort Tryon Park will burst with color from blooming heaths, helebores, crocuses, daffodils, azaleas, peonies, pansies, and over 100 different annuals.

QUOTATION FOR THE DAY

To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,
One clover, and a bee.
And revery.
The revery alone will do,
If bees are few.

Emily Dickinson
"To Make a Prairie," 1755