NYC Parks Covid Oral History

During this 12-episode podcast series NYC Parks has looked at the COVID-19 era of 2020-2021 through the lens of interviews conducted during the Oral History Project in 2022. For the first 11 shows we highlighted some of the more than 100 Parkies that volunteered to tell their stories. For our final show, we welcome Commissioner Sue Donoghue to the podcast studio to tell us her views on the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation today, and how the Agency stands in the wake of the pandemic.

Commissioner Donoghue was appointed in February 2022. From 2014 until 2022, she served as President of the Prospect Park Alliance, the non-profit organization that operates the park in partnership with the City of New York, and the Prospect Park Administrator. Commissioner Donoghue previously worked in Parks during the Bloomberg administration, and one of the many projects she was involved in was the McCarren Park Play Center, where we record the podcast.

In this episode, Commissioner Donoghue recounts her experience in the pandemic, and how the Agency has grown and changed over her tenure. She also shines a spotlight on some of the new programs and initiatives that NYC Parks is undertaking that will make the Agency stronger in the months and years to come.

Our podcast thanks you for listening and supporting our show. As Commissioner Donoghue says, “See you in the parks.”

This episode captures the memories of New York City Parks Department members as they recall the time period of social unrest during the COVID-19 crisis. Calls for social justice followed the deaths of Breonna Taylor in March 2020 in Louisville and George Floyd in May 2020 in Minneapolis. During the first wave of the pandemic, nationwide protests took place, with many turning to NYC Parks properties to make their voices heard. During this time the agency response included listening sessions with staff to hear their stories, and a program to rename Parks’ properties to honor and remember Black history.

Today our guests recall the era of social unrest in New York, and the groundswell of the social justice movement that often starts and ends on parkland. Our guests today are:

* Former NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver;

* Assistant Commissioner for Community Outreach and Partnership Development Karina Smith;

* Urban Park Ranger Woo Sung Park;

* Van Cortlandt Park Administrator Stephanie Ehrlich.

We record our shows in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, at McCarren Park Play Center in the Media Education Lab. Our team is using the Media Lab and Parks volunteers to share our history with listeners, presenting some of the more than 100 oral history interviews conducted with Parkies.

On this episode we are focusing on one topic: trees. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the NYC Parks teams that work to preserve the green spaces of New York faced challenges of working during the crisis, just like all of us. There also was a destructive windstorm that demolished thousands of trees, that added to the incredible workload. By focusing on this one area of the Parks Department, we will learn more about the work that continues today on our urban forest.

Today our guests all work with trees and green space:

* Jennifer Greenfeld, Deputy Commissioner for Environment and Planning

* Jillian Naveh, Communications Liaison for Forestry Horticulture & Natural Resources Group

* Franklin Sosa-Velasquez, Forestry Supervisor

* Lea Thali, Stewardship Community Coordinator

* Phillip Walker, Manhattan Park Supervisor

We record our shows in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, at McCarren Park Play Center in the Media Education Lab. Our team is using the Media Lab and Parks volunteers to share our history with listeners, presenting some of the more than 100 oral history interviews conducted with Parkies.

During the COVID-19 pandemic the Parks Department leaned on its team on the frontlines extra hard to keep parks clean and green for the public to enjoy. This is a good opportunity to learn more about the agency’s workforce, in particular to shine a light on the Parks Opportunity Program. This gives entry-level workers jobs, as well opportunities for education, personal growth, and advancement in the workforce.

Today our guests are Parkies who have personal experience with our important workforce development program:

* Wanda Heath, Parks Opportunity Program Worker

* Michelle Broady,  City Seasonal Aide

* Jessenea Rivero,  City Seasonal Aide

* Elvin Torro Lobo, former City Park Worker

* Bernard Maguire, City Park Worker

* Elizabeth Ehrlich, former Chief of Workforce Development

We record our shows in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, at McCarren Park Play Center in the Media Education Lab. Our team is using the Media Lab and Parks volunteers to share our history with listeners, presenting some of the more than 100 oral history interviews conducted with Parkies.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the biggest challenges facing New York City was food insecurity. As the scale of the pandemic grew, the City of New York turned to NYC Parks. This was the Get Food New York City program. A robust food distribution program was run out of NYC Parks Recreation Centers for several months. It’s an incredible story of project planning, dedication, execution, and success. Ultimately Parks oversaw eight food distribution sites citywide. The totals over those months: 42 million meals distributed via taxi cabs and hired cars.

In this episode, our guests are Parkies connected to the pandemic food distribution program.

 Ashanta Smith, Recreation Center Manager

Jorge Ortiz III, Community Coordinator, Emergency Management

 

We record our shows in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, at McCarren Park Play Center in the Media Education Lab. Our team is using the Media Lab and Parks volunteers to share our history with listeners, presenting some of the more than 100 oral history interviews conducted with Parkies.

 

One of the most iconic parks in New York City is Washington Square Park, the jewel of Greenwich Village. During the COVID-19 outbreak, it was a focus for many, many visitors to the park. This was the scene of protests and big gatherings, but also continued to function as a much-needed place for respite. In this episode we go out of the studio and into the field to meet the Parkies who manage it, and listeners will be able to hear all of the Village sounds (and a thunderstorm) of a busy summer day in this beautiful spot.

Today our guests are both from Washington Square Park:

Deborah Hopkins, Playground Associate

Will Morrison, Park Administrator

We record our shows in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, at McCarren Park Play Center in the Media Education Lab. Our team is using the Media Lab and Parks volunteers to share our history with listeners, presenting some of the more than 100 oral history interviews conducted with Parkies.

One of the most iconic parks in New York City is Washington Square Park, the jewel of Greenwich Village. During the COVID-19 outbreak, it was a focus for many, many visitors to the park. This was the scene of protests and big gatherings, but also continued to function as a much-needed place for respite. In this episode we go out of the studio and into the field to meet the Parkies who manage it, and listeners will be able to hear all of the Village sounds (and a thunderstorm) of a busy summer day in this beautiful spot.

Today our guests are both from Washington Square Park:

* Deborah Hopkins, Playground Associate

* Will Morrison, Park Administrator

We record our shows in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, at McCarren Park Play Center in the Media Education Lab. Our team is using the Media Lab and Parks volunteers to share our history with listeners, presenting some of the more than 100 oral history interviews with Parkies.

On this show we follow up on the use of parks and open space during the pandemic. From former Commissioner Mitchell Silver calling parks “sanctuaries of sanity” to veteran Chief Phil Sparacio recalling the increased use of outdoor space, we walk listeners through the era when NYC Parks were the only show in town.

Our interviews on episode #6:

* Former NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver;

* Senior Outreach Coordinator for Partnerships for Parks Sara Baral;

* Deputy Commissioner for Urban Park Service and Public Programs Margaret Nelson;

* Deputy Chief of Operations for Queens Phil Sparacio.

We record our shows in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, at McCarren Park Play Center in the Media Education Lab. Our team is using the Media Lab and Parks volunteers to share our history with listeners, presenting some of the more than 100 oral history interviews with Parkies.

This episode is about parks as spaces that restore all of us, how parks were used during the pandemic in new and sometimes unusual ways, and how important open space became to us in New York. Today we are going to talk about New Yorker’s relationships to parks and open space and how they reflect our social environment and our connections to each other.

Our interviews on episode #5:

* First Deputy Commissioner Iris Rodriguez-Rosa;

* Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer Mark Focht;

* Parks Enforcement Patrol Inspector Asha Harris;

* Chief-of-Staff Dan Dougherty;

* Bronx Chief of Operations Lawrence Scoones;

* Park Administrator William Morrison;

* Public Engagement Coordinator Jennifer Graeff.

We record our shows in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, at McCarren Play Center in the Media Education Lab. Our team is using the Media Lab and Parks volunteers to share our history with listeners, presenting some of the more than 100 oral history interviews with Parkies.

 

During the pandemic the NYC Parks Recreation Centers were closed to the public and all schools were closed. NYC Parks reopened some centers in 2020 as sites where school children could come and take part in remote learning. Recreation staff who pre-pandemic were fitness instructors and aquatics teachers became one-on-one assistants with the children for many months as schools were remote only. The Parkies helped the kids with their online lessons, and provided fitness, exercise, and art classes.

Our interviews on episode #4:

* Caitlin Wilken, recreation specialist

* Teresa Mangan, recreation center manager

We record our shows in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, at McCarren Park Play Center in the Media Education Lab. Our team is using the Media Lab and Parks volunteers to share our history with listeners, presenting some of the more than 100 oral history interviews with Parkies recorded in 2022.