Our Mission
Our mission is to create an equitable, accessible, and vibrant parks & open space system in North Brooklyn.
The North Brooklyn Parks Alliance (NBK Parks) was formed in 2003 as the Open Space Alliance for North Brooklyn (OSA) to raise private funds to expand and improve open space in North Brooklyn. NBK Parks is modeled after other successful conservancies, working with the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation, NYC Department of Transportation, New York State Department of Transportation, elected officials, and the community to maintain, activate, enhance, and expand local parks, while challenging common perceptions of what defines open space.
Throughout its history, NBK Parks has been focused on capital projects and the maintenance of parks, while also acting as a grassroots community-building and advocacy organization. Unlike traditional park conservancies, NBK Parks is committed to improving ALL the parks in Community District 1, rather than focusing on a single park. In doing so, less advantaged areas of our community can benefit from leveraging resources from more affluent parts of the district.
In recent years, we have focused on combatting the dearth of sufficient parkland amid an increasingly dense urban environment, expanding our portfolio to include innovative transformations of underutilized open spaces, from open streets and public plazas to El Space under the Kosciuszko Bridge.
By raising funds and joining our parks advocates, community groups, Community Board 1, elected officials, and government partners, together we can make our parks and open spaces more equitable, accessible and vibrant.
SAFETY
Safe and well maintained parks
EQUITY
A balanced distribution of resources throughout Community Board 1
STEWARDSHIP
Stewardship of all greenery, which is essential to the health and beauty of North Brooklyn
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Community engagement, which is integral to park improvements in North Brooklyn
BALANCE
Parks that balance opportunities for active and passive recreation and leisure
TRANSPARENCY
Organizational transparency, sustainability, and efficiency
As a recognized tax-exempt nonprofit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, North Brooklyn Parks Alliance seeks to be transparent in its financial operations by making the following information publicly available. A copy of North Brooklyn Parks Alliance’s history of financial statements and IRS Form 990s may also be obtained by writing to the New York State Office of the Attorney General, Charities Bureau, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271 or by visiting https://www.guidestar.org
Forms for Download:
PEOPLE POWER
Nonprofits track lots of statistics. But we think the most important statistic to track is Impact. Overtime Impact measures improvement or performance. Did we do what we set out to do? Are we affecting lasting change? How close are we to “problem solved?”
In our city – we may never get to “problem solved,” but these before and after pictures show systemic, lasting change is being made in North Brooklyn open spaces. Glacially slow- perhaps, but forward-moving nonetheless. Our Mission is to create an equitable, accessible, and vibrant park & open space system in North Brooklyn. We have a long way to go- but we’re proud of where we’ve been.
Before: March 2005. McCarren Park Pool abandoned for twenty plus year.
credit: Chad Nicholson
After: June 2012. McCarren Park Pool after 50 Million Dollar City Renovation.
credit: NBK Parks' Benefit Party" The Big Splash"
Before: May 2013. An empty lot on Franklin Street in Greenpoint.
credit: 61 Franklin Community Garden
After: March 2020. First Signs of Spring, 61 Franklin Community Garden.
credit: 61 Franklin Community Garden
Before: 1994. An abandoned stretch of Kent Ave between the waterfront and N 8th & N 9th Streets.
credit: Ted Barron
After: 2012. The first of several parcels of Bushwick Inlet Park to be transformed into park.
credit: NBK Parks
Before: April 2010. view down Union Avenue between Driggs Avenue & N. 12th St.
credit: Community Newspaper Group / Bess Adler
After: November 2017. Union Avenue “De-mapped” for pedestrians after NBK Parks pledged $50,000 to fund an environmental study to determine the most appropriate use of the site.
credit: DEL SOL New York
Before: 2009. The site of a former gas plant.
credit: Google
After: 2019. The second of several parcels of Bushwick Inlet Park to be transformed into park.
credit: NBK Parks
Before: January 2012. McCarren Park’s often flooded pathways.
credit: dnainfo.com
After: May 2020. McCarren Park’s pathways after the City Council 930k investment.
credit: NBK Parks
Before: circa 2001. For decades heavy industry dominated Newtown Creek and parcels of land that surrounded it. Oftentimes areas without active industry were also closed off to the public.
credit: Anthony Hamboussi
After: 2018. NBK Parks was named steward of pending new 8-acre park aptly named “Under the K”.
credit: PUBLIC WORK
Before: September 2013. Cooper Park’s playground did not have a fence.
credit: NBK Parks
After: September 2013. So St. Nick Alliance, NYC Parks & NBK Parks helped them get one!
credit: NBK Parks
Before: 1985. For over forty years Transmitter Park was the site of New York’s public radio station WNYC.
credit: WNYC archive
After: 2018. Today this site is a 6.61-acre public waterfront park
credit: Friends of Transmitter Park