HELLO BRUST PARK FRIENDS,
It's November 2024 and this announcement has been a long time coming.
With broken hearts we announce the Stewards of Brust Park is no longer an operating community volunteer organization. Due to a variety of life-changing circumstances the group has lost all of its leadership.
Fellow Stewards, we’ve had a good run since 2008 when we bought a lawn mower and began maintaining the lawn in the lower park. For a few years, Brust Park looked glorious with newly installed and regularly maintained gardens, lawn areas and more. Many thanks to everyone who showed up to lend a hand. Without you we couldn’t have done what we accomplished. Your enthusiastic and ongoing volunteering, sweat equity, organizing and fundraising were amazing. What we did together as a community was huge!
The Stewards of Brust Park was a part of a NYC city wide parks community volunteer stewardship program. Thanks is also due to the staff at Partnership for Parks (PfP) who provided lots of logistical support, training and encouragement and served as the group’s 501(c)3 sponsor.
Many thanks also to the several PfP Parks Coordinators who were on the ground helping us in so many ways including facilitating coordination with the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation.
FUTURE FOR BRUST PARK GARDENS AND MAINTENANCE
You may have noticed this past year or so that Brust Park (both the lower and upper sections) has reverted back to a weedy, poorly maintained green space. The gardens that were so lovingly planted and maintained are now mostly overgrown or dead.
Ongoing, Brust Park is likely to remain in this state. Unfortunately, the NYC Parks Department—seriously underfunded by the City budget—is only able to provide minimal maintenance and no garden care whatsoever. The department is operating with a bare-bones professional staff and an untrained seasonal workers. This sad situation was in part the genesis of the Partnership for Parks park stewardship program. The truth is that any lovely well-maintained City park you can find has a vibrant community organization caring for it.
RESOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATION
If you are interested in learning more about organizing care for Brust Park, the park stewardship program, or connecting with the Partnership for Parks Community Engagement Director, you can reach out to Jacqueline Hosford (a co-founder of the Stewards of Brust Park) at stewardsofbrustpark@gmeail.com
Plus, you can check out these important organizations:
(The private/public partnership of the City Parks Foundation and the NYC. Parks and Recreation Department).
https://cityparksfoundation.org/pfpnyc/
A major advocacy group fighting to get the City to increase the budget allotment from a seriously underfunded ½ of 1% for all city parks. https://www.ny4p.org