NEW YORK (PIX11) -- New Yorkers love their parks. The open space is a treasure in the city.
Teams of volunteers are helping keep things clean and operating in times of shrinking city budgets. A new effort is available for people to get involved.
311 can connect you to “Let’s Green NYC,” which lists hundreds of opportunities around the boroughs.
On Wednesdays and Fridays for about three hours, the office for a team of volunteers is Van Cortlandt Park in the northern part of the Bronx.
Chip Wilcox enjoys the work.
“I take no greater pride than walking by and seeing that it’s holding up nicely,” Wilcox said.
The projects range from clearing brush and litter to foresting and drainage.
Felicity has been volunteering for nine years.
“They give you a variety of things to do and it’s flexible,” Felicity said as they worked to clear and create drains along a path.
The Van Cortlandt Park Alliance supervises the plans.
Noel Hefele’s job is the volunteer coordinator. He started as a volunteer.
“We make sure it’s educational, fun and safe. We're a big park with 600 acres of forest. Parks doesn’t have enough staff. We love our volunteers," Hefele said.
New York City has more than 1,700 parks and recreation areas.
Teams are needed around the city and working year-round to support staff members.
Tommy Maron is in charge of trails and appreciates the volunteers. There are 20 miles of trails at Van Cortlandt Park.
"The main problem we deal with on the trails is that water erodes them," Maron said as he pushed a wheelbarrow along the path.
Many of the volunteers would be out there anyway. Benigno Veras can be found running the trails and the track.
“I began to discover the park and then I learned that they needed volunteers,” Veras said.
Van Cortlandt Park Alliance posts about the efforts and locations on social media and Instagram.
Let's Green NYC was announced during the summer. This will be the first spring and many clean-up and beautification projects are planned around New York City.
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