ANNOUNCEMENTS
2017 #JamaicaBay Wildlife Refuge Volunteer Event
Volunteers needed!
Are you interested in getting outside, meeting new people, and connecting with nature right here in New York City? Join hundreds of volunteers planting over 17,750 trees and shrubs at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Queens in late October. The refuge is part of Gateway National Recreation Area—the country’s first urban national park.
Like many parts of the city, Jamaica Bay was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy. The Nature Conservancy, together with National Park Service and Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy, will help undo that damage, making the refuge more resilient to future floods while also restoring critical wildlife habitat. Some of the interesting animals that make their home in the refuge include diamondback terrapins, horseshoe crabs, and more than 330 species of migratory and native birds! The refuge is actually one of the most important bird sanctuaries in the Northeast—a birder’s paradise here in the Five Boroughs.
Last year, volunteers helped us plant more than 10,000 trees and shrubs. Now we need your help to get the job done! Come along and make a positive, lasting impact on one of New York City’s most special natural areas.
We look forward to seeing you there! To register, please click here: https://plantjamaicabay17.eventbrite.com
Dates:
Saturday, October 21, 2017 at 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Saturday, October 28, 2017 at 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Location:
Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center
175-10 Cross Bay Boulevard
Broad Channel, New York 11693
For directions: https://goo.gl/maps/pUpadYp8ToA2
Registration:
Advance registration is required; space is limited to 50 volunteers per day. Please register anyone attending with you, including friends and family members. We ask that you please update your registration status in case your plans change prior to the event, so we can secure the necessary number of volunteers.
You will receive additional information, including volunteer waivers, prior to your selected volunteer day; however, if you have any additional questions, please email Christina Thorbourne, Program Coordinator at The Nature Conservancy, at cthorbourne@tnc.org.
Supplies & Clothing:
You will receive all the materials you need for planting, including shovels and gloves, as well as a boxed lunch and water refills. Please bring a refillable water bottle to help keep you hydrated.
Please dress comfortably. We recommend wearing sturdy shoes and long-sleeved shirts and pants to protect against poison ivy and ticks. We will have different forms of insect repellants as well as pre- and post-poison ivy contact treatment on-site.
Children & Youth:
This volunteer activity is appropriate for families and children over the age of 12. Youth under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult. Volunteers under the age of 18 must have waivers signed by their parent or guardian.
Getting There:
Directions: Please use the following link for directions to the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center: https://goo.gl/maps/pUpadYp8ToA2.
Public Transportation: You can take the A train to the Rockaway Blvd stop and transfer to the Q52 or Q53 bus (on the corner of Liberty Ave and Cross Bay Blvd) heading south. Get off at the Cross Bay Blvd/Wildlife Refuge stop. Alternatively, you make take the A train to Broad Channel and then walk 15 minutes north along Cross Bay Blvd to the Visitor Center.
Parking: There are spots available for parking directly outside the visitor center and additional spots at a nearby parking lot five minutes north of the event.
Join us for a free screening of From the Ashes at Fort Tilden
The Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy and Bloomberg Philanthropies cordially invite the public to a free screening of
From the Ashes
Saturday, August 26, 2017
5:30pm
sTudio 7 - Fort Tilden
Gateway National Recreation Area
Breezy Point, Queens
From the Ashes captures Americans in communities across the country as they wrestle with the legacy of the coal industry and what its future should be in the current political climate. From Appalachia to the West's Powder River Basin, the film goes beyond the rhetoric of the “war on coal” to present compelling and often heartbreaking stories about what's at stake for our economy, health, and climate.
A compelling look at the lives and issues behind the “war on coal,” From the Ashes premiered at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival and the National Geographic Channel. To learn more visit: www.fromtheashesfilm.com.
To register for free tickets to this special event, please visit our Eventbrite page here.
FREE refreshments will be served. Stay after the film for a Q&A with the producers.
For location and directions, please click here. Parking available on site. sTudio 7 is also accessible via mass transit by taking the Q22 or Q35 bus to Beach 169th Street or by utilizing the free NYC Ferry Shuttle (West route) from Beach108th Street.
This event is being hosted in partnership with the Rockaway Artists Alliance.
Join us for a special screening of Saving Jamaica Bay
Saving Jamaica Bay tells the story of how one community fought the government and overcame Hurricane Sandy to clean up and restore the largest open space in New York City. Narrated by Academy Award-winning actress Susan Sarandon, Saving Jamaica Bay also symbolizes the efforts to preserve urban nature, combat climate change, and invest in our national parks.
After the screening, you will have the opportunity to meet Dan Hendrick, the filmmaker and visionary behind Saving Jamaica Bay.
This screening will be hosted by the Natural Areas Conservancy, the Wildlife Conservation Film Festival, the Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay, the Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy, the Washington Square Park Conservancy, and the team behind Saving Jamaica Bay.
This event will be held in Washington Square Park under the arch.
Please bring your own blanket to sit on. Food and non-alcoholic beverages welcome. Seating is first come, first served.
This event was generously supported by Con Edison. Stop by the Natural Areas Conservancy tent to pick up a t-shirt or stuffable tote bag celebrating this partnership.
4C: Four Corridors Foreseeing the Region of the Future at Fort Tilden
What will the New York metropolitan area look like in 25 years? How could climate change transform the appearance and uses of our coastline? What will the suburbs of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut look like in the future given the vast changes possible with new technologies?
Join the Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy and the RPA on Friday, August 4 for the opening celebration of 4C: Four Corridors: Foreseeing the Region of the Future at The Chapel at Fort Tilden. This exhibit showcases the innovative designs of Port + Range, WORK ac, Only If + One Architecture, Rafi Segal A+U and DLAND Studio, as well as the role design has played in RPA’s previous regional plans. It will remain open to the public from August 4 through September 17 on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays between 11am and 6pm.
The Chapel at Fort Tilden
At the intersection of Murray and Heinzelman Road (map)
Breezy Point, NY 11697
Easiest entrance at Beach 169th Street and Murray Road
Opening Day Celebration
Friday, August 4, 2017
2:00 PM – 5:00 PM
A summer afternoon event celebrating the launch of the exhibit. Features design teams, guest speakers, family-friendly activities and refreshments.
Please RSVP to Christina Kata at ckata@rpa.org
Summer Exhibit Hours
August 4 – September 17, 2017
Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays
11 AM – 6 PM
Exhibit is open to the public.
The exhibition is made possible through the generous support of The Secunda Family Foundation and the Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy. For more information, please visit www.jbrpc.org.
This project is a partnership of Regional Plan Association and Princeton University School of Architecture. It will inform Regional Plan Association’s fourth regional plan, a strategic vision for the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut metropolitan region.
This project is generously supported by The Rockefeller Foundation.
Bayswater Park Picnic Area and Mural Takes Shape #JamaicaBay #FarRockaway
Thanks to dozens of volunteers from the Rockaways and beyond, the Jamaica Bay-theme mural at Bayswater Park is taking shape! Volunteers helped artist Ruth Hofheimer, the Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy (JBRPC) and the Natural Areas Conservancy (NAC) over two days to bring this wonderful mural to life. Working with NYC Parks, JBRPC and NAC also welcomed new barbecues and picnic benches to the park. A formal ribbon cutting will take place Wednesday, July 26 at 1pm.
For more photos, please visit our Instagram page at www.instagram.com/jbrpc.
Katharina Grosse - on view at Fort Tilden Beach through September 15th
Two months left to see Katharina Grosse - on view at Fort Tilden Beach through September 15th. Visit this summer and be sure to tag us @JBRPC and #rockawaycolors.
Organized by MoMA PS1 with the Rockaway Artists Alliance, Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy, National Park Service, Central Park Conservancy, NYC Parks & Recreation, and Rockaway Beach Surf Club. Special thanks to Arverne By The Sea, LLC, Rockaway Beach Boulevard Construction, LLC, and All Points, Inc. This project is made possible through the generous support of Bloomberg Philanthropies and The Secunda Family Foundation.
#rockawaycolors
Site-specific installation by Katharina Grosse at Gateway National Recreation Area at Fort Tilden. 2016. Image courtesy the artist and MoMA PS1. Photo by Pablo Enriquez.
2017 Rockaway Artists Alliance Film Festival
The 2017 Rockaway Artists Alliance Film Festival will be hosted in Riis Park as part of RAA's ongoing commitment to providing cultural events on the peninsula.
Thursday, July 13 | FINDING DORY
Join us for some pre-show games and activities with your favorite camp kidsmART counselors
Saturday, July 15 | SCHOOL OF ROCK
Stick around after the film for a live musical performance by Blame Mercury
FREE | Riis Park Beach
(enter at the stairs adjacent to BAY 9)
DJ and games at 7:00 pm. Movie starts at 8:00 pm
*All movies are open captioned. Event subject to cancellation due to weather.
Concessions available for purchase at The Beach Cafe.
Presented by Bloomberg Philanthropies in collaboration with Central Park Conservancy, National Park Service, Jamaica Bay - Rockaway Parks Conservancy.
Supported by The Tides and In Good Company.
Help us paint a community mural!
Please join the Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy and the Natural Areas Conservancy in painting a beautiful new mural at the Bayswater Park BBQ area in Far Rockaway, Queens. NYC-based artist Ruth Hofheimer's designs for the mural are inspired by the environmental diversity in Jamaica Bay and reflect the landscape, plants, and animals that live along NYC's coastline.
The mural will be outlined on the wall in advance, and artists at all levels and all ages are welcome to sign up for all or part of the painting process.
Painting can be messy and we recommend artists wear clothing that can get dirty. Please also bring your own water and sunscreen as it can get very hot and sunny in this park.
To sign up to volunteer, please register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/help-us-paint-a-community-mural-tickets-35642864768?aff=Poster
This mural was generously sponsored by the Jamaica Bay-Rockway Parks Conservancy, and is in partnership with NYC Parks.
Rockaway Photo Expo presented by the Rockaway Times
The Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy is proud to sponsor the Rockaway Photo Expo, presented by the Rockaway Times. Photos taken by local photographers will be on display along the boardwalk and at Riis Park from Memorial Day to July 4, 2017. Photos will be judged and the winner for best photo will receive a $500 grand prize!
Rockaway! On View July 3–November 30, 2016
July 1, 2016
MoMA PS1 presents Rockaway!, a site-specific outdoor installation by artist Katharina Grosse (Germany, b. 1961). Reflecting the bold colors of sunset in the Rockaways, Grosse has transformed Fort Tilden's decaying aquatics building into a monumental and sublime artwork using a specialized technique of spraying brightly colored paint directly onto the structure. Grosse’s installation serves as a final celebration and memorialization of this iconic building, which was rendered structurally unsound by Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and is set to be demolished in late 2016.
Grosse’s singular approach highlights the potential of painting as a medium, and encapsulates the stark beauty of this manmade structure and its natural surroundings. In her practice, Grosse seeks to extend the scope of her painting beyond the borders of the canvas. Grosse’s installation work seamlessly combines subtle nuances of light and shadow, characteristic of traditional landscape painting, with the weight and spectacle of large-scale sculpture. These sprawling and sculptural landscapes evoke the physicality of action painting and earthworks through their gestures and monumentality.
Rockaway! is organized in collaboration with the Rockaway Artists Alliance,Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy, National Park Service, Central Park Conservancy, NYC Parks & Recreation and Rockaway Beach Surf Club.
Rockaway! is a celebration of the ongoing recovery of the Rockaway Peninsula following the devastating impact of Hurricane Sandy in 2012, organized in collaboration with the Rockaway Artists Alliance, Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy, National Park Service, Central Park Conservancy, NYC Parks & Recreation, and Rockaway Beach Surf Club. Rockaway! 2016 is a continuation of MoMA PS1’s ongoing collaborative programming alongside the Rockaway Artists Alliance that began with collaborating on rescue efforts immediately following Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and continued with the VW Dome 2 in 2013 and Rockaway! in summer 2014, which featured solo projects by Patti Smith, Adrián Villar Rojas, and Janet Cardiff as well as a group show at the Rockaway Beach Surf Club.
Hours
Open to the public free of charge during regular park hours.
Admission
Free
Directions
Fort Tilden (169 State Road) is accessible by the Q22 and Q35 buses, the A train/shuttle to 116th St. and weekend ferry service on the American Princess. Parking is available at adjacent Riis Park. The Rockaway Beach Surf Club (302 Beach 87th Street) is on the A train/shuttle to Beach 90th Street; bus service includes the Q22 and Q52. Parking is limited to on-street.
View the exact location of Rockaway! here.
Rockaway Artists Alliance:
Since 1995 Rockaway Artists Alliance (RAA) has brought innovative art exhibitions, cultural events, and high-quality art education programs to the Rockaway peninsula. RAA’s facilities—sTudio 6, sTudio 7, and Building T-149—are nestled between the Atlantic Ocean and Jamaica Bay in Gateway National Recreation Area’s historic Fort Tilden. RAA brings children, adults, and seniors to the Fort for interactive programs—like Rockaway!—lectures, demonstrations, and musical performances.
Rockaway Artists Alliance presents Forbidden Fruit: Street Art in a National Park, telling the story of the people, flora and fauna of Jamaica Bay. Supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy:
The Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy (JBRPC) is a public-private partnership established in 2013 that is dedicated to improving the 10,000 acres of public parkland throughout Jamaica Bay and the Rockaway Peninsula for local residents and visitors alike. With its partners at the National Park Service and the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, JBRPC works to expand public access; increase recreational and educational opportunities; foster citizen stewardship and volunteerism; preserve and restore natural areas, including wetland and wildlife habitat; enhance cultural resources; and ensure the long-term sustainability of the parklands, including the development of the Science and Resilience Institute.
The National Park Service (NPS) operates more than 400 parks and historic sites nationwide, including Gateway National Recreation Area—which contains Fort Tilden—established in 1972 as America’s first urban national park. In 2012, NPS and the City of New York forged an unprecedented partnership to restore and revitalize 10,000 acres of unique parklands surrounding Jamaica Bay. Rockaway!, a direct outgrowth of that collaboration, seeks to attract and engage new visitors to these amazing waterfront parks.
The Central Park Conservancy is proud to support the Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy, a public-private partnership dedicated to improving the 10,000 acres of public parkland throughout Jamaica Bay and the Rockaway peninsula for local residents and visitors alike, with a series of summer volunteer opportunities and free activities, including a film festival presented by the Rockaway Artists Alliance.
New York City Department of Parks & Recreation:
NYC Parks is the steward of nearly 30,000 acres of land─14 percent of New York City. These holdings include some 3,000 acres within the Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks, including Rockaway Beach, the iconic urban getaway recently rediscovered by a new generation of surfers and beach lovers. NYC Parks launched its Art in the Parks program in 1967 and now oversees more than 800 permanent monuments and dozens of temporary artworks each year and, through its collaboration with the National Park Service on the Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks, provided additional support for Rockaway!
Rockaway Beach Surf Club is a cultural event space, restaurant and bar devoted to promoting the love of surfing, conserving the environment and supporting its local neighborhood. Unique to Rockaway Beach is the convergence of surf and urban culture. Our mission is to inspire the community and its residents through surfing and be a fun and positive destination for visitors to the peninsula. We believe in supporting everything the community has to offer…including the work of artists, writers, musicians and all lovers of surf and beach. In 2012, Rockaway Beach Surf Club led the on-ground recovery efforts following Hurricane Sandy and will continue to be a leader in the community for years to come.
Special thanks to Arverne By The Sea, LLC, Rockaway Beach Boulevard Construction, LLC and All Points, Inc. Rockaway! is made possible through the generous support of Bloomberg Philanthropies and The Secunda Family Foundation.