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 ..read more

Cadman Plaza, Brooklyn. 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 ho ..read more

Madison Square Park, April 14, 2020. 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 W ..read more

Hunts Point Recreation Center. 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 ep ..read more

Going Green for Parkies, May 2021, Washington Square Arch. 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 guest ..read more

Beach 17th Street Performance Space, Far Rockaway, Queens 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; De ..read more

Alley Pond Park 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 o ..read more

Learning Bridges 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 ..read more