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Celebrate the Passionate and Successful
Efforts of Parks Supporters to
Keep our State Parks Open This Year
On November 16th, we’re honoring two legislative champions: Assemblyman Steve Englebright
And
Senator Jose Serrano
and
intrepid Friends groups statewide, represented by Friends of:
- Fahnestock and Hudson Highlands
- Knox Farm
- Riverbank
- Thacher and Thompsons Lake
State Parks
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2010
5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m
THE CENTURY ASSOCIATION
Seven West 43rd Street,
NYC
For more information
email ptny@ptny.org
With a little help from friends
With a little help from friends
state parks can be better than ever. Does your favorite park have a friends group? If so lend your support. If not, why not start one? PTNY can help! Give us a call. Schodack Island State Park is the latest park to form a new friends group. Find out more about the new organization. Read an article about park friends groups on Long Island, in which PTNY Exec. Dir. Robin Dropkin urges everyone to be “part of the solution.”
America’s Great Outdoors comes to New York
On August 6, PTNY presented testimony at President Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors Initiative listening session in the Hudson Valley. Read our statement. View the morning panel discussion. Find out more about the Initiative to reconnect Americans to the outdoors.
A Passion for Parks
Threatened closings ignite groundswell of grassroots support
 A deal reached at the last minute before the start of the Memorial Day weekend between Governor Paterson and the Legislature meant all state parks and historic sites were able to open this year.
This success would NEVER have been possible without the outpouring of public support from parks enthusiasts across the state. The rallies, the Facebook sites, the letters, the emails, the visits to legislators, and Save our State Parks Day in Albany all made a HUGE impact. Legislators told us they had never heard from so many constituents on ANY OTHER ISSUE.
Clearly, New Yorkers are passionate about parks and this passion has been transformed into the beginnings of a vibrant grassroots constituency that will be critical in the fight to protect our parks in the years to come.
Unfortunately, the deal to open parks came at the expense of the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF)-New York's major revenue source for a broad array of environmental programs, including local parks, trails and state forests.
Despite this and the certainty that there will be many more battles to keep our parks open and accessible to all, today we can relish the fact that New Yorkers are able to visit and enjoy each and every one of our magnificent parks and historic sites.
Many NYS legislators, especially Assemblyman Englebright and Senator José Serrano, worked hard to open parks. Please take a few minutes to thank your Senator and Assembly member for their efforts on behalf of parks. It really makes a difference.
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Congratulations to our 2010 Community Trail and Greenway Award Winners
Parks & Trails New York held its 2010 Community Trail and Greenway Award Ceremony on June 8 at the Legislative Office Building in Albany.
Winners included:
We presented two Special Recognition Awards to Senator David Valesky and Assemblyman William Magee for their generous support for the creation and expansion of the Chittenango Creek Walk and Neighborhood Trail, Chenango Towpath Trail, and Susquehanna Greenway.
A special thanks to Assemblyman Frank Skartados and his staff whose hospitality helped make the event possible. Thanks also to Assemblyman Jack McEneny who drafted a Resolution proclaiming June 5, 2010 as National Trails Day in the state of New York.
Read more about the awards and view some great pics from the ceremony. | 
