Podcasts about Central Park Conservancy

The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast is a reader-supported publication (and my full-time job). To receive new posts and to support independent ski journalism, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.WhoChris Cushing, Principal of Mountain Planning at SE GroupRecorded onApril 3, 2025About SE GroupFrom the company's website:WE AREMountain planners, landscape architects, environmental analysts, and community and recreation planners. From master planning to conceptual design and permitting, we are your trusted partner in creating exceptional experiences and places.WE BELIEVEThat human and ecological wellbeing forms the foundation for thriving communities.WE EXISTTo enrich people's lives through the power of outdoor recreation.If that doesn't mean anything to you, then this will:Why I interviewed himNature versus nurture: God throws together the recipe, we bake the casserole. A way to explain humans. Sure he's six foot nine, but his mom dropped him into the intensive knitting program at Montessori school 232, so he can't play basketball for s**t. Or identical twins, separated at birth. One grows up as Sir Rutherford Ignacious Beaumont XIV and invents time travel. The other grows up as Buford and is the number seven at Okey-Doke's Quick Oil Change & Cannabis Emporium. The guts matter a lot, but so does the food.This is true of ski areas as well. An earthquake here, a glacier there, maybe a volcanic eruption, and, presto: a non-flat part of the earth on which we may potentially ski. The rest is up to us.It helps if nature was thoughtful enough to add slopes of varying but consistent pitch, a suitable rise from top to bottom, a consistent supply of snow, a flat area at the base, and some sort of natural conduit through which to move people and vehicles. But none of that is strictly necessary. Us humans (nurture), can punch green trails across solid-black fall lines (Jackson Hole), bulldoze a bigger hill (Caberfae), create snow where the clouds decline to (Wintergreen, 2022-23), plant the resort base at the summit (Blue Knob), or send skiers by boat (Eaglecrest).Someone makes all that happen. In North America, that someone is often SE Group, or their competitor, Ecosign. SE Group helps ski areas evolve into even better ski areas. That means helping to plan terrain expansions, lift replacements, snowmaking upgrades, transit connections, parking enhancements, and whatever built environment is under the ski area's control. SE Group is often the machine behind those Forest Service ski area master development plans that I so often spotlight. For example, Vail Mountain:When I talk about Alta consolidating seven slow lifts into four fast lifts; or Little Switzerland carving their mini-kingdom into beginner, parkbrah, and racer domains; or Mount Bachelor boosting its power supply to run more efficiently, this is the sort of thing that SE plots out (I'm not certain if they were involved in any or all of those projects).Analyzing this deliberate crafting of a natural bump into a human playground is the core of what The Storm is. I love, skiing, sure, but specifically lift-served skiing. I'm sure it's great to commune with the raccoons or whatever it is you people do when you discuss “skinning” and “AT setups.” But nature left a few things out. Such as: ski patrol, evacuation sleds, avalanche control, toilet paper, water fountains, firepits, and a place to charge my phone. Oh and chairlifts. And directional signs with trail ratings. And a snack bar.Skiing is torn between competing and contradictory narratives: the misanthropic, which hates crowds and most skiers not deemed sufficiently hardcore; the naturalistic, which mistakes ski resorts with the bucolic experience that is only possible in the backcountry; the preservationist, with its museum-ish aspirations to glasswall the obsolete; the hyperactive, insisting on all fast lifts and groomed runs; the fatalists, who assume inevitable death-of-concept in a warming world.None of these quite gets it. Ski areas are centers of joy and memory and bonhomie and possibility. But they are also (mostly), businesses. They are also parks, designed to appeal to as many skiers as possible. They are centers of organized risk, softened to minimize catastrophic outcomes. They must enlist machine aid to complement natural snowfall and move skiers up those meddlesome but necessary hills. Ski areas are nature, softened and smoothed and labelled by their civilized stewards, until the land is not exactly a representation of either man or God, but a strange and wonderful hybrid of both.What we talked aboutOld-school Cottonwoods vibe; “the Ikon Pass has just changed the industry so dramatically”; how to become a mountain planner for a living; what the mountain-planning vocation looked like in the mid-1980s; the detachable lift arrives; how to consolidate lifts without sacrificing skier experience; when is a lift not OK?; a surface lift resurgence?; how sanctioned glades changed ski areas; the evolution of terrain parks away from mega-features; the importance of terrain parks to small ski areas; reworking trails to reduce skier collisions; the curse of the traverse; making Jackson more approachable; on terrain balance; how megapasses are redistributing skier visits; how to expand a ski area without making traffic worse; ski areas that could evolve into major destinations; and ski area as public park or piece of art.What I got wrong* I blanked on the name of the famous double chair at A-Basin. It is Pallavicini.* I called Crystal Mountain's two-seater served terrain “North Country or whatever” – it is actually called “Northway.”* I said that Deer Valley would become the fourth- or fifth-largest ski resort in the nation once its expansion was finished. It will become the sixth-largest, at 4,926 acres, when the next expansion phase opens for winter 2025-26, and will become the fourth-largest, at 5,726 acres, at full build out.* I estimated Kendall Mountain's current lift-served ski footprint at 200 vertical feet; it is 240 feet.Why now was a good time for this interviewWe have a tendency, particularly in outdoor circles, to lionize the natural and shame the human. Development policy in the United States leans heavily toward “don't,” even in areas already designated for intensive recreation. We mustn't, plea activists: expand the Palisades Tahoe base village; build a gondola up Little Cottonwood Canyon; expand ski terrain contiguous with already-existing ski terrain at Grand Targhee.I understand these impulses, but I believe they are misguided. Intensive but thoughtful, human-scaled development directly within and adjacent to already-disturbed lands is the best way to limit the larger-scale, long-term manmade footprint that chews up vast natural tracts. That is: build 1,000 beds in what is now a bleak parking lot at Palisades Tahoe, and you limit the need for homes to be carved out of surrounding forests, and for hundreds of cars to daytrip into the ski area. Done right, you even create a walkable community of the sort that America conspicuously lacks.To push back against, and gradually change, the Culture of No fueling America's mountain town livability crises, we need exhibits of these sorts of projects actually working. More Whistlers (built from scratch in the 1980s to balance tourism and community) and fewer Aspens (grandfathered into ski town status with a classic street and building grid, but compromised by profiteers before we knew any better). This is the sort of work SE is doing: how do we build a better interface between civilization and nature, so that the former complements, rather than spoils, the latter?All of which is a little tangential to this particular podcast conversation, which focuses mostly on the ski areas themselves. But America's ski centers, established largely in the middle of the last century, are aging with the towns around them. Just about everything, from lifts to lodges to roads to pipes, has reached replacement age. Replacement is a burden, but also an opportunity to create a better version of something. Our ski areas will not only have faster lifts and newer snowguns – they will have fewer lifts and fewer guns that carry more people and make more snow, just as our built footprint, thoughtfully designed, can provide more homes for more people on less space and deliver more skiers with fewer vehicles.In a way, this podcast is almost a canonical Storm conversation. It should, perhaps, have been episode one, as every conversation since has dealt with some version of this question: how do humans sculpt a little piece of nature into a snowy park that we visit for fun? That is not an easy or obvious question to answer, which is why SE Group exists. Much as I admire our rough-and-tumble Dave McCoy-type founders, that improvisational style is trickier to execute in our highly regulated, activist present.And so we rely on artist-architects of the SE sort, who inject the natural with the human without draining what is essential from either. Done well, this crafted experience feels wild. Done poorly – as so much of our legacy built environment has been – and you generate resistance to future development, even if that future development is better. But no one falls in love with a blueprint. Experiencing a ski area as whatever it is you think a ski area should be is something you have to feel. And though there is a sort of magic animating places like Alta and Taos and Mammoth and Mad River Glen and Mount Bohemia, some ineffable thing that bleeds from the earth, these ski areas are also outcomes of a human-driven process, a determination to craft the best version of skiing that could exist for mass human consumption on that shred of the planet.Podcast NotesOn MittersillMittersill, now part of Cannon Mountain, was once a separate ski area. It petered out in the mid-‘80s, then became a sort of Cannon backcountry zone circa 2009. The Mittersill double arrived in 2010, followed by a T-bar in 2016.On chairlift consolidationI mention several ski areas that replaced a bunch of lifts with fewer lifts:The HighlandsIn 2023, Boyne-owned The Highlands wiped out three ancient Riblet triples and replaced them with this glorious bubble six-pack:Here's a before-and-after:Vernon Valley-Great Gorge/Mountain CreekI've called Intrawest's transformation of Vernon Valley-Great Gorge into Mountain Creek “perhaps the largest single-season overhaul of a ski area in the history of lift-served skiing.” Maybe someone can prove me wrong, but just look at this place circa 1989:It looked substantively the same in 1998, when, in a single summer, Intrawest tore out 18 lifts – 15 double chairs, two platters, and a T-bar, plus God knows how many ropetows – and replaced them with two high-speed quads, two fixed-grip quads, and a bucket-style Cabriolet lift that every normal ski area uses as a parking lot transit machine:I discussed this incredible transformation with current Hermitage Club GM Bill Benneyan, who worked at Mountain Creek in 1998, back in 2020:I misspoke on the podcast, saying that Intrawest had pulled out “something like a dozen lifts” and replaced them with “three or four” in 1998.KimberleyBack in the time before social media, Kimberley, British Columbia ran four frontside chairlifts: a high-speed quad, a triple, a double, and a T-bar:Beginning in 2001, the ski area slowly removed everything except the quad. Which was fine until an arsonist set fire to Kimberley's North Star Express in 2021, meaning skiers had no lift-served option to the backside terrain:I discussed this whole strange sequence of events with Andy Cohen, longtime GM of sister resort Fernie, on the podcast last year:On Revelstoke's original masterplanIt is astonishing that Revelstoke serves 3,121 acres with just five lifts: a gondola, two high-speed quads, a fixed quad, and a carpet. Most Midwest ski areas spin three times more lifts for three percent of the terrain.On Priest Creek and Sundown at SteamboatSteamboat, like many ski areas, once ran two parallel fixed-grip lifts on substantively the same line, with the Priest Creek double and the Sundown triple. The Sundown Express quad arrived in 1992, but Steamboat left Priest Creek standing for occasional overflow until 2021. Here's Steamboat circa 1990:Priest Creek is gone, but that entire 1990 lift footprint is nearly unrecognizable. Huge as Steamboat is, every arriving skier squeezes in through a single portal. One of Alterra's first priorities was to completely re-imagine the base area: sliding the existing gondola looker's right; installing an additional 10-person, two-stage gondola right beside it; and moving the carpets and learning center to mid-mountain:On upgrades at A-BasinWe discuss several upgrades at A-Basin, including Lenawee, Beavers, and Pallavicini. Here's the trailmap for context:On moguls on Kachina Peak at TaosYeah I'd say this lift draws some traffic:On the T-bar at Waterville ValleyWaterville Valley opened in 1966. Fifty-two years later, mountain officials finally acknowledged that chairlifts do not work on the mountain's top 400 vertical feet. All it took was a forced 1,585-foot shortening of the resort's base-to-summit high-speed quad just eight years after its 1988 installation and the legacy double chair's continued challenges in wind to say, “yeah maybe we'll just spend 90 percent less to install a lift that's actually appropriate for this terrain.” That was the High Country T-bar, which arrived in 2018. It is insane to look at ‘90s maps of Waterville pre- and post-chop job:On Hyland Hills, MinnesotaWhat an insanely amazing place this is:On Sunrise ParkFrom 1983 to 2017, Sunrise Park, Arizona was home to the most amazing triple chair, a 7,982-foot-long Yan with 352 carriers. Cyclone, as it was known, fell apart at some point and the resort neglected to fix or replace it. A couple of years ago, they re-opened the terrain to lift-served skiing with a low-cost alternative: stringing a ropetow from a green run off the Geronimo lift to where Cyclone used to land.On Woodward Park City and BorealPowdr has really differentiated itself with its Woodward terrain parks, which exist at amazing scale at Copper and Bachelor. The company has essentially turned two of its smaller ski areas – Boreal and Woodward Park City – entirely over to terrain parks.On Killington's tunnelsYou have to zoom in, but you can see them on the looker's right side of the trailmap: Bunny Buster at Great Northern, Great Bear at Great Northern, and Chute at Great Northern.On Jackson Hole traversesJackson is steep. Engineers hacked it so kids like mine could ride there:On expansions at Beaver Creek, Keystone, AspenRecent Colorado expansions have tended to create vast zones tailored to certain levels of skiers:Beaver Creek's McCoy Park is an incredible top-of-the-mountain green zone:Keystone's Bergman Bowl planted a high-speed six-pack to serve 550 acres of high-altitude intermediate terrain:And Aspen – already one of the most challenging mountains in the country – added Hero's – a fierce black-diamond zone off the summit:On Wilbere at SnowbirdWilbere is an example of a chairlift that kept the same name, even as Snowbird upgraded it from a double to a quad and significantly moved the load station and line:On ski terrain growth in AmericaYes, a bunch of ski areas have disappeared since the 1980s, but the raw amount of ski terrain has been increasing steadily over the decades:On White Pine, WyomingCushing referred to White Pine as a “dinky little ski area” with lots of potential. Here's a look at the thousand-footer, which billionaire Joe Ricketts purchased last year:On Deer Valley's expansionYeah, Deer Valley is blowing up:On Schweitzer's growthSchweitzer's transformation has been dramatic: in 1988, the Idaho panhandle resort occupied a large footprint that was served mostly by double chairs:Today: a modern ski area, with four detach quads, a sixer, and two newer triples – only one old chairlift remains:On BC transformationsA number of British Columbia ski areas have transformed from nubbins to majors over the past 30 years:Sun Peaks, then known as Tod Mountain, in 1993Sun Peaks today:Fernie in 1996, pre-upward expansion:Fernie today:Revelstoke, then known as Mount Mackenzie, in 1996:Modern Revy:Kicking Horse, then known as “Whitetooth” in 1994:Kicking Horse today:On Tamarack's expansion potentialTamarack sits mostly on Idaho state land, and would like to expand onto adjacent U.S. Forest Service land. Resort President Scott Turlington discussed these plans in depth with me on the pod a few years back:The mountain's plans have changed since, with a smaller lift footprint:On Central Park as a manmade placeNew York City's fabulous Central Park is another chunk of earth that may strike a visitor as natural, but is in fact a manmade work of art crafted from the wilderness. Per the Central Park Conservancy, which, via a public-private partnership with the city, provides the majority of funds, labor, and logistical support to maintain the sprawling complex:A popular misconception about Central Park is that its 843 acres are the last remaining natural land in Manhattan. While it is a green sanctuary inside a dense, hectic metropolis, this urban park is entirely human-made. It may look like it's naturally occurring, but the flora, landforms, water, and other features of Central Park have not always existed.Every acre of the Park was meticulously designed and built as part of a larger composition—one that its designers conceived as a "single work of art." Together, they created the Park through the practice that would come to be known as "landscape architecture."The Storm explores the world of lift-served skiing year-round. Join us. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

Betsy Smith, president and CEO of the Central Park Conservancy, talks about Saturday's opening of the revamped Harlem Meer area of the park, plus other news.

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Send us a textMeg gets lost in the lore of the Central Park Ramble - haven for birders, horticulturalists, and gay men. Jessica heals her Javits Center trauma and learns to appreciate the iconic convention center.Please check out our website, follow us on Instagram, on Facebook, and...WRITE US A REVIEW HEREWe'd LOVE to hear from you! Let us know if you have any ideas for stories HEREThank you for listening!Love,Meg and Jessica

In this explosive episode of the Rated G Podcast, we dive deep into one of the most shocking NYC scandals of the year. Brian shares his unbelievable story about being fired from Central Park after just 90 days on the job, unraveling a web of Central Park Conservancy controversy that has sent shockwaves through New York City. What led to his unexpected job loss? Was it an internal power play, a cover-up, or something even more sinister? Chapters: 00:00:00 - Rated G with Gary G Garcia and Brian T Licata 00:07:11 - Central Park Groundskeeper Fired: The Inside Story 00:13:35 - Blackballed in Central Park: Fired and Exposed 00:19:11 - Breaking Down the Central Park Job Performance 00:24:49 - The Importance of Integrity in Central Park Employment 00:31:23 - Fired for Moral Values: The Central Park Scandal 00:37:08 - Standing Up for Integrity and Fairness in NYC Jobs 00:43:04 - Gary's Central Park Story: Negotiating Hours and Overtime 00:49:08 - Confronting the Central Park Boss: HR Betrayal Uncovered 00:55:20 - Refusing to Sign: Legal Review Before Central Park Termination 01:01:17 - Negotiating Severance Pay: From Central Park to Comedy 01:07:17 - Central Park Employment: Negotiating Electricity Usage 01:13:01 - Standing Up Against Unfair Treatment in NYC Jobs 01:18:48 - How Could You Destroy Nature? Central Park's Dark Side 01:24:27 - Central Park's History and Neglect: A Revealing Discussion 01:30:22 - Central Park Controversy: Comments and Discussions 01:36:27 - We Love You Guys, See Ya Next Week! Join us as Brian pulls back the curtain on the Central Park secrets that the Conservancy doesn't want you to know. From insider perspectives on the park's management to the real reasons behind his job termination, this episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in New York City news and the hidden stories that shape the city. Our podcast continues to be the go-to source for the latest scandal-breaking news and podcast revelations that expose the real New York. If you're looking for an afternoon drive podcast that delivers hard-hitting truths and uncovers the stories that others are too afraid to tell, this is the episode for you. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Support the Show⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠A Brian T. Licata Production⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - - ⁠⁠⁠See Gary Live⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - - Want to create live streams like this? Check out StreamYard - - About The Show: Hosted by stand-up comedian Gary G. Garcia and produced by Brian T. Licata, Rated G is where free-flowing conversation meets fearless commentary. From stand-up comedy to current events, no topic is off-limits in this comedy podcast. We dive deep into unexplained theories like the JFK assassination, moon landing controversy, and Area 51 secrets. Explore vaccine safety, global power structures, alien encounters, and the mysteries of cryptid creatures. With uncensored discussions on secretive organizations, weather modification, comedic commentary, and media influence, Rated G uncovers hidden truths while delivering laughs. We also engage in lighthearted banter, and nothing is meant to be taken too seriously. Don't miss out on stand-up specials, funny podcasts, and comedy talk shows that blend humor with hard-hitting topics. - - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠❄️ ⁠Get Your Own 'Want A Bump'⁠

Imagine being responsible for one of the world's most iconic parks. The park that serves as a backdrop to the life-long memories made for over 42 million guests a year! Zach Holm, CSFM,  Turf Care Manager of Central Park Conservancy in New York City says he's in the business of helping make memories. In this week's #GroundskeeperChat we discover how Zach's career brought him to NYC and the iconic Central Park!

I am a long-time admirer of the work of architecture firm Sawyer Berson because I can see myself living in every one of the houses they create—every apartment, every interior, and every garden. Their homes, whether modernist, Federal, or traditional, are always so airy, beautiful, chic, and inviting. They are dazzling in their elegance as they make your heart drop, because Sawyer Berson have mastered all fields of architecture. Their homes are thoroughly researched, beautifully executed, and meticulously furnished to the smallest detail, with landscapes that are simply divine. They have famously created homes for stars, but it is lesser known that they have also built community gardens for Bette Midler's NY Restoration Project and the kitchen garden for the God's Love We Deliver which provides meals for the needy. Brian Sawyer, co-founder of the firm, is my guest today. He received his Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Virgina and worked with the Central Park Conservancy in restoration projects before joining Robert AM Stern, rising to the head of the landscape architecture department.

This week, I get the opportunity to talk with Stephanie Cook about her career journey and most recent experiences with the National Audubon Society. We talk about how her broad higher education experience prepared her to work in a more niche area with a non-natural constituency base.   Stephanie Cook brings over 20 years of experience to her work as a fundraising executive for the National Audubon Society—leading operations, donor services, and fundraising teams on behalf of the international conservation NGO. Prior to joining Audubon, she led NYC-based regional advancement teams for Syracuse University and Villanova University, where she led teams of development professionals charged with building relationships with and securing philanthropic support from alumni, parents, and friends. Her early career included service as a major gift officer for Columbia University and the Wildlife Conservation Society as well as in support of the fundraising efforts on behalf of the Central Park Conservancy. She is a native of Madison, Wisconsin and holds a BFA from the University of Kentucky in acting/theatre and an MS from Columbia University in fundraising and non-profit management. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/devdebrief/support

This episode is the conclusion of Central Park, where we go through the entire history, construction, and design of the park. We start off discussing the acquisition of land, and dislocation of 1,600 residents from the area now home to the park, talk about Seneca Village, and then go into the design of the park itself. All this and more, on this week's episode. If you want to learn more about the park, visit the Central Park Conservancy's website at https://www.centralparknyc.org, and if you want to learn more about their efforts to study Seneca Village check out: https://www.centralparknyc.org/seneca-village The blog is located at architecturecoffeeandink.com which also has the complete link of all my sources, previous episodes, and old blog posts. You can email me at architecturecoffeeandink@gmail.com, or head over to the Insta, @architecturecoffeeandink,as well as the TikTok, @architecturecoffeeandink. Architecture, Coffee, & Ink is a Hollywood C. Studios, LLC Production. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/architecturecoffeeandink/support

Since 1858 New York City's Central Park has served as a peaceful oasis for New Yorkers and visitors from around the world to enjoy the park's beautiful landscape, bridges, fountains, wildlife, sculptures and more. However, have you ever wondered who and what previously occupied the 843 acres that is now this beautiful park? In this episode of Your History Your Story, we will be speaking with Sara Cedar Miller, Historian Emerita of the Central Park Conservancy and author of the book, “Before Central Park”. Sara will take us back in history to tell us stories of the days prior to the formation of Central Park when the land was the site of farms, businesses, wars and a home to many different communities of people. Sara will also give us insight into the wonderful work of the Central Park Conservancy. For over forty years, the Conservancy's mission has been to preserve and celebrate Central Park as a sanctuary from the pace and pressures of city life and to enhance the enjoyment and well-being of all. Music: "With Loved Ones" Jay Man Photo(s) and songs: Courtesy of YHYS and Sara Cedar Miller Support Your History Your Story: Please consider becoming a Patron or making a one time donation via PayPal. - THANK YOU!!! YHYS Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠CLICK HERE⁠⁠⁠ YHYS PayPal: ⁠⁠⁠CLICK HERE⁠⁠⁠ YHYS: Social Links: ⁠⁠⁠CLICK HERE⁠⁠⁠ YHYS: Join our mailing list: ⁠⁠⁠CLICK HERE⁠⁠⁠ #yhys #yourhistoryyourstory #history #storytelling #podcast #njpodcast #youhaveastorytoo #jamesgardner To learn more about this episode, check the links below: Central Park Conservancy Book(s): Before Central Park and Seeing Central Park Similar stories of interest: S7 Ep05 Building the Brooklyn Bridge S3 Ep02 Carrying the Torch of History

Stroll the romantic, rambling paths of historic Central Park in this week's episode, turning back the clock to the 1860s and 70s, a time of children ice skating on The Lake, carriage rides through the Mall, and bewildering excursions through The Ramble.You're all invited to walk along with Greg through the oldest portion of Central Park. Not only to marvel at the beautiful trees, ancient rocks, flowers, and the dizzying assortment of birds but to look at the architecture, the sculptures, and the fountains.The idea of a public park -- open to all people, from all walks of life -- was rather new in the mid-19th century. The original plan for Central Park by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux emphasized an escape to the natural world. But almost immediately, those plans were altered to include more monumental and architectural delights.In this rambling walking tour, Greg visits some of the most beloved attractions of the park including Bethesda Terrace and Fountain, Naumburg Bandshell, Bow Bridge and Belvedere Castle.And he's joined by two very special guests:-- Sara Cedar Miller, historian emerita of the Central Park Conservancy and author of Before Central Park-- Dr. Emma Guest-Consales, president of the Guides Association of New York City and tour ambassador at One World Observatory.Visit our website for more information 

On this week's episode, model/designer/philanthropist/artist, Shaquita Garcia tells us about her multi-day wedding on a budget in New York City featuring City Hall, Central Park, and even a yacht party!Check out Shaquita on InstagramHave fun like ShaquitaDonate to Central Park Conservancy this week's Rachel's Recs: Pata Paplean and Magazine Cafefind us at They Had Fun & on Instagram

Esperanza and Irwin can barely contain their excitement for this podcast! Elizabeth Barlow Rogers is best known for her work as a driving force behind the resurrection of Central Park. 1970's New York City was a time of strife. Budget woes, crime, graffiti, defined NYC during this era, and the iconic Daily New headline, Ford to City: Drop Dead said it all. Central Park was in Ms. Barlow Rogers words, dying. In 1979, then Mayor Koch appointed her the first Central Park Administrator, and in 1980, she was one of the founders, and first president of the Central Park Conservancy. This non-profit combined public and private funding to rescue Central Park, and return it to its former glory. Great story, of course, and an essential part of this episode. But it's the Betsey Barlow circa 1965, buying a modest 1906 house in an unspoiled Wainscott that stole our hearts. Through Betsey's own words, reflections and observations, we'll share with you a Wainscott life spanning over 50 years, and a goodbye that very well may bring a tear to your eye.

As the weather warms up and the days get longer, many will be aiming to spend more time in the city's parks, or other local greenspaces. Reveler's should know that parks can be about more than outdoor recreation — they can also be designed to help fight the effects of climate change, like flooding, and the heat islands that form in urban spaces. Michelle Mueller-Gamez is the Central Park Conservancy's manager of climate change research, who will explain what climate change means for parks, and what parks mean for climate change resilience.

Meg invests in David P. Bloom's Ponzi scheme. Jessica saddles up for a rant on Central Park's Bridle Path.

For this Holiday Weekend, hear the year of the #BLTrees series in two days.  Today, November 2021's kick-off through the May check-in.  Listeners were invited to pick a tree and follow it through the year as we checked in every month with Marielle Anzelone, botanist and founder of NYC Wildflower Week (.org), who proposed the series, and a different guest each month: November:  Chris Martine, professor of Plant Genetics and Research at Bucknell University, YouTube host of "Plants are Cool Too!", and the co-author of Trees of New Jersey and the Mid-Atlantic States, who explains what defines a tree. December: Regina Alvarez, assistant professor of biology at Dominican College and former director of Urban Horticulture and Woodland Management at the Central Park Conservancy, who explains what's happening with the trees in winter. January: Ming Kuo, psychologist and associate professor of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences and the director of The Landscape and Human Health Laboratory at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, who talks about how trees have been shown to contribute to human health and well-being. February: Myla Aronson, professor in the Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources department at Rutgers University, director of the Hutcheson Memorial Forest, one of the last remaining old growth forests in New Jersey, and co-director of Urban Biodiversity Research Coordination Network (UrBioNet), explains what makes a "forest" beyond a group of trees. March: Georgia Silvera Seamans, director of the Washington Square Park Eco Projects, founder of Local Nature Lab and a member of the #BlackBotanistsWeek organizing committee, explains what's happening with trees in spring. April: Jennifer Greenfeld, New York City Parks assistant commissioner for forestry, horticulture, and natural resources, talks about the care of street trees. May: Desiree Narango, a conservation scientist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst working in collaboration with the U.S. Forest Service, talks about the relationship of birds and trees, at the height of the spring migration.   NOTE: These interviews were lightly edited for time and clarity; the original web versions are available through the #BLTrees series page.    

Betsy Smith, President and CEO of the Central Park Conservancy holds one of the most unique leadership positions, shepherding a New York institution unlike any … Read More

On this day in 1853, the New York State Legislature approved the establishment of Central Park. At that time, the land was home to a dairy, a number of farms, several cemeteries, two bone boiling factories, a couple of gunpowder storage sites -- and about a thousand people. Sara Cedar Miller joins us to talk about this history. She is the historian emerita of the Central Park Conservancy, and the author of Before Central Park.   Sara Cedar Miller is giving a virtual talk about Central Park on Tuesday, July 26 at 6pm. For details, go here. 

Before serving as Horticulturist of Haskell Public Gardens, Mc Cullin was the Senior Horticulturalist at The Native Plant Trusts Garden in the Woods. Prior to that, McCullin was selected as a Garden Club of America and Royal Society of Horticulture Scholar to intern at a variety of important public gardens in the UK. She also served as an apprentice at Harvard University's Arnold Arboretum in Boston, and as a Landscape Coordinator at the Central Park Conservancy in New York City. McCullin has a Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She lives in Acushnet, Massachusetts with her horticulturist husband Nate and their daughter Kalmia.

Join Steven Lerman and I as we dig into the textile industry and the TRUE MEANING of a family owned business. In this episode, Steven discusses THE POWER OF THOUGHT and APPRECIATING HOW EVERYDAY THINGS ARE MADE. Don't miss out on learning about THE REAL COST OF HIGH-END CLOTHING and some of the most MEMORABLE COLLABORATIONS & PROJECTS in Steven's career to date.Born and bred in New York, Steven Lerman is the Executive Vice President of a family owned business that was bought in 1990 by Brookwood Companies, an integrated global textile company. Steven believes in MAKING AN IMPACT & GIVING BACK, and is an avid supporter of the American Diabetes Association, American Heart Association, World Wildlife Fund, Central Park Conservancy, & Crossroads Food Bank. Digging In is a podcast that uncovers the secrets to success in life, business, and health. In this weekly show, Matt Rosenthal, CEO and seasoned entrepreneur digs in with guests as they share powerful stories about what it takes to be a success. Everyone has untapped potential, and this podcast delivers a roadmap that will inspire, motivate and educate you on your personal journey. Matt Rosenthal is the President and CEO of Mindcore Technologies. In this position, Matt provides his clients with creative and transformative technology solutions. His passion and experience have a substantial impact on the businesses he works with. Matt also prides himself on being a trusted advisor to his clients as he delivers high-impact and creative ideas, strategic guidance, and thought leadership. Matt's fulfillment as a business owner and advisor lies in the satisfaction he feels when he has made a difference and truly helps others. Visit https://mind-core.com for more information.Be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify!https://open.spotify.com/show/6oiWfrl9pQgUYeDKafUYE2

  This podcast discusses how the nonprofit sector is lagging behind the rest of the economy in terms of pandemic recovery. George and Nick discuss how nonprofits are being impacted by the pandemic and the challenges they face in terms of fundraising and providing services. They also talk about how the sector is trying to adapt and the role that nonprofits play in fighting climate change. Nonprofit news summaries weekly.    Nonprofits Play Unique Role In Push For Climate Resilience This Earth Day As Earth Day was celebrated across the world this past week, nonprofits continue to serve vital and unique roles in contributing to our understanding of the changing climate and its effects on our global community. International NGO the International Crisis Group published an interactive visual explainer on how climate change exacerbates civil unrest and humanitarian fragility. More locally, two New York City-based nonprofits, Central Park Conservancy and Natural Areas Conservancy have teamed up with the Yale School of the Environment to launch the Central Park Climate Lab, according to Reuters. The program seeks to better understand the NYC metro area's increasingly extreme weather and how parks may be part of that solution. Read more ➝   Pandemic Recovery Stalls In Comparison To Broader Economy As reported by The NonProfit Times, the nonprofit sector's post-pandemic recovery is lacking behind that of the broader economy, according to data from an analysis by Independent Sector. While giving has largely remained steady, it is not keeping pace with the broader growth experienced by the economy at large. Additionally, the sector remains down approximately 495,000 jobs. Read more ➝   Summary Union Mental Health Workers Strike for Better Conditions at Nonprofit in New London | NBC Connecticut  Warren Buffett to host final charity lunch for San Francisco nonprofit | The Mighty 790 KFGO Are Colorado's nonprofit hospitals giving enough to their communities to justify tax exemptions? New reports offer different answers. | The Denver Post Seeds of change: Landfill, nonprofit launch next phase of Making Trash Bloom project | Northern Virginia Daily   Resource: Universal Google Analytics going away...   Transcript [00:00:00] This week on the nonprofit news feed. Well, we are talking about earth day and the various events that happened and news that came out as well as some top level news on pandemic recovery, maybe stalling, a little bit for nonprofits. Nick has it going. [00:00:17] It's going. [00:00:18] good, George. I can start us off with our first story. And this is about the role of nonprofits in fighting. Emergency. So coming on the heels of an I P C C report, that is the intergovernmental panel on climate change, which says it's. Now we're never with addressing carbon emissions in the atmosphere to stave off a climate catastrophe. [00:00:44] We want it to highlight the role of a couple different nonprofits and NGOs fighting climate change in different capacities. The first one we highlighted in this story was the international NGO, the international crisis group, which published a really cool interactive feature about how climate change leads to conflict in countries that are seeing the effects of climate change firsthand. [00:01:14] It's just a great visualization. They always do such great visual journalism work. And I think it really. Emphasizes the importance of looking at climate. When we think about broader political, social, cultural, and unfortunately conflict on a global scale, another angle we wanted to approach this story a little bit more locally to probably many of our listeners is that. [00:01:42] To New York city based non-profits the central park Conservancy and natural areas Conservancy have teamed up with the Yale school of the environment to launch the central park climate lab. And this is a really cool one. According to Reuters, the program seeks to better understand the New York city Metro areas, increasingly extreme weather. [00:02:03] And how parks may be part of that solution. And they're setting up all sorts of different scientific measuring equipment and are going to be using central park as essentially an open air laboratory for climate science. So what does it take a couple of different angles on this approach to climate change coming off the heels of earth day, but George, what's your take on how non-profits can address climate? [00:02:29] Yeah, I think non-profits have already been addressing climate change for me. It's about how you kind of. How do you call this a crisis day in and day out and pull toward these? Like, long-term if the Celsius gets to like two degrees increase and what happens then it's tough because you have to find different narratives inside of it. [00:02:51] And I think one of the things that the international NGO international crisis group did was just [00:02:57] far more visual in terms of explaining this. So one of the links that we did include in this gets back to like how nonprofits can look at it. Show me the visual, honestly. And this is a really amazing dynamic presentation of what's going on, but then you like juxtapose that with the IPC sixth assessment report, which like even the summary needs a summary of the summary. [00:03:19] And I think one takeaway is that shirt a highly technical documents are what are needed for maybe policy advisors, but that doesn't get the donor out of bed. And I think it's much more. Visualizing what it looks like in, that's why we went from like very macro to very micro into saying like, this is what it looks like in central park, but these issues touch upon of course, issues of social justice based on the way that you solve for it. [00:03:43] And also the potential impacts for it. So it's on both sides. And so peeling out those stories and again, making it visual, making it simple while also not making it a kind of hopeless. Right. If, if you said. That is far, far, far beyond the capabilities of what people can do the, the responses giving up. [00:04:03] And so sometimes I look at some of these reports and visuals and like, all right, so I got to give I'm, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna drive less. How, how can I solve this? So you have to, you have to tow that very carefully. I think in communications around this, and every year around earth day, we see a lot of reports coming in and it's good to, to continue to remind our constituents on how this issue touches. [00:04:25] Absolutely. And I think it's also, there's so many threads. You can take this story, right? Cause it's so. Interconnected and inextricably linked with so many other parts of the global economy and discussions about natural resources. And now we're starting talking about global oil prices and sanctions and conflict, and all of these things come together. [00:04:48] So threading that narrative in a way that doesn't discount any of those really important factors, I think is super important to your point, but we can. We set realistic, but ambitious goals we can get there. All right. Our next story comes from the nonprofit times and it's how the nonprofit sectors post pandemic recovery is lacking behind that, of the broader economy. [00:05:14] So according to data from an analysis by independent sector, while charitable giving has largely remained steady year over year. It is not keeping pace with the broader growth experienced by the economy at large. And additionally, the nonprofit sector remains down approximately 495,000 jobs. From, I believe approximately the 1.6, it was down at the height of the. [00:05:41] This, both these factors are present a lag behind the broader us economy, which despite higher prices is kind of steamrolling ahead with a hyper competitive job market and pretty significant growth. So George, just something to keep an eye on. As we look at the nonprofit sector as a whole. [00:06:03] Yeah, I'm not super surprised to see a lagging, but it is. Sort of interesting to see that, that recovery there, and in terms of numbers of jobs, one of the places I just always look@isidealist.org. And if you just pop on there currently, they're like 8,800 jobs on just broadly and open and, and listed out there. [00:06:26] So it is one of the larger job networks for, for nonprofit. It's some something to watch. And I think it'll, you'll begin increasing and catching up as services, get back to back to more of a normal endemic. Hey, we can go back to work. Hey, we can have preschool programs more regularly and that need is only going to simply increase. [00:06:52] I think over time. [00:06:53] Absolutely. I agree. And I think that. The charitable sector as a whole is not immune from broader trends in the economy, like an increase in wages that puts pressure on employers to find qualified candidates for jobs. There's a lot of factors here and this actually takes us into our next story in the summary. [00:07:18] And this comes from a local NBC affiliate in Connecticut about how. Union mental health workers are striking for better conditions at a nonprofit in new London. So these workers are essentially outsourced mental health professionals paid for. By local government and they have gone on a strike to demand higher wages. [00:07:43] We've covered stories before about how nonprofits, particularly some nonprofit health providing organizations are really struggling to compete with wages. Even with. Local fast food restaurants, for example. And I think this is an example of workers kind of exercising their power here to demand higher wages, but again, a different angle to the broader macro economic trends we've been talking. [00:08:13] Yeah. For mental health. The type of work is this may be a small story in some respects, but as a, as a larger narrative. And it fits in very, very clearly, especially in a service of mental health, which is at an all time high in terms of demand because of the mental taxes that have been put on communities due to COVID. [00:08:33] And then on top of that inflation. And so again, nonprofits, it skills me like nonprofits don't have. The the money lover necessarily to say like, okay, everyone who's paying services, you have to all pay 10% more. I don't like the money button. Isn't there in the same way that gas stations can change their rates. [00:08:53] McDonald's can up the price. That's just not not there at the same point. Yeah. These workers absolutely need to get paid in line with the services they're providing. It's just, it it's takes longer to get there. A hard place for non-profits for sure. In direct service industries. [00:09:12] Absolutely. I think those are great points. All right, I'll take us into our next story. And this comes from K F G o.com. And it's a story about how Warren buffet is hosting a charity dinner. I guess the setup here is you can pay. In an auction, a large and absurd amount of money, frankly, to join Warren buffet at the Valencia steakhouse and Smith and Wollensky steakhouse in Manhattan. [00:09:45] Excuse me. Previous winners have included a cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin's son who paid a record $4.57 million for the privilege of dining with Mr. Buffet back in 2019. But this is the last time. Apparently this will be happening. Mr. Buffet is quite old and this, this is going to be the last such charity lunch, but George, I'm not super knowledgeable about the, the mega wealthy philanthropy charity universe. [00:10:17] And even here, it seems like cult of personality, most around Warren buffet, and I guess is investing prowess. But what's, what's your take on this? [00:10:26] I just had to call it out and put it up at the top because this is the 21st time that he's done it. And in my mind, this is the, this has created a whole model of auctioning off a lunch with a VIP that many nonprofits have, have taken and run with and has raised a significant amount of money. And it's just an amazing way, I guess now it's not. [00:10:51] New and clever, but it's an amazing way to say, Hey, we have somebody who may be able to write a big check, but more importantly, would you be willing to auction off a lunch, something simple? It seems that then rose was able to raise a lot more money for, for glide over the years. And it's a I don't know, it's just sort of like an interesting note that like, all right, this is the final lunch that he is optioning off. [00:11:17] And I think a lot of other nonprofits have done that. I think there is a takeaway here for organizations to come back to this, especially as guess what like more and more people are now able to go have lunch together. How can you maybe bring this back into a fundraising, ask of some of the people on your team. [00:11:35] If you've got some of those board members who they are saying like, Hey Buffet's stopping. Can we start? Can you say, Hey, for the next five years, can we auction off a lunch? Some of the risks can be that, like I crashed my own house party cause no one came. You want to make sure there are people that are going to bid on it. [00:11:50] And it's just a funny way of saying like, if you have somebody impressive, but then nobody bids, that is not a good thing. So there's a little bit of that risk as well. And you can also take a look at some of the models on this, on the charity buzz networks and these auction networks to see how these are packaged also. [00:12:08] Absolutely. That's a great point. There's a whole industry of auctioning off kind of celebrity access. For charity, I somewhat famously donated to the Obama campaign back in 2012 for the chance to get a lunch with Barack Obama. And my dream did not come true, but I donated to the cause and now my email lives on in infamy. [00:12:33] All right. Our next story is a follow-up on one. We did a couple of weeks ago, and this comes from the Denver post and it's a follow-up on how Colorado's nonprofit hospitals. A different take, I should say, on how Colorado's nonprofit hospitals are giving enough to their communities. So the follow-up is in a fairly splashy report from the lown Institute or loan Institute, a think tank that focuses on healthcare reform, posited that most of our major American. [00:13:08] Nonprofit hospitals are not reinvesting enough in their communities. And the take of this article was that actually to George, the point you raised when we recorded that podcast, is that actually the more important question is How these hospitals are offering free or discounted care to people who can't pay. [00:13:28] So it just adds a little bit more nuance on a couple of different angles, that story there, particularly related to Colorado, but George why'd, you include the story in our rundown. [00:13:37] I think it's a follow on of that larger report that we talked about and what that looks at a local level and more and more papers in journalism now looking into, Hey, isn't that interesting? Yeah, you do get attacks. Advantage of being a 5 0 1 C3. So wait a minute. W w the community service, the service to the people in this community? [00:14:00] What does that actually look like? Or unfortunately, sometimes are you the number one reason, many of our. Neighbors declaring bankruptcy. And I'm not saying that that's the case here, but it's following the larger report and the work that a large sort of research and nonprofit funding can have to then move the needle locally. [00:14:20] And it's part of maybe even a potential press, press push and press awareness to, to now pay attention to and in, in whatever sector that you work in. But this is following it through, through hospitals, for sure. [00:14:32] Absolutely. All right, George, what a bow, a feel-good story for you? [00:14:37] We can, before we get there, though, I do want to call out one of the resources that we've been putting out there around Google analytics and the Google analytics apocalypse that we've been talking about. Where essentially Google analytics, universal analytics. That's the, probably the version you're using and has been in place for a number of years is being deprecated. [00:15:00] And it's going to effectively be no longer collecting any information on your site as of July next year, 2023. So yet you have a year, however, What's important to note is that in order to get new data into GA for Google analytics, for the newest, greatest latest, you have to actually go through a full different installation process and installation process to make sure that you're collecting data now that you'll want to look at later. [00:15:31] So for example, when the lights go out in July, Of next year, you're going to be interested in looking at year over year comparisons to similar metrics that you've been collecting. So in order to do that, you need to prioritize that now. So yes, this is a bit of a headache, but we are letting all of our clients know past clients and as many people as well, listen, that this is something that you need to prioritize a little bit of work right now to do so that you have data later. [00:15:58] And aren't saying, oh my gosh, I didn't know about this. If this is the first time you're hearing about it, that's fine. Check out our site and this post, and we'll have those resources for you. All right now. Feel good. [00:16:12] All right. That's a feel stress story for some of us who work in the nonprofit web analytics field, but a feel good story is from the Northern Virginia. Daily N V daily.com and they talk about a nonprofit called sustainability matters that has gathered at the Shenandoah county landfill to celebrate the kickoff of the second part of their making trash bloom project. [00:16:45] I am. An expert in environmental science or whatever the field is that manages plants. But they are hydroseeding native wild flower seeds with 900 gallons of water onto the living trash cell. So I think what this means in layman's terms is they are turning trash into flowers. And I love that. That is pretty, that sounds good for the environment and it's being led by a non-profit. [00:17:12] So nothing not to love here. [00:17:14] Yeah, I always loved the environment meets nonprofits, and it's a, it's a great story there. A lot of work to be done, to beautify and manage the tremendous amount of trash we shove under, under the good old earth. And there's a lot that goes into it, including sort of venting and management of though the wastewater that gets run out. [00:17:34] But get some, get some flowers going. And it's a project that frankly nonprofits take on to, to solve the, the downstream problems of like, okay, a bunch of companies threw away a bunch of stuff. And now they don't have to pay for the, the common problem, but nonprofits pick up in moments like that, which is why it's good that we have those three sectors always working together. [00:18:00] But usually the sector I love the most doing the most important work. [00:18:04] Absolutely. [00:18:06] All right, Nick, thanks as always. [00:18:09] Thanks, George.  

  This podcast discusses how the nonprofit sector is lagging behind the rest of the economy in terms of pandemic recovery. George and Nick discuss how nonprofits are being impacted by the pandemic and the challenges they face in terms of fundraising and providing services. They also talk about how the sector is trying to adapt and the role that nonprofits play in fighting climate change. Nonprofit news summaries weekly.    Nonprofits Play Unique Role In Push For Climate Resilience This Earth Day As Earth Day was celebrated across the world this past week, nonprofits continue to serve vital and unique roles in contributing to our understanding of the changing climate and its effects on our global community. International NGO the International Crisis Group published an interactive visual explainer on how climate change exacerbates civil unrest and humanitarian fragility. More locally, two New York City-based nonprofits, Central Park Conservancy and Natural Areas Conservancy have teamed up with the Yale School of the Environment to launch the Central Park Climate Lab, according to Reuters. The program seeks to better understand the NYC metro area's increasingly extreme weather and how parks may be part of that solution. Read more ➝   Pandemic Recovery Stalls In Comparison To Broader Economy As reported by The NonProfit Times, the nonprofit sector's post-pandemic recovery is lacking behind that of the broader economy, according to data from an analysis by Independent Sector. While giving has largely remained steady, it is not keeping pace with the broader growth experienced by the economy at large. Additionally, the sector remains down approximately 495,000 jobs. Read more ➝   Summary Union Mental Health Workers Strike for Better Conditions at Nonprofit in New London | NBC Connecticut  Warren Buffett to host final charity lunch for San Francisco nonprofit | The Mighty 790 KFGO Are Colorado's nonprofit hospitals giving enough to their communities to justify tax exemptions? New reports offer different answers. | The Denver Post Seeds of change: Landfill, nonprofit launch next phase of Making Trash Bloom project | Northern Virginia Daily   Resource: Universal Google Analytics going away...   Transcript [00:00:00] This week on the nonprofit news feed. Well, we are talking about earth day and the various events that happened and news that came out as well as some top level news on pandemic recovery, maybe stalling, a little bit for nonprofits. Nick has it going. [00:00:17] It's going. [00:00:18] good, George. I can start us off with our first story. And this is about the role of nonprofits in fighting. Emergency. So coming on the heels of an I P C C report, that is the intergovernmental panel on climate change, which says it's. Now we're never with addressing carbon emissions in the atmosphere to stave off a climate catastrophe. [00:00:44] We want it to highlight the role of a couple different nonprofits and NGOs fighting climate change in different capacities. The first one we highlighted in this story was the international NGO, the international crisis group, which published a really cool interactive feature about how climate change leads to conflict in countries that are seeing the effects of climate change firsthand. [00:01:14] It's just a great visualization. They always do such great visual journalism work. And I think it really. Emphasizes the importance of looking at climate. When we think about broader political, social, cultural, and unfortunately conflict on a global scale, another angle we wanted to approach this story a little bit more locally to probably many of our listeners is that. [00:01:42] To New York city based non-profits the central park Conservancy and natural areas Conservancy have teamed up with the Yale school of the environment to launch the central park climate lab. And this is a really cool one. According to Reuters, the program seeks to better understand the New York city Metro areas,

Tanner and Jeff talk with Zach Holm, Turf Care Manager in Central Park, New York City. Central Park has an unbelievable amount of foot traffic annually. More than 42 million people walk, run, bike, or recreate in Central Park. Additionally, there are 26 baseball or softball fields in Central Park! Zach talks about the maintenance schedule, traffic issues, and project planning in the iconic park in the Big Apple.Central Park ConservancyJeff Fowler, Penn State Extension (host) Tanner DelValle, Penn State Extension (host) Zach Holm, Turf Care Manager, Central Park Conservancy

Matt and Nick talk about The Central Park Conservancy, the Yale School of the Environment, and New York City's Natural Areas Conservancy teaming up to open the Central Park Climate Lab (Central Park Is Opening a Lab to Study Climate Change - Bloomberg),Solar panel canopies over canals in the U.S. (First-in-the-nation project will cover canals with solar panel canopies | TheHill),An update on the clean energy push in Illinois by 2045 (Illinois to shut all fossil fuel plants by 2045 and invest $580M a year in renewables (electrek.co)),How climate change will impact skiing by making it less diverse (Rising costs of climate change threaten to make skiing a less diverse, even more exclusive sport (theconversation.com)),And students from several universities pressuring their schools to divest from fossil fuels (Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT and Vanderbilt students take legal action to try to force fossil fuel divestment - The Washington Post)!

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://thecitylife.org/2022/02/23/seven-urban-park-organizations-selected-for-central-park-conservancy-institute-for-urban-parks-2022-partnerships-lab/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/citylifeorg/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/citylifeorg/support

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://thecitylife.org/2022/02/08/the-central-park-conservancy-names-new-chief-of-park-operations/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/citylifeorg/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/citylifeorg/support

It's month two of our year-long project, #BLTrees. Marielle Anzelone, botanist and founder of NYC Wildflower Week (.org), and Regina Alvarez, assistant professor of biology at Dominican College and former director of Urban Horticulture and Woodland Management at the Central Park Conservancy, talk about what's happening with the trees as the weather gets colder and offer tips for identifying trees in their leaf-less state, based on their trunks and branches. My tree still has some of its yellow leaves on December 14th. #BLTrees pic.twitter.com/stckpyVItR — The Brian Lehrer Show and A Daily Politics Podcast (@BrianLehrer) December 14, 2021 @BrianLehrer @BrianLehrer Dec. pics of my 2 trees - cherry and dogwood from Central NJ #BLtrees pic.twitter.com/vvYKZwkNTG — Tamar Kieval Brill (@TamarMKB) December 15, 2021 @BrianLehrer #bltrees pic.twitter.com/TZb7PcmlnQ — brenda arnowitz (@b_arnowitz) December 15, 2021 @brianlehrer #BLtrees London plane tree Brooklyn pic.twitter.com/XY1BkWM04P — Elizabeth Daniel (@50izzies) December 15, 2021 #bltrees Oak tree planted for my dad. Never fully loses its leaves. (taken December 2021) pic.twitter.com/XKzDZ6pUpt — MerylWCooper (@MerylWCooper) December 15, 2021 My trees not looking as happy this month. #BLTrees pic.twitter.com/rp63b4bx3W — Martha K Hoffman (@marthakhoffman) December 15, 2021 #bltrees pic.twitter.com/G6JIzOvoA6 — JC Rodriguez (@JCAugustin23) December 15, 2021 #bltrees my red bark tree ready for winter pic.twitter.com/7BKITBP6cc — @GOPpoliticianswantyoudead 🏳️‍🌈🚵‍♂️ (@nipperdawg) December 15, 2021 #BLtrees Tweeting my tree! Near Flatbush Ave in my nabe. Listening to @nycbotanist on the Brian Lehrer Show on @wnyc. I think this is a dogwood. It's exceptionally gorgeous in bloom! Stay tuned for that. pic.twitter.com/DxTRUMedus — Claire Cavanah (@ClaireCavanah) December 15, 2021

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://thecitylife.org/2021/11/17/historic-dairy-in-central-park-childrens-district-reopens-after-restoration-by-the-central-park-conservancy/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/citylifeorg/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/citylifeorg/support

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://thecitylife.org/2021/10/13/the-central-park-conservancy-names-new-chief-of-strategic-philanthropy/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/citylifeorg/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/citylifeorg/support

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://thecitylife.org/2021/09/12/the-central-park-conservancy-breaks-ground-for-new-harlem-meer-center/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/citylifeorg/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/citylifeorg/support

GTOAT- The Greatest Trade of All TimeOn today's episode we have one of the best if not the best hedge fund manager of all time, John A. Paulson. And today we reveal how he pulled off his Big Short during the 2008 financial crisis. Paulson leads Paulson & Co., a New York-based investment management firm he founded in 1994 and turned his hedge fund into a family office in 2020. He has been called "one of the most prominent names in high finance" and "a man who made one of the biggest fortunes in Wall Street history."Paulson executed the greatest trade of all time, making $20 Billion off one trade. He was the 100th richest person in the world in 2016 with a net worth of $9.7 Billion. In 2010, he set another hedge fund record by making $5 billion in one year. He was one of the first people to predict The Great Recession in 2004. Mr. Paulson has only done 5 public interviews in his career. This is the ONLY PUBLIC interview about his Big Short. Paulson is also known for his philanthropy. He donated $400 million to Harvard University back in 2015 (largest donation in school history), and around $2.5 Billion to other charitable causes. Such as  Between 2009 and 2011 Paulson made several charitable donations, including $15 million to the Center for Responsible Lending, $20 million to New York University Stern School of Business (auditorium now named after Paulson), $5 million to the Southampton Hospital on Long Island, $15 million to build a children's hospital in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and £2.5 million to the London School of Economics for the John A. Paulson Chair in European Political Economy. In October 2012, Paulson donated $100 million to the Central Park Conservancy, the nonprofit organization that maintains New York City's Central Park. And he has put half of his wealth into the Paulson Foundation. Today we will talk about how he got into finance, the basics of hedge funds, merger arbitrage, long/short strategy, how he predicated the fall of the mortgage market, his Big Short, his advice for everyone in the world, how he executed his trade, CDOs, credit default swaps, mortgage backed securities, assets under management used to make his Big Short, risk/return trade off, why he made the trade during a prosperous housing market, his UK and US Stock shorts, his philanthropy career, and more.Follow the podcast on Instagram @The_finanze_podcast for live updates on new episodes. You can check out our Youtube Channel at The FinanZe Podcast.Join our email list by emailing us at the.FinanZe.podcast@gmail.comIf you enjoy listening to our episodes and are learning then we'd be extremely grateful if you gave us a 5 star rating on Apple Podcasts.Enjoy the episode with one of the greats.

CENTRAL PARK, NEW YORK -- In Episode #26 (Segment 1 of 3) of his podcast, Thomas Fraser talks with Elizabeth Barlow Rogers about Central Park's history and revitalization.  Rogers is the founder of the influential Central Park Conservancy.In a wide-ranging interview, Rogers describes how Central Park was rescued from a state of serious neglect and degradation and transformed into the scenic and recreational masterpiece it is today.  She also discusses a variety of lessons civic leaders can learn from the revitalization of Central Park and apply to ambitious, transformational projects in their own cities.Rogers is the author of the excellent book "Saving Central Park: A History and A Memoir."To learn more about the Tom Fraser Podcast and to listen to additional episodes, please go to www.tlfraser.com/podcasts.This podcast was originally published at www.tlfraser.com on October 19, 2018.The information provided in this podcast does not constitute the provision of legal, tax or investment advice.  This information is provided for general informational purposes only.Copyright 2015-2021 Thomas L. Fraser.  All Rights Reserved.

CENTRAL PARK, NEW YORK -- In Episode #26 (Segment 2 of 3) of his podcast, Thomas Fraser talks with Elizabeth Barlow Rogers about Central Park's history and revitalization.  Rogers is the founder of the influential Central Park Conservancy.In a wide-ranging interview, Rogers describes how Central Park was rescued from a state of serious neglect and degradation and transformed into the scenic and recreational masterpiece it is today.  She also discusses a variety of lessons civic leaders can learn from the revitalization of Central Park and apply to ambitious, transformational projects in their own cities.Rogers is the author of the excellent book "Saving Central Park: A History and A Memoir."To learn more about the Tom Fraser Podcast and to listen to additional episodes, please go to www.tlfraser.com/podcasts.This podcast was originally published at www.tlfraser.com on October 19, 2018.The information provided in this podcast does not constitute the provision of legal, tax or investment advice.  This information is provided for general informational purposes only.Copyright 2015-2021 Thomas L. Fraser.  All Rights Reserved.

CENTRAL PARK, NEW YORK -- In Episode #26 (Segment 3 of 3) of his podcast, Thomas Fraser talks with Elizabeth Barlow Rogers about Central Park's history and revitalization.  Rogers is the founder of the influential Central Park Conservancy.In a wide-ranging interview, Rogers describes how Central Park was rescued from a state of serious neglect and degradation and transformed into the scenic and recreational masterpiece it is today.  She also discusses a variety of lessons civic leaders can learn from the revitalization of Central Park and apply to ambitious, transformational projects in their own cities.Rogers is the author of the excellent book "Saving Central Park: A History and A Memoir."To learn more about the Tom Fraser Podcast and to listen to additional episodes, please go to www.tlfraser.com/podcasts.This podcast was originally published at www.tlfraser.com on October 19, 2018.The information provided in this podcast does not constitute the provision of legal, tax or investment advice.  This information is provided for general informational purposes only.Copyright 2015-2021 Thomas L. Fraser.  All Rights Reserved.

Betsy Smith is the President & CEO of the Central Park Conservancy. In her leadership for Central Park, one of the world's most iconic and treasured public spaces, Betsy oversees strategic planning, park operations, marketing and communications. Building on the Conservancy's successful completion of a 40-year restoration plan, Betsy's focus is on ensuring that Central Park's inspiring mission as the “mind and heart of all New Yorkers” is achieved through financial sustainability, operational excellence and engaged governance. During this episode, we'll hear Betsy's own stories about leadership and the importance of financial competence and confidence. She'll share more with us about the power of philanthropy and how we can tap into generosity for positive impact.

Some History and Current Work of New York Based Foundations On this week's show we will explore New York as a center of Philanthropy, including the history and present work of some New York based foundations.My guests will be Azra Dawood, Postdoctoral Fellow of the Museum of the City of New York, and , and Kenneth Fisher, Partner at Fisher Brothers Real Estate, Chairman & CEO of the Fisher House Foundation, and Co-Chairman of the Intrepid Museum Foundation. Show Notes Segment 1 Jeff introduces the topic of today's episode, as well as his first guest Azra Dawood, postdoctoral fellow of the Museum of the City of New York. Jeff and Azra discuss when Azra first visited New York City, and what drew her to the city. Azra explains why she decided to change her field of study from architecture to the history of architecture, and her educational journey through the history of architecture. Jeff and Azra discuss the topic of Azra's dissertation, John D. Rockefeller Jr., and why Azra decided to write a dissertation on him. Azra explains the scope of John D. Rockefeller Jr.'s philanthropy, and how she was interested behind the why of his philanthropy. Jeff and Azra discuss what philanthropy is, and how it differs from charity. Segment 2 Jeff and Azra discuss modern philanthropy in the United States, and its rise in 1867 in relation to the Education Fund, as well as the larger philanthropy foundations located in New York during the turn of the 20th century. Azra explains why many of the larger philanthropy foundations came to be based in New York City, dating back to the gilded age. Jeff and Azra discuss philanthropy in New York that was enacted by non-New Yorkers, specifically in the modern day. The two then discuss notable foundations that are both based in and spend most of their money in New York, as well as the Central Park Conservancy and the history behind it. Azra retells the different philanthropy projects that John D. Rockefeller Jr. enacted and completed throughout New York. Azra explains the importance of critiquing both the old and the new gilded age, and the philanthropy that emerged from it. Segment 3 Jeff introduces his second guest, Kenneth Fisher, Partner at Fisher Brothers Real Estate, Chairman & CEO of the Fisher House Foundation, and Co-Chairman of the Intrepid Museum Foundation. Jeff and Kenneth discuss Kenneth's family's history in real estate, and his personal history in real estate. Kenneth retells his personal experiences of philanthropy, and how he became involved with the City Investment Fund. Kenneth explains his family's involvement with the USS Intrepid's final sail in 1981, which started his and his family's dedication to giving back to the United States military families. Segment 4 Jeff and Kenneth discuss the Fisher House Foundation and the history behind it, and how it came about when Kenneth's relative came to the realization that there was a need for military families to find an affordable place to stay while their family members were in the hospital. Kenneth discusses how the United States government shutdown in 2013 impacted the families of the fallen, and how the Fisher House Foundation worked to help the impacted families, who were not receiving the funds promised by the government. Jeff and Kenneth discuss how many foundations don't get held accountable for how they spend their money, and that Kenneth didn't want the Fisher House Foundation to be one of those foundations, so he puts a large focus on integrity and not to spend money on marketing. Kenneth discusses his involvement in the Jackie Robinson Foundation, and what the foundation does.

Seneca Village was a predominantly black community that built itself from the ground up. But its story is fragmented. Even though it existed at a time when it could have been fairly well-documented, there was a vested interest in erasing it. Holly's Research: “Seneca Village, New York City.” National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/articles/seneca-village-new-york-city.htm Alexander, Leslie M. “African or American?” University of Illinois Press. 2008. Wall, Diana diZerega, et al. “Seneca Village and Little Africa: Two African American Communities in Antebellum New York City.” Historical Archaeology, vol. 42, no. 1, 2008, pp. 97–107. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25617485. “Discover Seneca Village: Selected Research Topics and Resources.” Central Park Conservancy. October 2019. https://d17wymyl890hh0.cloudfront.net/new_images/feature_facilities/SenecaVillage_SelectedResearchTopicsandResources_2020_v4.pdf?mtime=20200219091534 Capron, Maddie and Christina Zdanowicz. “A black community was displaced to build Central Park. Now a monument will honor them.” CNN Oct. 22, 2019. https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/seneca-village-central-park-monument-trnd/index.html “The Sale of Manhattan.” The Atlantic World: America and the Netherlands. Library of Congress and the National Library of the Netherlands. http://frontiers.loc.gov/intldl/awkbhtml/kb-1/kb-1-2-1.html The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Manhattan.” Encyclopædia Britannica. November 23, 2018. https://www.britannica.com/place/Manhattan-New-York-City Connoly, Colleen. “The True Native New Yorkers Can Never Truly Reclaim Their Homeland.” Smithsonian. Oct. 5, 2018. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/true-native-new-yorkers-can-never-truly-reclaim-their-homeland-180970472/ Cleland, Charles and Bruce R. Greene. “Faith in Paper.” University of Michigan Press. 2011. Rosenzweig, Roy and Elizabeth Blackmar. “The Park and the People: A History of Central Park.” Cornell University Press. 1992. Blakinger, Keri. “A look at Seneca Village, the black town razed for Central Park.” New York Daily News. May 17, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160518101320/https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/manhattan/seneca-village-black-town-razed-central-park-article-1.2639611 Martin, Douglas. “A Village Dies, A Park Is Born.” New York Times. Jan. 31, 1997. https://web.archive.org/web/20160320031313/http://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/31/arts/a-village-dies-a-park-is-born.html?pagewanted=all Arenson, Karen W. “A Technological Dig; Scientists Seek Signs of Central Park Past.” New York Times. July 27, 2000. https://www.nytimes.com/2000/07/27/nyregion/a-technological-dig-scientists-seek-signs-of-central-park-past.html Staples, Brent. “The Death of Black Utopia.” New York Times. Nov. 28, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/28/opinion/seneca-central-park-nyc.html Kang, Tricia. “160 Years of Central Park: A Brief History.” Central Park Conservancy. June 1, 2017. https://www.centralparknyc.org/blog/central-park-history Wall, Diane diZerega and Nan A. Rothschild. “The Seneca Village Archaeological Excavations, Summer 2011.” The African Diaspora Archaeology Network. September 2011 Newsletter. http://www.diaspora.illinois.edu/news0911/news0911-4.pdf Central Park Conservancy. “Discover Seneca Village: Selected Research Topics ad Resources.” October 2019. https://d17wymyl890hh0.cloudfront.net/new_images/feature_facilities/SenecaVillage_SelectedResearchTopicsandResources_2020_v4.pdf?mtime=20200219091534 Wall, Diane diZerega, et al. “SENECA VILLAGE, A FORGOTTEN COMMUNITY: REPORT ON THE 2011 EXCAVATIONS.” 2018. http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/arch_reports/1828.pdf Seneca Village Project. http://projects.mcah.columbia.edu/seneca_village/index.html Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Renée Greenstein, Founder and Designer of Women With Control® and Attitudes by Renée® joins us as we talk about getting back on track!  Renée Greenstein is Founder and Designer of Women With Control® and Attitudes by Renée®. Two top selling fashion lines featured on QVC USA and UK. Both collections are a reflection of designer Renée Greenstein’s flair, genuine playfulness, and compelling life experiences. As part of her entrepreneur endeavors, philanthropy is a large focus. For years, Renée has been an active member and donor to the Central Park Conservancy, The Public Theatre, Rock, and Rule Women’s Empowerment, Hattitude for Education and WIN; “Women in Need”. Renée has had the honor of being nominated for numerous awards including 2010 Product Concept, Apparel Award and QVC’s Q Star 2012 Award for QVC Rising Star as well as winning the 2011Q Star Award for QVC Product Concept in Apparel. Renée has had the pleasure of being interviewed on BuildingNY and featured on QVC’s podcast, Shop Culture. Renée has built an inspiring cult following that she calls her Wardrobe Warriors. She has dedicated a Facebook group on social media for her Wardrobe Warriors, where positive interaction from women all around the world partake in everyday. Renee’s passion and love for her designs and customers is apparent and genuine.    When she is not appearing on QVC or creating new fashions for her line, she splits her time between their Malvern  and NYC residences . She is happily married to Justin, besides being a mother and grandmother, which is a role she cherishes most of all. www.attitudesbyrenee.com  

With a Gross Domestic Product of over $21 trillion, the United States is one of the richest nations on earth. Yet, to our eternal shame, more that 13 million children in the United States - nearly 1 in every 5 children – live in poverty. Living in poverty means that regardless of their intelligence, aptitudes and talents, 13 million children are unlikely to have a sound education or adequate healthcare.  13 million children, will more than likely be exposed to violence, and the gravitational pull of powerful negative influences, to which many unfortunately will fall prey. 13 million children who will ultimately be unprepared and unable to thrive, to help themselves, their country, and the world. Using a model that focuses intensely on the health, social and educational development of children, including wrap-around programs that improve the family life and community of those children, Harlem Children’s Zone, in the words of President Obama “is an all-encompassing anti-poverty, effort that is literally saving a generation of children in a neighbourhood where they were never supposed to have a chance”. With its roots in Central Harlem going back to the 1970s, Harlem Children’s Zone has saved and continues to save generations of children. It also provides a blue print for what communities can do to reclaim the future for all their children. Anne Williams-Isom, mother to three incredible children and CEO of Harlem Children’s Zone is my guest today. Anne found her calling to improve the lives of vulnerable children and families when she was still a child herself, growing up with a single mother and witnessing firsthand the many challenges confronting kids in struggling communities. That calling was cemented during her time at Columbia Law School, where she began to appreciate the critical role played by communities in finding lasting solutions to social problems. Before she joined Harlem Children’s Zone, Anne served as Deputy Commissioner of the Division of Community and Government Affairs at New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services. When she first joined Harlem Children’s Zone, she did so as its Chief Operating Officer, overseeing all the programs in its cradle-through-college pipeline, leading its 2,000+ staff, and strengthening the organization’s use of data to improve services and outcomes for the over 25,000 children and families it serves. Anne serves on the board of directors of several organizations, including: Child Trends, Columbia Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Design and Central Park Conservancy. She is sought after for her expert guidance on child welfare and community development, by media houses like The New York Times, Barron’s, Crain’s New York, Essence and The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Renée Greenstein, Founder and Designer of Women With Control® and Attitudes by Renée® joins us and shares her story of how she got where she is today, plus TONS of wisdom she learned on the way.  Renée Greenstein is Founder and Designer of Women With Control® and Attitudes by Renée®. Two top selling fashion lines featured on QVC USA and UK. Both collections are a reflection of designer Renée Greenstein’s flair, genuine playfulness, and compelling life experiences. As part of her entrepreneur endeavors, philanthropy is a large focus. For years, Renée has been an active member and donor to the Central Park Conservancy, The Public Theatre, Rock, and Rule Women’s Empowerment, Hattitude for Education and WIN; “Women in Need”. Renée has had the honor of being nominated for numerous awards including 2010 Product Concept, Apparel Award and QVC’s Q Star 2012 Award for QVC Rising Star as well as winning the 2011Q Star Award for QVC Product Concept in Apparel. Renée has had the pleasure of being interviewed on BuildingNY and featured on QVC’s podcast, Shop Culture. Renée has built an inspiring cult following that she calls her Wardrobe Warriors. She has dedicated a Facebook group on social media for her Wardrobe Warriors, where positive interaction from women all around the world partake in everyday. Renee’s passion and love for her designs and customers is apparent and genuine.    When she is not appearing on QVC or creating new fashions for her line, she splits her time between their Malvern  and NYC residences . She is happily married to Justin, besides being a mother and grandmother, which is a role she cherishes most of all. www.attitudesbyrenee.com  

This podcast features Richard Pieper. Pieper is an Architectural Conservator at Columbia University specialising in the documentation of historic architectural technology & the conservation of metals & masonry materials. He is a Partner & Director of Preservation for Jan Hird Pokorny Associates, a preservation architecture firm in New York City. In this conversation; Richard & Matt Reiley, Associate Director of Conservation, Central Park Conservancy discuss the last remaining cast iron 'backer plate' which formed a crucial part of the stunning historical metal work that held up each of the Minton Tile Ceiling panels. As you will hear; these are phenomenal engineering solutions & without them the epic tile ceiling simply wouldn't exist. Richard & Matt discuss its importance, its technical excellence & its importance in relation to the development of the city's wider metal work history which, in turn, is of international significance ie buildings, transit systems & other major parts of the NYC's gargantuan infrastructure.

This podcast introduces project partner Matt Reiley. Matt explains a bit about his background; including his artistic & conservation practice & his strong connections with Bethesda Terrace, Arcade & Minton Tile Ceiling. He talks about Bethesda Terrace as the ‘heart of the park’; a phrase first used by Central Park designers Olmstead & Vaux nearly 150 years ago & reinforced by Central Park Conservancy’s Sara Cedar Miller, Historian emerita since 2017 & author of the definitive ‘Central Park, An American Masterpiece’. Conversations between Matt & myself will feature in future podcasts.

Interview with Photographer Joe Russo, Photographer Neal Preston & the USITT 2019, Central Park Conservancy gig, Creative Photography,

“The number one reason for organizational success or failure is the ability to stay relevant. Having the wherewithal to strategically shift ahead of accelerating marketplace changes is the single most critical skillset an organization can possess.”  Allen Adamson is a noted industry expert in all disciplines of branding. He has worked with a broad spectrum of consumer and corporate businesses in industries ranging from packaged goods and technology, to health care and financial services, to hospitality and entertainment.  With his perspective and depth of experience, Allen has helped his clients understand and activate strategies that enable them to shift ahead of the market and the competition, generating long-term value and increased brand equity. Allen and his teams help clients identify what truly matters to the audiences they serve - what is relevant to their audiences - and to brilliantly deliver on it. How organizations do – or do not - stay relevant is the subject of Allen’s most recent book, Shift Ahead. Using fascinating first-hand accounts and detailed case studies, Shift Ahead explains how the best organizations recognize when it’s time to change direction, and how they pull it off while bolstering their brands. Following the approach of Allen’s previous books, BrandSimple, BrandDigital, and The Edge:50 Tips from Brands That Lead – which are used in universities across the country - Shift Ahead offers up practical and readily applied lessons learned.  Allen is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Metaforce (www.metaforce.co), a disruptive marketing and product consultancy which, unlike traditional firms, takes a multi-disciplinary channel-agnostic approach to marketing challenges. It was created to help leaders understand all the forces at work inside and outside their businesses in order to identify strategies yielding the highest returns. Once determining the best strategy, Metaforce’s consortium of partners, each industry experts in their fields, pivot to help clients brilliantly act on and execute customer experiences in market. Metaforce combines the best aspects of brand management, strategy, and experience consultancies to deliver solutions that ensure its clients shift ahead of the dramatic changes in the marketplace in order to meet fast-evolving customer needs. Prior to this Allen was Chairman of Landor Associates, a global communications and brand strategy consultancy.  Under his leadership, the company partnered with a wide array of iconic brands, including Accenture, GE, Johnson & Johnson, FedEx, HBO, Marriott, MetLife, P&G, Sony, and Verizon. Additionally, he provided guidance for non-profit organizations including the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, the Central Park Conservancy, and the Council on Foreign Relations, among others.Before leading Landor, Allen worked on both the agency and the “client side” of the industry.  At Unilever he was a marketing executive across a number of major packaged goods brands. He also held senior management positions at Ogilvy & Mather and DMB&B.  Allen received his BS from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, and an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business. http://Metaforce.coAllen's book Shift Ahead:  https://www.amazon.com/Shift-Ahead-Companies-Relevant-Fast-Changing/dp/0814438334/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?crid=KF0DLITDZ5E7&keywords=shift+ahead+allen+adamson&qid=1552074707&s=gateway&sprefix=shift+ahead%2Caps%2C158&sr=8-1-fkmrnullLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s episode, we’re talking about pet peeves. We know how much passion you have for your communities and careers as park and recreation professionals, but we also know that there’s always that one thing that continues to irk you. On our 25th episode, we asked you to let us know some of the things that you deal with in your career in parks and recreation that really annoy you, and you answered the call. We met up with a few of our listeners at the 2018 NRPA Annual Conference in Indianapolis to hear a little more about their park and recreation pet peeves, and while some of them are things you would probably assume park and rec professionals have to deal with, you might also learn a thing or two (we did)! Here’s a sneak peak at the pet peeves in this episode (listen to the show for more): Samantha Marsden, Central Park Conservancy (1:08) — “Being in New York City, one of my pet peeves is when people — they do it in parks, too, of course — is when they spit on the sidewalk. Any type of bodily fluid, I can’t stand it. It makes me want to gag, or puke, or something.” Brittanie Propes, Excelsior Springs Parks and Recreation (2:43) — “We bring our families out [to our public parks and trails] for a fresh air experience, and you really ruin it for us when you smoke.” Nancy Desmond, Cleveland Metroparks (3:13) — “There’s toxins in those cigarette butts, and it’s just not good for the health and wellness of the park visitors or the nature that it affects.” Trillby Berry-Tayman, Washington Township Park (3:37) — “When the community asks for a program, I find a sponsor to cover the costs, and then my community doesn’t show up.” Mark Foote, City of Chandler Parks and Recreation (5:23) — “Trying to take square millennials and fit them into our round holes. I think as recreation professionals, a lot of times we have this old-school way of thinking of taking these new kids and fitting them into our systems. We have to adapt to who these kids are.”

In New York, where anything’s possible, the privatisation of Manhattan's Central Park is even stranger than fiction. I imagine that few people would choose to travel back in time to visit the run down and quite frankly often dangerous Central Park of 1970s Manhattan. But many people don't realise that a casual and relatively safe stroll through Central Park today has come at significant cost to the park’s maintenance workers. "My dream is to have the park system privatised and run entirely for profit by corporations". Ron Swanson, fictional Parks Department Director, American Television sitcom Parks and Recreation. We’re talking to John Krinsky about his new book with Maud Simonet, Who Cleans the Park? and their research about parks management in New York. John and Maud bring the often-invisible work of the park’s maintenance workers into view. What’s exposed is much more that than an underpaid and unvalued workforce, but a set of questions that go to the heart of urban management today. In America, hundreds of millions of dollars of both public and private funds are dedicated to the upkeep of public assets like Central Park. Keeping a park in order requires not just money, but labour - the not so glamorous and often invisible jobs that are associated with picking up the garbage, painting benches, maintaining equipment, cleaning toilets, raking leaves and removing homeless people. “Parks have been absolutely critical to the maintenance and argumentation of real estate value.” Professor John Krinsky. John talks about how wealthy individuals and corporate actors have directed significant philanthropic funding into the Central Park Conservancy, which holds considerable sway over this public space. He questions the idea that public parks, and the public domain more generally, are best served by allowing the people who have the money to fund and maintain the public domain have their way with these public assets. And what's in it for the wealthy? Well, in the end, the public space rewards the park-side property owners with a financial return on their real estate holdings. John Krinsky is professor of political science, with an interest in labor and community organising in New York. He specialises in urban politics, the politics of social movements, and the politics of work, welfare and labor. He is a co-editor of the online peer-reviewed journal Metro-politics and a co-editor of the journal Social Movement Studies. He co-coordinates the Politics and Protest Workshop at the CUNY Graduate Centre and is a founding board member of the New York City Community Land Initiative. Read more in John Krinsky and Maud Simonet's new book, 'Who Cleans the Park?' Additional Audio: NBC Parks and Recreation: www.nbc.com/parks-and-recreation

In New York, where anything’s possible, the privatisation of Manhattan's Central Park is even stranger than fiction. I imagine that few people would choose to travel back in time to visit the run down and quite frankly often dangerous Central Park of 1970s Manhattan. But many people don't realise that a casual and relatively safe stroll through Central Park today has come at significant cost to the park’s maintenance workers. "My dream is to have the park system privatised and run entirely for profit by corporations". Ron Swanson, fictional Parks Department Director, American Television sitcom Parks and Recreation. We’re talking to John Krinsky about his new book with Maud Simonet, Who Cleans the Park? and their research about parks management in New York. John and Maud bring the often-invisible work of the park’s maintenance workers into view. What’s exposed is much more that than an underpaid and unvalued workforce, but a set of questions that go to the heart of urban management today. In America, hundreds of millions of dollars of both public and private funds are dedicated to the upkeep of public assets like Central Park. Keeping a park in order requires not just money, but labour - the not so glamorous and often invisible jobs that are associated with picking up the garbage, painting benches, maintaining equipment, cleaning toilets, raking leaves and removing homeless people. “Parks have been absolutely critical to the maintenance and argumentation of real estate value.” Professor John Krinsky. John talks about how wealthy individuals and corporate actors have directed significant philanthropic funding into the Central Park Conservancy, which holds considerable sway over this public space. He questions the idea that public parks, and the public domain more generally, are best served by allowing the people who have the money to fund and maintain the public domain have their way with these public assets. And what's in it for the wealthy? Well, in the end, the public space rewards the park-side property owners with a financial return on their real estate holdings. John Krinsky is professor of political science, with an interest in labor and community organising in New York. He specialises in urban politics, the politics of social movements, and the politics of work, welfare and labor. He is a co-editor of the online peer-reviewed journal Metro-politics and a co-editor of the journal Social Movement Studies. He co-coordinates the Politics and Protest Workshop at the CUNY Graduate Centre and is a founding board member of the New York City Community Land Initiative. Read more in John Krinsky and Maud Simonet's new book, 'Who Cleans the Park?' Additional Audio: NBC Parks and Recreation: https://www.nbc.com/parks-and-recreation

Though it may seem like Central Park has always been a landmark for visitors and native New Yorkers alike, that's not actually the case. The park, like much of the city, was very carefully mapped and planned out. But unlike the rest of the city, which was aligned to a strict and orderly grid, Central Park was designed to be wild: To mimic the untouched wilderness in other parts of America. Why was the park designed this way, how did its designers create such an unusual urban space, and what has caused the ebbs and flows of America's most famous park over the decades since? There's only one guy who could answer these questions: Ariel Viera of The Urbanist. From Swamp to Central Park Ariel is well known for merging the old and the new, conducting his deep dives in the history of cities via Facebook Live. And that's where this episode is actually taken from, our chat on the platform. Ariel told me about how, when the park was being conceived, it wasn't initially planned for its current location. City officials thought about building the park along the East River, but then were afraid that many couldn't make the trip to visit. But before it became a park, it had, as Ariel tells us, a few shantytowns, and actually a thriving, self-sufficient African-American neighborhood called Seneca Village. How did the swampy, rocky land become a famous urban oasis? And what happened to the people who lived there? Central Park's Architects The city held a competition to design the park, and Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won for their unusual, innovative design. While New York wanted to differentiate itself from major cities like London, which had small, mannered parks, Olmsted and Vaux had a wholly unique vision. They wanted to create a wild space akin to recreating the Adirondacks in the middle of the city. “These two guys blew people's minds,” Ariel told me. And of course, other cities began hiring Olmsted and Vaux to build parks for them, as well, and they went on to design more than 700 parks around the country. From Oasis to Eyesore: What Happened to Central Park? If you're like me and grew up at a time when Central Park was considered an unsafe part of the city, then you may be surprised to see what it's become today: A beautiful tourist destination. Ariel took me through the park's topsy-turvy history, from the mob hits that would take place in the 1920s, to the eventual closing off of the Ramble Cave, because of all of the crimes committed in the remote part of the park. The trouble extended up through the 70s and 80s, until the Central Park Conservancy was founded and began raising funds to help restore and maintain the park. Ariel has a lot of stories about what happened in the park, and how it shifted over the years, and you're going to want to hear them. Five Central Park Must-Sees Of course, today the park is a completely different place, the most visited park in the world, with some 29 million visitors annually, according to Ariel. He gives us his five must-see destinations for visitors to the park, and while I won't give all of them away here, he does shout out the beautiful Bethesda Terrace and eases my mind about whether it's cool to hop in a rowboat around the park. Ariel is full of insight and enthusiasm for the most prominent park in the States, and if you're like me, and love the nitty-gritty details of urban history, this episode is a must-listen. Outline of This Episode [0:55] How Ariel Viera became the Urbanist [2:52] The early plans for Central Park [4:33] Competition to design the park [8:18] The early days of Central Park [12:15] How the park became a rough destination [15:43] How Central Park became what it is today [22:36] Ariel's Five Central Park Must-Sees Resources & People Mentioned The Urbanist Ariel on Facebook Ariel on Twitter Ariel on Instagram Frederick Law Olmsted Calvert Vaux Central Park Connect With Stephanie stephanie@historyfangirl.com https://historyfangirl.com Support Stephanie on Patreon  

This week on We Dig Plants, hosts Alice Marcus Krieg and Carmen Devito are joined in the studio by Elizabeth "Betsy" Barlow Rogers, a landscape designer, landscape preservationist and writer, whose lasting memorial is the revitalization of Central Park, New York City. This took place under her guidance as the first Central Park Administrator, and through the Central Park Conservancy, a private not-for-profit corporation that was founded, largely through Rogers' efforts, in 1980 to bring citizen support to the restoration and renewed management of Central Park. Betsy is also the author of Green Metropolis: Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less Are the Keys to Sustainability.

New York's Central Park has longed provided respite from the bustling concrete jungle. The park was designed by landscape architect and writer Frederick Law Olmsted and the English architect Calvert Vaux in 1858 after winning a design competition. Central Park has a wide array of amenities from running and bike paths to a swimming pool to ice skating rinks, but it's the park's trees and landscapes that are the subject of a new book. It's called Central Park: Trees and Landscapes: A Guide to New York City's Masterpiece. The authors are long-time park enthusiast Edward Sibley Barnard and Neil Calvanese, the Central Park Conservancy's former Vice President for Operations and chief arborist. Barnard is also the author of another book called New York City Trees: A Field Guide for the Metropolitan Area. Cityscape host George Bodarky recently took a walk with Barnard to check out some of Central Park's magnificent trees.

New York’s Central Park has longed provided respite from the bustling concrete jungle. The park was designed by landscape architect and writer Frederick Law Olmsted and the English architect Calvert Vaux in 1858 after winning a design competition. Central Park has a wide array of amenities from running and bike paths to a swimming pool to ice skating rinks, but it’s the park’s trees and landscapes that are the subject of a new book. It’s called Central Park: Trees and Landscapes: A Guide to New York City’s Masterpiece. The authors are long-time park enthusiast Edward Sibley Barnard and Neil Calvanese, the Central Park Conservancy’s former Vice President for Operations and chief arborist. Barnard is also the author of another book called New York City Trees: A Field Guide for the Metropolitan Area. Cityscape host George Bodarky recently took a walk with Barnard to check out some of Central Park's magnificent trees.

Doug Blonsky discusses restoring, managing, and enhancing the nation’s first public park.

In this podcast Elizabeth Barlow Rogers, president of the Foundation for Landscape Studies and founding president of the Central Park Conservancy, discusses her work as a landscape design historian and a writer examining the cultural meaning of place.

AFTERBUZZ TV – Gossip Girl edition, is a weekly “after show” for fans of CW’s Gossip Girl. In this show, host Roxy Striar breaks down the episode in which in an effort to prove herself, Serena hosts the Central Park Conservancy’s big gala; Blair gets ready to debut her fashion line; Georgina helps Dan secure [...] The post Gossip Girl S:6 | High Infidelity E:2 | AfterBuzz TV AfterShow appeared first on AfterBuzz TV Network.

Joining Doug to talk about Central Park, the civic treasure, are Sara Cedar Miller, official historian and photographer of the park and Douglas Blonsky, president of the Central Park Conservancy, the not-for-profit organization which maintains the park.

This week on We Dig Plants Alice and Carmen sit down with Lorraine Brooks of the Cornell University Cooperative Extension. They discuss the history of the land grant college going all the way back to Abraham Lincoln, and discuss what the Cornell Co-op is doing to educate folks in Central Park and beyond through hands-on, informal research and education, and via organizations like the Central Park Conservancy and the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation. Making sure we have enough trees throughout the country and educating folks on why we need them in the first place is a big part of what Lorraine does, and she recounts some stories of success and frustration as she tries to spread arboreal joy. This episode was sponsored by Hearst Ranch: purveyors of grass-fed beef grazing on the beautiful coast of San Simeon, CA.

In this episode, Liz Johnson and Felicity Arengo from the American Museum of Natural History take Scientific American podcast host Steve Mirsky for a walk in the park--Central Park--to talk about the spring bird migration and the role that Central Park and other green spaces plays in the lives of birds and other animals. Author Marie Winn also talks about the park and the wildlife it supports. Plus, we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Organizations and websites mentioned on this podcast include the American Museum of Natural History, www.amnh.org; the Central Park Conservancy, www.centralparknyc.org; the New York City Audubon Society, www.nycaudubon.org; the Linnean Society, www.linnean.org; Marie Winn, www.mariewinn.com; the Scientific American blog, blog.sciam.com; the Scientific American Digital Archive, www.sciamdigital.com.