World Wildlife Conservation Day 2024

World Wildlife Conservation Day is coming up on December 4th and what better way to celebrate it by raising awareness of wildlife in New York City! Flushing Meadows Corona Park and parks around the city are home to a diversity of wildlife, such as coyotes and white-tailed deer. Lets take a dive to learn about the importance of these species, how they play a role in our ecosystem and ways we can promote peaceful coexistence with them.

Coyotes have been present in New York since the 1930s and have been living around the city since 1995. Coyotes play an important role as they are predators in our ecosystem and prey on small mammals such as rodents. They can be seen during the day however, they are most active once the sunsets and at night, you may also be able to spot them during mating season which is around January to March or October to January. They are very curious animals and they like to observe human behavior but they tend to avoid being close to humans as much as possible. 

White Tail Deers have been around New York since the 16th century and have been a part of our rich ecosystem, they are considered a keystone species which mean they have a direct impact on other plants and animals. They increase plant diversity, soil fertility, and spread seeds. However, in abundance they can be considered invasive and even pose a threat to us while driving. City officials need to manage the deer population so they can peacefully exist with humans. 

With daylight savings time and the sun setting earlier, we may see an increase in coyotes and white tailed deers across NYC Parks. Click here to learn more about the Wildlife in NYC and how we can coexist with these species. Want to get involved? Consider participating in educational programs, tree planting, and park beautification projects. 

Elm Tree Elementary and Fall Leaves at FMCP!

This past week, the vibrant energy of young volunteers from PS 211 Elm Tree Elementary lit up Flushing Meadows Corona Park! Equipped with gloves, compost bags, rakes—and plenty of enthusiasm—these students made a meaningful impact during our cleanup event.

For many of the 130 5th graders who participated, this was their first volunteering experience. It was a valuable opportunity to instill the importance of civic engagement and environmental stewardship in the next generation. Teachers and parents also joined, connecting with students to emphasize the value of teamwork and responsibility. Together they were able to collect 261 bags by the end of the afternoon! 

A huge shoutout to our event staff! Latisha Williams, the park's Deputy Administrator with over 20 years of experience at the Parks Department, demonstrated tool usage to the 5th graders at the event. Her expertise made the learning experience hands-on and engaging.

Another shoutout goes to our Project Development Coordinator, Michael DeVito. He is in charge of organizing volunteer events like these at Flushing Meadows Corona Park, and worked closely with some of the classes. He was also able to talk to some of the students, explaining how the process benefits the park by transforming the leaves into nutrient-rich compost.

Events like these are more than just about beautifying our park, it’s about connecting with our local schools and community groups and reminding them how powerful community partnership can be for creating positive change. 

We are so grateful for PS 211 Elm Elementary for all their hard work and dedication to keeping our park clean. 

Interested in organizing similar events? Please complete our volunteer application or email the Stewardship Team directly, volunteer@allianceforfmcp.org, to learn more about how to keep our park greener.

FMCP’s Stewardship Team is supported by generous funding from Con Edison

Bat Box Bash! Event Recap

Just last week, we celebrated #BatAppreciationWeek with the FMCP Stewardship team and Urban Park rangers at our Bat Box Bash event! 

Our dedicated volunteers were able to enjoy a small nature walk along our Pat Dolan Trail while learning some interesting facts about bats. Did you know? Bats are natural pest controllers, they can eat up to 1,200 mosquitoes in one hour! The volunteers also came together to build beautiful bat box habitats to support their role in our ecosystem. 

Thank you to all the wonderful volunteers who came out to learn about bats and helped with our conservation efforts!

FMCP’s Stewardship Team is supported by generous funding from Con Edison

Have You Heard About FMCP'S Conservation Corps?

The Alliance for Flushing Meadows Corona Park, in collaboration with NYC Parks and the city’s Summer Youth Employment Program, supports our park’s annual Conservation Corps program. The Alliance supplies all members with park-branded equipment like gardening belts, backpacks, SPF shirts, and gardening hats. NYC Parks and its Operations team here in FMCP administrate the program.

The Conservation Corps is a workforce development program that gives local youths a chance to learn valuable skills in environmental management, while getting paid for it! Growing each year, the 2024 cohort of the Conservation Corps grew to 17 members, up from 12 last year. Many members of our Conservation Corps come from the environmentally-minded John Bowne High School in Kew Gardens Hills.

One member of our 2024 cohort came back to the Conservation Corps for a second year. Returning to FMCP meant he could expand on his work experience from the previous summer, to start shadowing professional arborists and greenhouse gardeners while learning about all aspects of urban environmental stewardship.

Other participants are drawn to the program because of the opportunity to be outside. Rather than sitting behind a desk, Conservation Corps members can spend their summers getting daily exercise outdoors and keeping their community’s vital green spaces beautiful. One member of the Corps remarked that working hard out in the park was better than going to the gym!

A new partnership with the Ladders for Leaders program in the 2024 edition of the program, has allowed the Conservation Corps to bolster its educational curriculum and tailor it to the stewardship projects happening in the park.

Alumni of the program go on to study fields like Environmental Science, Agriculture Science, and more. Recent participants have been accepted to prestigious programs like Cornell University and the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Some participants are even second-generation Parkies!

Funding for the Conservation Corps is generously supported by a grant from the Association for a Better New York.

Please contact us at info@allianceforfmcp.org with any questions about the program.

Check out some pictures from this year’s Conservation Corps cohort:

Evening Under the Sphere 2024: Thank You from the AFMCP Team!

A huge, sincere thank you to everyone who attended or donated to Evening Under the Sphere 2024!

Through our sponsors, ticketholders, and donors we were able to raise over $187,000 that will support the Alliance for Flushing Meadows Corona Park to continue our annual programming, volunteer opportunities, and maintenance operations in FMCP!

The event was a great success and provided an awesome venue, under our beloved Unisphere, for the Queens community to come together in celebration of our achievements.

In particular, we recognized the achievements of three outstanding contributors to our community:

Jennifer O’Sullivan, representing New York City FC

Jackson Koo, representing Con Edison

Christopher Caltieri, accepting the Claire Shulman Award for Public Service

These three honorees exemplify everything we love about Queens and the civic spirit we are so proud of here in Flushing Meadows Corona Park.

Because of our intrepid friends at the Queens Night Market, Evening Under the Sphere features some of the best food in New York City. Here are the vendors who made this cornucopia of delicious eats happen:

Super Chori
Bstro
Epis by Steve
Buffalo Jump
Thaitai Eatery
Tacos El Guero
Eemas

DiLena's Dolcini
Treat Yourself Jerk
Mao's Bao
Daaku Indian BBQ
Hong Kong Street Food
Trini Treats Queens

This event would not be possible without the support of the Queens Night Market.

And a deep, heartfelt thank you to the sponsors of this year’s event.

Our sponsors are the reason we are able to keep ticket prices affordable and EUS a community-focused event. Outside of EUS, these sponsorships help fund an entire year of essential programming and maintenance operations in the park. Here is the full list of sponsors who have supported FMCP this year: 

Check out this slideshow featuring some of our favorite photos from this year’s event, captured by Steph Venegas of Natives.

See you in the park!