National Take a Hike Day 11/17

/ Pat Dolan Trail/

Happy National Take a Hike Day!

This blog post is written by Lee Hittner-Cunningham, the Alliance’s Natural Areas Stewardship Coordinator who is serving in partnership with Americorps.

This day, established by the American Hiking Society, is observed annually on November 17th to encourage all people to take advantage of America’s trails and raise awareness of the positive impact hiking can have on your mind and the body. 

If you’re looking to take a hike here in Queens, we invite you to walk the Pat Dolan Trail around Willow Lake. It is one of the few natural area trails in New York City; a truly rare luxury in the concrete jungle!

This trail offers a quiet respite from the speed and sound of the city, and is populated by a variety of trees and animals. On your walk, you may spot cottonwood, oak trees, and willows. Keep your ears open for the sounds of bird calls.

Halfway down the trail, there’s a fork leading to Willow Lake, where you can enjoy the view across the water. We ask that you use this trail rather than cutting through the trees to get to the water–let’s respect our wildlife neighbors and not disrupt their habitat!

Willow Lake is home to many waterbirds, including black ducks, mallards, and cormorants. If you look to the sky, you might spot a red tailed hawk. An urban hike is an opportunity to slow down, enjoy the natural world, and remember the many non-human New Yorkers with whom we share the city.

As members of our community and users of the trail, we ask that you help care for it. Here are some simple things you can do to keep the Pat Dolan Trail beautiful and safe for all the living things that share it:

  • Not littering, and helping us clean up litter when you can safely do so

  • Staying on the trail and leaving

  • Appreciating the trees and wildlife from a respectful distance

We also welcome you to trail maintenance and appreciation events we will be holding in the coming months. The work we’re doing includes cleanup, desire line closures, and flood mitigation.

Join our Stewardship Team mailing list or check our calendar to be the first to know when new volunteer opportunities are announced.

Happy Trails! We’ll see you in the park.

Great Blue Herons and Native Habitats in NYC

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This blog post comes from AFMCP’s Natural Areas Stewardship Coordinator, Lee Hittner-Cunningham, who is serving our park in partnership with Americorps:

Walking around Meadow Lake, I’ve seen a great blue heron several times standing near the shore. While a single heron is a common sight in the park, you’re unlikely to see more than one at a time. During mating season, herons form pairs and nest in groups, building in secluded areas. Outside of mating season, they are solitary animals. Unlike herons, humans are a highly social species, but I find that the image of a heron, standing still and alone at the edge of the water, reminds me of the rewards of solitude. It can be hard to get time and space to yourself in the city, but one of the joys of a visit to the park is that here, you might get a chance to find a quiet spot to sit or stand by yourself, to decompress, reflect, and enjoy nature, solitary as a heron. 

These wading birds can be found throughout most of North America in wetlands, in coastal areas, and along inland bodies of water. Once threatened by hunting, great blue herons have made a comeback since the early 20th century, with numbers still increasing. But while herons are thriving, the wetlands where many of them live are threatened by water pollution, invasive species, drainage, and more. Once used as a landfill, Meadow Lake is now a protected natural, home to many marsh-dwelling species, including the great blue heron. At the park, you can learn more about protection of wetlands and volunteer to help care for this important habitat.

If you are interested in volunteering at FMCP to help protect and preserve our native habitats for all local wildlife: please email fmcpstewardshipteam@gmail.com or check our calendar, which is regularly updated with public events.

Evening Under the Sphere 2023: Thank You from the AFMCP Team!

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Evening Under the Sphere 2023 was a HUGE success.

Thanks to the community members and sponsors who braved the rainy weather to come celebrate the park with us.

A particularly BIG thanks to the indomitable Queens Night Market crew who shepherded a seamless set-up and tear-down through the rainstorm: 

  • Hong Kong Street Food 

  • DiLena's Dolcini 

  • Chop Chop Tea 

  • Sholay Indian BBQ

  • Tacos El Guero

  • Bstro 

  • Nixtamal 

  • Treat Yourself Jerk Chicken

  • Mao’s Bao 

  • Caribbean Street Eats 

  • Cambodianow 

  • Brazilicious

  • Emeye 

These vendors are an essential part of what makes Evening Under the Sphere so special (and so delicious)! 


Through the incredible support of all of you, we were able to raise over $150,000 for the Alliance!

We also want to again congratulate all our Freedom of the Human Spirit Award Winners: 

  • LaGuardia Gateway Partners, represented by CEO Suzette Noble 

  • The Association for a Better New York, represented by CEO Melva Miller

  • Former Queens Borough President Claire Shulman, represented by her family and friends

As well as, our inaugural recipient of the Claire Shulman Award for Public Service: the NYS Pavilion Paint Project. This all-volunteer team was recognized for their efforts to restore Philip Johnson’s iconic World’s Fair Pavilion to its former glory.

Evening Under the Sphere continues to be a shining example of what a welcoming, supportive, and diverse community we have here in Queens.

And finally, a deep, gracious 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: 

Oak Sponsor

  • Mets Owner Steve Cohen 

Cherry Sponsors

  • LaGuardia Gateway Partners

  • New York Community Bank

  • Gov Ball 

  • Delta 

Willow Sponsors

  • USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center

  • WHSmith 

  • Maspeth Federal Savings

  • Shamrock Acoustics

  • ResortsWorld 

  • Illumine Service Foundation 

Sweetgum Sponsors 

  • NYC Health and Hospitals Elmhurst

  • New York Presbyterian 

  • North Island Jewish Forest Hills Northwell Health 

  • O’Melveny 

  • Sri Chinmoy Marathon team 

  • Port Authority NY NJ 

Maple Sponsors

  • Villa Restaurant Group

  • JCM 

  • Capalino 

  • HSMHost 

  • Pitta LLP 

  • Bradford Airport Logistics 

  • Flushing Meadows Corona Park Conservancy 

  • Haddad Associates PLLC 

Check out the slideshow of pictures from the event, captured by Steph Venegas of Natives: 

See you next year!

Evening Under the Sphere 2023 QNMKT Vendors Announced!

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The Alliance for Flushing Meadows Corona Park announced that it has partnered again with the Queens Night Market to bring its community’s favorite eateries to its annual benefit, Evening Under the Sphere. This year’s Evening Under the Sphere will be held under the Unisphere Thursday, September 28, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.--tickets are on sale now.

John Wang, founder of Queens Night Market and Alliance board member said, "I've helped produce, pro bono, every iteration of the Evening Under the Sphere fundraiser -- even when it moved inside Arthur Ashe Stadium for inclement weather! It's been a privilege to be involved because the fundraiser's ethos exactly matches that of the Queens Night Market. Unlike most charity fundraisers, it aspires to be a casual, affordable, and accessible party that celebrates the magnificence, as well as the nitty-gritty, of Flushing Meadows Corona Park and celebrates this beautiful mosaic of a borough that the park calls home."  

Check out the full list of vendors who will be serving up delicious eats at this year’s Evening Under the Sphere:

  • Hong Kong Street Food - Hong Kongese Soy Sauce Noodles 

  • DiLena's Dolcini - Cannoli & Cookies

  • Chop Chop Tea - Hakka Meatballs

  • Sholay - Indian BBQ

  • Tacos El Guero - Tacos

  • Bstro - Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken

  • Nixtamal - Mexican Mole Enchiladas & Elotes

  • Treat Yourself Jerk Chicken - Jamaican Jerk Chicken

  • Mao's Bao - Dumplings

  • Caribbean Street Eats - Trinidadian Bake & Shrimp

  • Brazilicious - Brazilian Steak Sandwich and Coxinha

  • Cambodianow - Cambodian Skewers and Fish Amok

Don’t miss out on this exciting event — full of food and fun in our borough’s largest park. Get your tickets today and come celebrate Queens with us as summer draws to a close.

Look at our gallery of delicious pictures from Evening Under the Sphere 2022 to get excited:


Art in the Parks: 2023 Grantees

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The Alliance for Flushing Meadows Corona Park announced its 2023 Art in the Parks grantees this week. The long-running program has given meaningful grants to up-and-coming artists in NYC so that they can contribute to the eclectic sculptural collections of FMCP.

The winning proposals for this year’s grants are Light Portal from Julia Sinelnikova and Hey Neighbor NYC from Jasmin Chiang and Kisha Bari. Thanks to generous support from the Alliance for FMCP, grants were doubled for this year’s artists, up to $10,000 per grant.

Sinelnikova had this to say about their installation: The park lacks a true contemporary art homage to the legendary Tent of Tomorrow, which will nw itself be lit at night for the city's new program. The Tent of Tomorrow was designed by Philip Johnson for the 1964 World's Fair, however it is modeled off its Russian predecessors, namelyo the Shukhov Rotunda for the All-Russia Exhibition of 1896. “Light Portal'' incorporates several elements of the original physical structure in a new design, with the many colors of the light disc above audiences to represent the diversity of languages and cultures in Queens. As a first-generation immigrant and nonbinary artist, I feel that it is important to bring the energy of a local femme, POC and immigrant fabrication crew to this homage, which interprets a complicated architectural legacy. During our current period of closed borders around the world due to politics, it is important to remember periods of greater international exchange of ideas, and collaboration. “Light Portal” envisions hope, progress, and growth, creating a meditative and playful space. The work will cast a kaleidoscope of healing colors onto viewers and the ground below during the sunlight, while also possibly incorporating solar-powered LED lights at night. The sculpture will measure at least ten feet square, comprised of steel and recycled acrylic.

Bari and Chiang offered this description of the upcoming sculpture: New York City is a rich patchwork of communities formed by ethnicity, culture, race, and shared experience – from networks of new immigrants to multi-generational communities. Although New Yorkers share a common physical space, proximity alone is not enough to create genuine connection, understanding and tolerance for each other. The work of connection and trust between communities requires continuous and deliberate work. Hey Neighbor NYC does this work by connecting cultural communities across the five boroughs through photography, storytelling, and public art.

Both installations will open to the public in Autumn 2023. They will remain on view for approximately twelve months. Check out the gallery below for previous artworks in FMCP. Full list of past artworks around the city and their descriptions are available at NYC Parks.