After raising her family, Alida Palma had become preoccupied with the quality of life in Hamilton Heights after seeing the area decline precipitately into one of the City’s most underserved neighborhoods. In 1994 Ms. Alida Palma organized her fellow neighbors, local businesses and community leaders to discuss ways to improve conditions in the area.

From these meetings, Alida founded The Montefiore Park Neighborhood Association which has gone to demonstrate that a culturally diverse community such as Hamilton Heights, focused around a pocket park, can work together along with City agencies and community stakeholders to receive its fair share of public goods and services to enhance the quality of life for all.  Among it many initial goals was to revitalize Montefiore Park as a community oasis of pastoral and arboreal serenity that will transform this small triangular “pocket park” into an aesthetically and historically relevant, recreational area for the peaceable and quiet enjoyment of its Hamilton Heights residents, families, students, senior citizens and visitors.  Our ongoing goal is to clean up Montefiore Park, raise awareness and engage the community around and about the park as well as on environmental issues impacting our community. Our long term goal is to realize our vision for Montefiore Park and formalize our organizatio by bringing local residents, business, schools, city agencies, CBO's and other community stakeholders, into a dialogue with NYC Department of Transportation who has commenced a total redesign and renovation of the Montefiore Park and its adjacent street, Hamilton Place.